[1 March 2005]
Refinements to University Admissions Exercise

The National University of Singapore (NUS), the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore Management University (SMU) will introduce the following refinements to improve the university admissions exercise with effect from Academic Year 2005.

Application Period

Applications from ‘A'-level students to NUS and NTU will commence immediately after the release of the ‘A'-level results and close on 1 April 2005. Applications for admission to SMU are already open and will close on 4 April 2005 for ‘A'-level, Polytechnic and International students.

Application Platform and Fees

With the implementation of a flexible and differentiated university admissions system, applicants seeking admission to any one of the 3 universities are required to complete separate on-line application forms which have been customized to each university's requirements. For the convenience of applicants, the universities will use the PSI e-Citizen portal ( http://www.ecitizen.gov.sg/ ) as a common web page linked to each university's forms. Applicants can also access each university's application forms through their own websites ( www.nus.edu.sg/oam, www.ntu.edu.sg, www.smu.edu.sg ).

Separate processing of applications by each university will allow students to receive competitive offers for admission from the universities. Thus, applicants to NUS and NTU will no longer be required to pay a joint fee of $20. Instead, they will pay an application fee of $10 directly to the respective university. SMU's application fee remains at $15.

Common Acceptance Deadline and Platform

NUS, NTU and SMU will implement a common deadline and a common IT platform for the acceptance of offers. This will give applicants sufficient time to consider all offers and ensure that applicants cannot accept more than one offer. Common acceptance commences on 3 May 2005 and closes on 6 June 2005. Applicants are also free to change their choice up to the common acceptance deadline.

Acceptance Deposits

With the introduction of a common acceptance platform, NUS, NTU and SMU have decided to do away with the acceptance deposit payable by the applicants.