6th October 2023
From next year, the traditional Normal and Express streams will be abolished. Instead, students entering Secondary 1 will take subjects at levels that suit their interests and abilities.
Full subject based banding was first piloted in 28 secondary schools in 2020 and has been progressively rolled out to more secondary schools. Students will be in mixed form classes in lower secondary, and schools have the autonomy to decide how to structure their form classes. Some schools group students by co-curricular activities (CCAs), while others assign students from all three streams – Express, Normal Academic and Normal Technical, making sure to include a diverse range of students in each class.
Subject combinations, especially in upper secondary, differ across schools. In addition, schools may offer different modules under the non-examinable applied learning programme, ranging from health and food science to speech and drama to media literacy. The programme focuses on applying knowledge to authentic settings in society to help students appreciate the relevance of what they are learning. Some schools are identified to offer certain subjects not available in other schools.