Direct School Admission (DSA) 2024

Introduction

DSA-Sec is an admission exercise which provides students with the opportunity to seek admission to a secondary school, based on a diverse range of specific academic and non-academic achievements and talents that they can demonstrate beyond the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). The objective of the DSA-Sec is to promote holistic education by giving participating schools greater flexibility in selecting students while holding on to the key principles of transparency and meritocracy. For students, the DSA provides them the opportunity to demonstrate a more diverse range of achievements and talents in seeking admission to secondary schools.

In Canberra Secondary School, staff and students alike are constantly engaged in developing new ideas for the digital media in teaching and learning. Our DSA talent area in Visual Art – Media Arts / Film / Photography, is aligned with our Applied Learning Programme (Digital Media). Through our structured school-wide Applied Learning Programme (Digital Media), our students are given a headstart in Digital Media. The programme incorporates learning in authentic setting and integrates education and career experiences for the students. The exposure in depth and breadth gives our students the opportunity and skillsets to further their interests in Digital Media related fields later in their education and career choices.

The school has vacancies for up to 20% of our Secondary 1 cohort in 2025 for the DSA-Sec programme. Interested students can apply through the DSA process.

Parents and students are encouraged to choose schools wisely based on the student’s aptitudes and strengths, bearing in mind the schools’ academic and non-academic requirements, and the programmes available to develop the area of talent.

Students who are successfully admitted to the school via DSA are expected to honour their commitment to the school, and participate in the activities related to the talent they are selected for from year 1-4.

Admission Criteria

Keen interest and/or prior knowledge in learning Digital Media such as Photography, Videography and Animation. Exhibits high aptitude in creative and artistic areas.
Candidate should show evidence of working independently and collaboratively with others in the creation of their products.
Candidate should be able to communicate his/her design ideas and techniques to others.
Must be in Primary 6 at the point of application or equivalent (international students).
Candidates are encouraged to e-submit their e-portfolio* for the interview.
We seek your kind understanding that meeting all the criteria does not guarantee the student will be shortlisted/given an offer.

E-submission of e-portfolio

Submit an e-portfolio of 3-5 original works using presentation slides on PowerPoint (photo of 1 work per slide).

Works chosen:

Should be completed in the last 3 years and can include works done in school Art lesson, Art CCA.

Can include 2D, 3D (3D works can have up to 8 images), and time-based works (e.g. videos, animations, can be hosted online with link provided in slide).

Should reflect student’s interests, experiences, abilities and qualities (e.g. in observing/perceiving/imagining, being curious/self-motivated, etc.).

E-portfolio can be in PowerPoint or PDF format with the following file-naming convention:
Student’s Current School Name _Student’s Name_DSA Talent Area applied

Email the file (<20MB) to lim_puay_ee@moe.edu.sg OR Upload to Google Drive to then share link with lim_puay_ee@moe.edu.sg (privacy setting should be ‘Public’ or ‘Anyone with the Link’).

E-portfolios submitted will only be used for DSA selection purpose and will be deleted after selection is completed.

Important Dates

The application period is from 7 May 2024, 11am - 3 June 2024, 3pm.
All short-listed candidates will be notified by 28 June 2024 to attend an interview. Selection phase is from 2 July – 29 August 2024.
All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by 9 September 2024.
Students who are offered a DSA-Sec place will need to exercise their School Preference within the period from 21 October - 25 October 2024. This can be done online through the DSA-Sec Portal.

How to apply

Application for DSA-Sec can be submitted through the online DSA-Sec Portal. The application is free-of-charge and will be open from 7 May 2024, 11am to 3 June 2024, 3pm. For more details, please refer to MOE website – https://www.moe.gov.sg/secondary/dsa.

Parents and students are encouraged to choose schools wisely based on the student’s aptitudes and strengths, bearing in mind the schools’ academic and non-academic requirements, and the programmes available to develop the area of talent.

For further enquiries, please email lim_puay_ee@moe.edu.sg