What You Should Consider Before Switching from Pure Science to Combined Science
combined science for O levels
Selecting your subject combination requires careful consideration. For most Secondary Two students, the multitude of available alternatives may appear intimidating, particularly for those undecided between pure scientific and integrated science.
It is fairly unusual for students to subsequently realise that they may have chosen the incorrect choice at this point. If this describes you, have no fear! Consider the following questions before transitioning from pure science to combined science for O levels.
Before submitting your application to modify your subject combination quickly, you should carefully consider your options and discuss your professors and parents/guardians. You cannot return to pure sciences after you have dropped to integrated sciences!
What is your primary reason for leaving?
The inability to cope with the rigour of pure sciences is the most prevalent cause for transferring to mixed science. It is simple to grow disheartened when your examination papers repeatedly return with borderline pass or fail grades. It may be beneficial to consider the fundamental reason for the bad outcomes.
Do you actually not comprehend the taught material? Or were you able to understand these topics but just did not take the time to solidify your knowledge?
If you replied “yes” to the first question, you might schedule meetings with your teacher to clarify class contents. If you feel that you cannot manage the homework and that continuing with pure sciences might negatively impact your ‘O’ Level grades, it may be best to consider dropping with your teacher’s advice.
Merely hating a topic may not be sufficient to justify dropping it. By devoting sufficient time and effort to review, many students may thrive in topics that they dislike.
What impact will this have on your future?
Despite its frightening appearance, there are positive features on both sides of this topic. What you anticipate accomplishing in the future and what is necessary to fulfil that vision will determine which side provides the most rewards.
There are often no topic requirements for courses at polytechnics. Taking sciences at the H2 level at junior college (JC) needs a passing grade in the relevant pure science at the ‘O’ Levels (e.g., taking H2 Physics requires at least a B3 in ‘O’ Level pure Physics).
If you consider this choice, you may wish to continue on the road of pure sciences. If, on the other hand, you are confident that you do not want to do science at the H2 level, you may wish to drop to combined science to achieve the highest possible scores for ‘O’ Levels and gain admission to the JC of your choice. Feel confident that you can attend JC with integrated science as long as your score satisfies the school’s minimum requirement.
If you’re planning further ahead, you may wish to include courses requiring H2 Chemistry and/or H2 Physics/Biology for JC students. If you choose to enrol in these courses following JC, you should stick to the pure science route:
- Science
- Medicine
- Dentistry
- The majority of engineering programmes.
What effect will this have on your results?
This relates back to your major motivation for dropping to integrated science.
Moving to combined science is unlikely to significantly boost your performance if you have not had sufficient time to consolidate what you’ve learned. This is because the main reason for your low marks is improper study habits, not a lack of comprehension.
Changing from pure to mixed science will not magically improve your marks. It would help if you continued actively preparing for the topics anyway. By lowering the quantity of knowledge on the curriculum, combined science makes life easier for individuals who struggle to keep up.
If you can stay up in class but consistently perform poorly on tests, it may signal that you can flourish in the sciences if you put in additional time and effort. In this case, do not yet drop the subject! If you exert more effort on successive examinations, your performance will improve.
