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Parliamentary Replies

March 24, 2009

Foreign Students in Singapore

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mrs Josephine Teo, MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education:

  1. What criteria are used to assess the suitability of foreign students seeking admission to local universities; and
  2. How the profile of foreign students in Singapore has changed?

Response

Admission to our universities, for both local and international students is based on merit. International students (IS) must meet the entry criteria set by our universities, including academic results and subject pre-requisites, before they are given admission. All international students must also achieve a minimum level of English proficiency. Given that there is a 20% cap on the number of international students our universities can admit, they are in practice subject to more stringent entry criteria than Singaporeans.

Our universities have acquired familiarity and knowledge with the various qualifications presented by overseas applicants, and are able to select top students from different education systems accordingly. Interviews and entrance tests are also conducted to ascertain students’ aptitude, knowledge domain and suitability for specific courses.

The international students profile at our universities has not changed significantly over the past few years. Currently, 20% of the students enrolled in our three autonomous universities are international students. They comprise mainly students from ASEAN, China and India. The majority of these students are enrolled in Engineering and Science courses.