By Shila Naidu and Swan Tan

WITH more students now scoring straight As for their A levels, how do you pick the cream of the crop?

Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) and Raffles Junior College (RJC) may have the answer. They will have specially issued non-academic diplomas to distinguish the best from the better.

To get one, students must not only have great grades but also display a wider interest outside their studies.

HCI has been offering the diploma since 2004, and RJC is in the planning stages for its diploma programme.

This could preempt the problem faced by top British universities who are having difficulty selecting the best based purely on results.

Universities such as Oxford and Cambridge are bringing back entrance exams, which they had abandoned years ago, for selected courses.

And in the latest announcement, the UK's Imperial College said applicants for every course except medicine from 2010 onwards will have to sit for entrance exams.

Students have to come to terms with the fact that straight As in the A levels may not mean attaining the golden ticket to the top university they desire.

In a New Paper report on last Thursday, Imperial College Rector Sir Richard Sykes said A levels do not help in selecting the type of students they want.

His stand was that 'this (is) not because we don't believe in the A levels, but we cannot use A levels any more as a discriminatory factor'.

While he was most likely referring to the British A levels, which are different from Singapore's, diplomas offered by RJC and HCI may give students an added advantage.

A HCI spokesman said: 'The diploma consolidates into a single document the student's academic performance as well as scholastic achievements, or involvement in the wider community.'

Mrs Lim Lai Cheng, RJC's principal, added: 'The Raffles Diploma... is meant to capture students' total educational experience and achievements - such as academic performance, electives and research activities tied to the academic - as well as their participation and achievement in areas outside of the academic, for instance, character, leadership and citizenship development, the aesthetics and sports'.

Perhaps it is students like these who have more than just good academic records that elite universities want.

A teacher from a junior college in the east agreed with Sir Richard.

She said: 'It is possible to mug for the A levels and students now are better prepared. Every year, the percentage of As increase and it may not reflect intellectual ability.

'Students still need innate ability and diligence to get distinctions'.

Students echo her sentiments.

TOO MANY A'S

Koh Zhen Xiang, 17, a student from a top JC, said: 'We see people getting 7As, 8As, 9As all the time... To top international universities, there is no real way of telling such students apart.

'The A levels gauge how well you are able to memorise concepts but it doesn't necessarily translate into whether you are able to apply these concepts in real life.'

Mrs Lim feels this will not be the case with Singaporean students.

'Imperial College should not have any problems distinguishing between the applicants from Singapore and Britain as we do not take the same GCE A-level exams as the British.

'Especially with the revised A-level curriculum requiring contrasting subjects as well as General Paper, Project Work and the optional offering of subjects at H3 level, it will not be difficult for the admissions office to tell the strength of a good student and to recognise the rigour of the Singapore exams.'

The Ministry of Education shares her views.

A teacher from a top JC said the entrance exam might backfire on Imperial College, though.

'There are better schools to choose from. Perhaps English students will still compete for it, but I think the good international students won't,' she said.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Jun 10, 2008.