Subject Attainment (Term 1, 2 and 3)

The Subject Attainment grade is an assessment of the student’s academic progress in each subject from the beginning of the academic year to the current date in which the report is prepared for. The purpose for an accumulated approach, rather than reporting on a single term, is so that families have a holistic view on the student’s attainment across the academic year. The weightage of accumulated grades from term to term differs between Faculty due to differences between subject curriculum structures. If you wish to know how an individual Faculty calculates the accumulated Subject Attainment grades please contact the relevant Head of Faculty.

The table below shows the Subject Attainment Grades that can be awarded, which are based on the IB grading system. The table also shows the Pass/Fail boundary, high level descriptor and an IGCSE convertor for those students in Year 3 and 4.

Completion of Work (All Reports) 

The Completion of Work grade is the judgement of the teacher as to how well a student has managed their studies in the production of work (not accumulated). The key components of this judgement are as follows: 

• • Work Submitted – Did the student submit all the work for the term? 

• • Timeliness of Submissions – Did the student submit all work on time and as required? 

• • Accuracy of Work – Did the student complete the work as per criteria and as advised? 

The descriptors below provide a guide as to how the grade is judged.

Termly Commendation Award (from 2020)

We have converted the criteria for the top Commendation Awards to Grade Point Averages to eliminate any potential anomalies. These changes are summarised below and will be applied in time for the Term 1 reports. 

The GPA will be generated from the grades of all three criteria – Attitude to Learning, Course Work and Subject Attainment. 

This is calculated using the total scores for all the subjects divided by the number of subjects taken by the student.

Principal’s List: GPA of 6.60 or higher - two decimal points

Distinction: GPA of 6.40 – 6.59 - two decimal points

Effort and Achievement: GPA of 6.20 – 6.39 - two decimal points

The Commendation for Effort Award will remain unchanged and based on the Attitude to Learning and Coursework grades:

Attitude to Learning: Minimum 6 subjects with grades of 6 or 7 out of which at least 4 must be grade 7. There can be NO grades of 3 or below.

Completion of Work: Minimum 6 subjects with grades of 6 or 7 out of which at least 4 must be grade 7. There can be NO grades of 3 or below.

Subject Achievement (Term 4)

The Subject Achievement grade is an overall assessment of the student’s work for the whole academic year. The grade comprises 

• The accumulated Subject Attainment grade from Terms 1, 2 and 3. 

• Term 4 assessment items. 

• End-of-year written examination/Preliminary examination (IGCSE and IBDP). Note below regarding examination grading

Examination Grading 

Students sit formal examinations at various points throughout the year. The results of these examinations are published in the school reports. The following grade systems will be followed for examinations: 

Junior Division 

Examination Grades reported using 1-7 as per Subject Attainment. 

Middle Division – IGCSE 

Examination Grades reports using A*, A, B, C, D, E, F, G and U to reflect the IGCSE examination system. 

Senior Division – IBDP 

Examination Grades reported using 1-7 as per IBDP. 

Year 1 to 4 - Mother-Tongue Subjects 

The exception to the above is Mother-Tongue subjects in Years 1 to 4, where the school will grade using the Singapore-Cambridge GCE ‘O’ Level grading system: A1, A2, B3, B4, C5, C6, D7, E8 and F9. 

Missing End-of-Year Examinations 

Valid Reason 

On occasion, students may miss the end-of-year examinations for a valid reason. Valid reasons include, but are not limited to: 

• Sick with a valid Medical Certificate. 

• COVID-19 related absences, e.g. Positive, SHN, Positive ART. 

• Compassionate grounds, e.g. death of a close family member. 

• Misadventure, e.g. accident on the way to the exam. 

• Early departure from school with permission. 

Valid reasons must be supported with appropriate documentation. The school will decide whether the reason is valid or not. 

Subject Achievement Calculation for Valid Reasons 

If the school determines the absence was valid, the student will receive a ‘-’ for their examination grade. The following approaches may be used to consider how the Subject Achievement grade will be derived in lieu of the missing end-of-year examination component: 

• Use of other assessment items as a substitute for the end-of-year examination. 

• Use of other papers sat in the same examination period in that subject, e.g. student misses one out of two papers. 

• Sitting a substitute examination. 

• Use of a predicted grades if one was created prior to the examination. 

• Removing end-of-year examination component from Term 4 Subject Achievement. 

The school will determine the approach to be used. The approach may differ between Faculties and subjects. 

Invalid Reason 

Students who miss their end-of-year examination with no valid reason will be given a zero grade and this will be counted towards their Subject Achievement grade. Invalid reasons include, but are not limited to: 

• Examination missed with no reason provided. 

• No Medical Certificate produced. 

• No valid documentation provided for a valid reason, e.g. no proof of COVID-19 positive ART. 

• Early departure from Singapore without school permission. 

Subject Achievement Calculation for Invalid Reasons 

If the school determines the absence was invalid, the student will be awarded a zero for the end-of-year examination, and this will be used in the calculation of the Subject Achievement grade. 

Progression and Subject Entry 

In cases where the student’s performance in the end-of-year examinations is to be used for progression or subject entry decisions, the school may ask the student to sit additional diagnostic tests as a substitute for the end-of-year examinations, e.g. entry into IBDP from FIB/Pre IB, IGCSE Additional Mathematics, IGCSE triple science combination, IBDP Higher Level subjects, etc.