15 January 2023

For most Singaporean parents, PSLE and Secondary school selection is easily the most significant milestone in their child’s education journey. With schools opening up more applicant spaces for different DSA talent areas and the overhaul in PSLE grading system in 2021, we see an increase in the number of parents who are interested to consider preparing their children for DSA application. Some of the common questions we get are:

• What are the schools that take in students via Robotics / Coding DSA?
• What is the selection process for DSA applicants? (Jump)
• My child is currently with the school’s robotics CCA, how do I prepare him/her for DSA application? (Jump)
• My child has no experience with Robotics / Coding, how do I prepare him/her for DSA application? (Jump)

All secondary schools will be allowed to admit up to 20% of their Secondary One intake for the four-year O-Level track under DSA from 2018 (Source).

Specialised Independent Schools (viz. NUS High School, School of the Arts, School of Science and Technology) have full discretion in admissions, and take in 100% of their students through the DSA. Schools that offer the Integrated Programme (IP) have full discretion when admitting students to the IP, although the actual proportion admitted through the DSA varies from school to school.

Application for DSA is done online through MOE’s DSA-Sec portal, typically in May. For updated information on the dates and timeline, visit MOE DSA-Sec website.

Does your child have a passion in the DSA talent area that he/she is applying for?

While we understand parents’ concern in trying their best to give their children better chances of applying to a Secondary school of choice, it may not be productive if a child is not really passionate about the talent area. While it may be true that interests can be nurtured later: what is more important is to get into the choice Secondary school first, do consider that it is a requirement for successful DSA students to join the respective school CCA to train and represent their Secondary school in competitions for the next 4-6 years.

Most of us working adults will likely have first-hand experience of working in a job that we don’t really like. It is the same for students who are stuck in a CCA that they are not interested in.

Does your child have a talent in the DSA talent area that he/she is applying for?

Developing a skill takes time, regardless of the talent area. For choice schools, there may be hundreds of applicants applying for a single talent area. Many of the applicants would have been training in their specialised field for several years before applying for DSA. While other private training centres may promise a DSA preparation programme for Robotics and Coding for fresh students in a few months, a more comfortable and realistic timeline is at least 2 years for a student to learn the necessary skillset and either take part in competitions or develop their portfolios.

Will your child be able to thrive academically in the DSA school?

Most Secondary schools will place their DSA students in a few “DSA classes”. These are usually the classes that are weakest academically given that DSA students have a much lower PSLE admission cutoff compared to the general school population. Aside from the unspoken label of being the weakest academically, there is also the pressure and struggle to perform well in their DSA CCA. It is not uncommon for students to underperform after making through DSA selection, and even drop out of the 6 year IP programme.

With all that is said, just focusing on preparing well for the PSLE exam and applying for a school that is able to develop your child’s potential and self-esteem may in some cases be the loving and logical choice for a stressed-out PSLE parent.

If you are certain that applying for DSA-Sec through Robotics and Coding talent area is for your child, here is how we can help your child.

Step 1: Shortlist and Identify the schools that your child is interested to apply for

If you haven’t, check out our handy list of Robotics and Coding DSA schools that we have put together. You may click on the individual schools to check out their Sec 1 DSA admissions webpage and to find out more about their requirements.

Most schools will have a virtual/onsite open house event every year (typically in May) for interested parents and students to attend. This is the perfect opportunity to find out more about the Secondary school and their DSA entry requirements.

Step 2: Enrol in the appropriate courses

Different schools have different DSA requirements, while some require students to have a track record of winning national level competition events, others select students based on a hands-on test to assess a student’s level of proficiency. Typically our roadmap for DSA preparation takes the following format:

For schools that admit students based on Robotics Competition experience, we will suggest that they go through our Robotics Certificate Programme which will take approximately 3-6 months to complete, following which they will be eligible to take part in Robotics Competitions with us.

For schools that admit students based on Coding / Innovation portfolio, we will suggest that they go through our Inventor Certificate Programme which will take approximately 2-5 months to complete, following which they will be eligible to join our CATALYST programme where we will mentor students to develop their own projects as part of their portfolio.

Step 3: Document learning and achievements

Throughout their journey with us, we will also strongly suggest that students collate their certificates and photos as a documentation of their learning with us and at home. This will help students to recall the things that they have learnt and help them be better prepared for interviews with the schools. Students who go through the CATALYST programme will be required to document their learning on their personal websites.