The Singapore Junior College mathematics syllabus has undergone a revamp, starting this year 2016. The syllabus has been re-designed to place a heavier emphasis on applications of mathematics to real-world problems.
In H1 Maths, for instance, there is a brief introduction to applying mathematics to business and social science contexts, as well as to niche topics like analysing population growth. However, equations and formulas have been kept simple.
For H2 Maths, more applications to the physical sciences have been added to the syllabus content. For example, students now study the concepts of free fall under gravity, collision of objects, and use vector algebra to solve mechanics questions. Complex numbers and calculus are applied to the study of physics problems such as electrical circuits. Probability models and sampling distributions are employed in business decision making in the fields of banking and insurance. Again, non-mathematical concepts are simplified and formulas are kept to a minimum, as the emphasis is on applying existing mathematical concepts to real-life problems rather than studying a new field.
Further Mathematics has also been reintroduced. It includes more advanced mathematical topics like conic sections, numerical analysis, and discrete mathematics.