Pathway for Singapore Psychology Education

In Life, sometimes we take the most direct path, sometimes we take a longer route.  It's okay, no matter which way we take.  The most important thing is that we have a destination.

The most common route for Singaporean students is shown on the left, which is a direct route (after secondary education) to the post-secondary education (Junior University/Polytechnics), followed by moving up to a local university education.  Thousands of students go through this similar system every year.  This is also very common for psychology students.

Getting to post-secondary education ('A' levels / diploma) after secondary education is quite straightforward (some advice);  you pretty much only have three choices - doing your 'A' levels, doing a diploma in the local polytechnics, or in a PEI.  However it is the situation after the first post-secondary education that is not so straightforward.

The usual pathway after post-secondary education ('A' levels / diploma) would be to proceed on to do a degree, either in a local university or overseas university.  However, there are also situations where:

(a) Students choose to do a Psychology diploma in the local polytechnics or PEIs, after their 'A' levels.

(b) Students choose to do a Psychology diploma, because they did a previous non-Psychology diploma.

Students who did their diplomas in the PEIs would usually tend to stick with the same PEI to do their degrees.  You might want to consider these factors and advice when considering and comparing the PEIs.

All these different post-secondary education, 'A' levels or diploma (polytechnic or PEI), should enable you to get to a Bachelors degree (overall comparison), either in a local university (local comparison) or overseas degree provided by a PEI. However, you must still work very hard in your studies to enable you to get into the next level.  Studying in a Psychology program can be really tough and difficult, and a lot of people may have difficulties moving up from Bachelors to Honours to Masters

Most students who have done their Honours degree do hope to do a postgraduate degree.  There are some available in Singapore.  However, you need to be very dedicated and passionate in Psychology for your studies as well as work, as this passions will decide whether or not you will stay in the psychological field.

Note: In the above pathway, this academic journey might be disrupted for work at any point; however, one can always come back to continue their psychological education in the next level.  But do practice good time management if you plan to work and study at the same time

Good luck in your psychological journey!!!

This post first appeared on SG Psych Stuff.