SINGAPORE: On Tuesday (Feb 24), the Singapore-based global education rankings platform Schoolbell.net published the top ten most difficult university courses for students to get into in the city-state for this year.
The rankings are based on 2025 Indicative Grade Profile (IGP) data from Singapore’s top universities: the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and Singapore Management University (SMU).
The courses are ranked by 10th percentile IGPs for polytechnic and Singapore-Cambridge GCE A-Level entrants last year. The most competitive courses offer a rigorous study program as well as limited places for applicants.
Schoolbell.net explained that, therefore, higher 10th percentile IGPs suggest higher admissions selectivity, whether the score is in terms of polytechnic GPA or A-Level rank points.
All the courses in Schoolbell.net’s top 10 received a score of 67.5 rank points, but vary in terms of polytechnic GPAs.
Topping the list are four courses at NUS: Data Science and Economics (DSE), Dentistry, Law, and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE), together with three from NTU: Medicine, Renaissance Engineering, and Social Sciences Double Major.
Ranked second is another NUS course, Pharmaceutical Science.
NUS Information Security takes third place, while NUS Medicine is in fourth. NUS’s Common Computer Science Programmes and Computer Engineering round out the top five.
NUS Business Analytics is in sixth place, and NUS Pharmacy and SMU Law are tied in seventh. In eighth place is NUS Business Artificial Intelligence Systems, NUS Environmental Studies is ranked ninth, and NUS Food Science and Technology takes 10th place.
NUS is ranked eighth on the QS World University Rankings 2026, which was published last July. It is also number one in Asia. NTU, meanwhile, is ranked 12th, and SMU, which is more specialised than the two other universities, is ranked 511th, up from 585th the year before.
The high rankings of these universities highlight Singapore’s reputation as an educational powerhouse across the globe.
“With the maximum admission score now set at 70, the margin for error is slimmer and competition at the top is likely to feel even tighter. As students receive their A-Level results and plan their next steps, these rankings offer a clear snapshot of the courses where demand remains strongest, particularly in law, medicine, and technology, using the latest IGP benchmarks available,” a spokesman for Schoolbell.net said.
Schoolbell.net’s full ranking may be found here. /TISG
Read also: Education platform publishes list of top 10 JCs in Singapore
