New Students (MSS)

Overview of the Middle Senior School

The Middle Senior School (MSS) at Dulwich College (Singapore) comprises Years 9 to 11. During these years students follow a programme of study leading to IGCSE and GCSE qualifications. These are externally organised qualifications based in the United Kingdom. Students study the programme for three years, at the end of which they take a suite of externally set and assessed exams. They then receive a grade in each subject for which they sit exams.

The curriculum in Years 9 to 11 is made up of a core of mandatory subjects, augmented by a set of options subjects. Most students who start the programme in Year 9 will study 10 or 11 IGCSE/GCSE courses.

IGCSE/GCSE over 3 years

You may be aware that many schools study the IGCSE/GCSE programme over 2 years. At Dulwich College (Singapore), students study the programme over 3 years. We believe that the extended length of our programme allows us to provide opportunities for subject-based enrichment; to teach beyond the confines of the syllabus; and to explore deeper and broader learning. It encourages greater conceptual understanding, more in-depth knowledge and more sophisticated skills. In addition, all students study Global Skills, a taught course that lays a solid foundation of critical thinking, bringing together elements of philosophy, current affairs, research skills and public speaking.

Curriculum Information

Below you will find information about each of the subjects studied by students in Middle Senior School, as well as information about how to prepare to join the College midway during the IGCSE programme. As part of our Admissions procedures, all students joining Years 9 to 11 have a meeting with a senior member of the Middle Senior School staff to discuss their IGCSE options prior to joining the College.

It is inevitable that there will be some catch-up required for students joining after the start of Year 9, and this will require a significant amount of independent work. Doing some preparatory work based on the information on the pages linked to below is advised, but students also need to complete their studies at their current school, as well as to have a break before joining DCSG.

Rest assured that we have lots of experience in welcoming new students into the Middle Senior School and will do all we can to provide support. However, it is important to note that students joining the school will need to take full responsibility for and ownership of their own catch-up.

Core Curriculum

Options Subjects

Exam Boards

‘Exam boards’ are the UK-based organisations that are responsible for the IGCSE and GCSE programmes we follow at Dulwich College (Singapore). Each exam board designs and publish the relevant syllabus, and is responsible for the setting and assessment of exams. At the end of the course, the exam board provides a certificate showing the grade that the student has been awarded in the subject studied.

Each curriculum area chooses the exam board that is most appropriate for our students in our context. The exam boards used include Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE), Pearson Edexcel, AQA, Oxford AQA and CCEA - please refer to the document below for full details. CAIE courses are graded on a scale of A* to G, while the other exam boards are graded on a scale of 9 to 1. The table below gives an indication of how the number grades equate to the traditional letter grades: