SINGAPORE - To ensure that students are fairly assessed after the implementation of full home-based learning, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) will be making adjustments in some GCE coursework submission and examination dates for A-level H3 subjects.

There are 34 GCE Normal (Technical)-, Normal (Academic)-, O- and A-level subjects with a coursework component as part of the national examination framework, SEAB said on Friday (April 17).

Most of the coursework cannot be done at home since it requires physical supervision by teachers or the use of school facilities and equipment, the board added.

Examples include the use of studios for Music, food laboratories for Food and Nutrition, studios for Design and Technology, and sports equipment and facilities for Exercise and Sports Science.

In total, 12 subjects will have their coursework submission deadlines extended by two weeks to ensure that assessment is fair and accurate.

The extension will "give students more time to complete the coursework and help reduce the anxiety of students and teachers".

SEAB said the remaining 22 of the 34 subjects will not have deadline extensions. Submission deadlines for those subjects are either very close to school preliminary examinations or year-end national examinations, or their coursework requirements can be fulfilled independently through research and study.

SEAB will also consider reducing task requirements where appropriate, as long as such adjustments do not compromise the validity of assessment.

It will also "accept evidence of learning from the schools and apply special consideration" in grading the candidates in these coursework subjects.

The board added: "In the event that full home-based learning is extended and that coursework national submission deadlines cannot be further extended without overlapping with school preliminary examinations, students should submit the coursework that they have so far completed. SEAB has established processes to ensure that these students will still be fairly assessed."

As for A-level H3 subjects taught by the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore Management University (SMU), national exams scheduled to take place in April and early May will be postponed to May 28.

These subjects are SMU Game Theory, NUS Geopolitics, Geographies of War and Peace, NTU Semiconductor Physics and Devices, and NTU Molecular Biology.

Students will take the exams at their respective junior colleges or Millennia Institute.

The schools will implement necessary precautionary measures to ensure the safety and well-being of all students and examination personnel, SEAB said.

The board added that it will continue to work closely with schools to provide guidance to students on examination matters and provide timely updates on any other changes required.