Beyond Words: The Real Test of Shifting Singapore’s Grade Culture

In Parliament last week, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong called for a shift away from Singapore’s fixation on single exams and grades. It is a commendable aspiration that resonates with every educator who believes students are more than numbers on a transcript.

But as someone who has spent more than a decade mentoring students for both local and global opportunities, I must add a note of realism: words must be matched by action.

Singapore is a small, open economy. Our brightest students do not only aim for the local universities. Many set their sights on global institutions from the Ivy League to the Russell Group, from Australia to Asia’s rising universities. Why? Because these institutions offer more than classrooms. They provide networks, reputations and ecosystems that can become launchpads for careers. Imagine graduating into a tough economy and having to settle for government traineeships that pay at most S$2,400 a month, with no guaranteed career pathway. For many students, that is not an acceptable horizon.

And the truth is this: grades still matter deeply in those admissions processes. Take my own alma maters. The University of Wisconsin–Madison makes clear that academic preparation and test scores are central to selection. Georgia Tech similarly lists rigorous coursework and demonstrated academic performance as core expectations. Even Singapore’s own universities which speak of holistic admissions, remain invested in maintaining their global rankings. Oxford and Cambridge baseline A-level grades for admissions to almost all of their majors are AAA or better. This reality means students cannot simply walk away from grades without consequence.

In fact, through grades in a standardised and globally recognised exam such as the A-Levels or IB, even an average but ambitious student can still aim high. With discipline and yes, with focused tuition, students can raise their scores, match their brightest peers and secure places in world-class universities. It is one of the few levelling mechanisms left in a system where opportunities are increasingly stratified.

That does not mean change is impossible. It means that reducing the overemphasis on grades requires more than rhetoric. It requires employers to value capability alongside credentials, and universities to reward character, leadership, and clarity of thought. It requires us to prepare students not only for exams, but for interviews, essays and the conversations that reveal their true potential through their extra/co-curriculars.

At Ryse, we see this every day. Grades open doors. But it is presence, strategy, and authenticity that walk students through them.

Success begins with clarity. And clarity means acknowledging reality even as we strive to reshape it.