Foundation

Modules

Our Foundation Programme comprises five broad-based core modules and two elective modules that are specific to the diploma programme. You will also have to complete a final project in a practical Studio Practice module.

Core modules

Language and Communication
Mathematical Literacy
Understanding the Arts
Learning and Technology
Research and Enquiry
Arts in Practice

In addition, students will need to complete two of the following elective modules that are related to their selected diploma programme.

Pathway Elective modules

Faculty of Art & Design

Design Essentials
Drawing essentials

Faculty of Performing Arts

Music Appreciation
Faculty Studies
Dance Techniques Foundation
Acting Techniques Foundation

Faculty of Interdisciplinary Practices

Introduction to Stage Productions*

*This module provides an overview of how stage productions are managed. Students will be introduced to the various stage and performance spaces, and the types of show that are performed in those spaces.

Programme structure

Module Title:	Credits:	Contact Hours per Week:
Trimester 1
Core Modules
Language and Communication 1	4	4
Mathematical Literacy 1	4	4
Understanding the Arts 1	4	4
Learning and Technology 1	4	4
Pathway Elective Modules^
Drawing Essentials	4	4
Faculty Studies	4	4
Introduction to Stage Productions	4	4
Trimester 2
Core Modules
Language and Communication 2	4	4
Mathematical Literacy 2	4	4
Understanding the Arts 2	4	4
Learning and Technology 2	4	4
Pathway Elective Modules^
Design Essentials	4	4
Acting Techniques Foundation	4	4
Dance Techniques Foundation 1	4	4
Music Appreciation	4	4
Trimester 3
Core Modules
Arts in Practice	4	4
Research and Enquiry	4	4
Pathway Elective Modules^
Dance Techniques Foundation 2	4	4

^ Students will only need to attend the pathway elective modules relevant to their Diploma programme.

Module Synopsis

Core Modules

Language and Communication
This module aims to build the foundation of communication skillsets. In the first trimester, emphasis is placed on the development and expansion of reading, listening, and speaking skills. In the second trimester, students will learn to develop their writing and oral communication skills required in classroom settings.

Mathematical Literacy
This module helps students develop skills required to apply mathematics in everyday situations. Emphasis is placed on the understanding and appreciation of mathematics within the arts. Students are expected to apply numeracy skills to sharpen their logical reasoning and problem-solving abilities.

Understanding the Arts
This module introduces students to the key concepts and elements in visual and performing arts. It aims to develop a basic understanding and appreciation of the similarities and differences in various arts disciplines. Students will acquire the competencies required in preparation for their chosen areas of specialisation.

Learning and Technology
This module introduces students to the academic strategies and skills to support their studies. It aims to enhance the student’s learning ability through individual, group and exploratory assignments. Topics include self and group management; learning strategies; problem solving; communication and collaboration; and information and technology.

Research and Enquiry
This module introduces students to the foundational principles of arts research through the study and identification of social issues pertaining to the arts industry and its practitioners. It aims to introduce primary concepts in research methods, interpretation and analytical skills necessary in an academic research process.

Arts in Practice
This module aims to introduce a methodical work process that will guide students through an extended project to produce a creative group outcome. It allows students the opportunity to reflect on their acquired skills, knowledge, and experiences through the programme and to apply them as they produce their art work.

Elective Modules

Drawing Essentials
This module introduces students to the basic skills of drawing. They will be encouraged to work with a range of drawing materials and techniques.

Design Essentials
This module introduces students to the basic concepts and elements of the visual language. They will explore the use of techniques and materials to articulate concepts through visualisation.

Acting Techniques Foundation
This module offers students an opportunity to explore the range of skills required for acting. Through practice-based sessions, they will learn foundation techniques in improvisation, character analysis, voice and movement.

Dance Techniques Foundation
This module aims to develop the foundation skills required for Ballet or Contemporary Dance. Areas of emphasis include technique, aesthetics, fitness, kinaesthetic awareness, movement efficiency, and safe practices.

Music Appreciation
This module aims to help students reinforce their theoretical knowledge; foundations in aural perception; and contextual information of the Western classical music. Students will be given opportunities to demonstrate their understanding in musical interpretation and instrumental techniques in performance classes.

Faculty Studies
This module provides students with the opportunity to participate in large ensemble rehearsals and performances. It aims to develop their aural and music reading skills, and awareness in ensemble skills.

Academic Calendar

The NFP is a 35-week programme which runs from March to February of the following year, and is divided into three trimesters. More than half of the curriculum and contact time is dedicated to arts theory and studio/practical components.

AY2025/2026
Trimester	Week	From (Monday)	To (Sunday)
Orientation – 14 March 2025, Friday
Trimester 1	Week 1 - 15	17 March 2025	29 June 2025
Mid-Trimester Week^	Week 8	5 May 2025	11 May 2025
Assessment Week	Week 15	23 June 2025	29 June 2025
Vacation		30 June 2025	17 August 2025

AY2025/2026
Trimester	Week	From (Monday)	To (Sunday)
Trimester 2	Week 1 - 15	18 August 2025	30 November 2025
Mid-Trimester Week^	Week 8	6 October 2025	12 October 2025
Assessment Week	Week 15	24 November 2025	30 November 2025
Vacation*		1 December 2025	11 January 2026

AY2025/2026
Trimester	Week	From (Monday)	To (Sunday)
Trimester 3	Week 1 - 8	12 January 2026	8 March 2026
Assessment Week	Week 8	2 March 2026	8 March 2026

AY2026/2027
Trimester	Week	From (Monday)	To (Sunday)
Trimester 1	Week 1 - 15	16 March 2026	28 June 2026
Mid-Trimester Week^	Week 8	4 May 2026	10 May 2026
Assessment Week	Week 16	22 June 2026	28 June 2026
Vacation		29 June 2026	16 August 2026

AY2026/2027
Trimester	Week	From (Monday)	To (Sunday)
Trimester 2	Week 1 - 15	17 August 2026	29 November 2026
Mid-Trimester Week^	Week 8	5 October 2026	11 October 2026
Assessment Week	Week 15	23 November 2026	29 November 2026
Vacation		30 November 2026	10 January 2027

AY2026/2027
Trimester	Week	From (Monday)	To (Sunday)
Trimester 3	Week 1 - 8	11 January 2027	7 March 2027
Assessment Week	Week 8	1 March 2027	7 March 2027

Note:
Students may be required to take part in projects, activities and events during Mid-Trimester Week and/or vacation period.

^ Programme may conduct academic-related activities such as make-up classes during the Mid-Trimester Week.

entry requirements

Educational Qualifications - Singapore

Singapore-Cambridge GCE N (Academic)-Level

An aggregate ELMAB3 (English Language, Mathematics, Best 3 other subjects) core of 15 points or better, excluding CCA Bonus Points.

The NFP is also available to you if you are a Secondary 4 Normal (Academic) student who has taken GCE O-Level subjects. You may combine your N(A) and O-Level examination results to determine your eligibility. If you have taken the same subject at both levels, only the better grade will be used in your aggregate score.

The following GCE O-Level Grade conversion matrix will be adopted during the computation of aggregates.

O-Level Grade	Aggregate Point for NFP
A1 - B3	1
B4 - C6	2
D7	3
E8	4

Note:
O-Level grade of F9 does not count towards your ELMAB3 aggregate score. If you have taken the same subject at both the N-Level and O-Level examinations, the better grade will be used to compute your ELMAB3 aggregate score to determine eligibility.

Please note that combination of the GCE N-Level results from different years for ELMAB3 aggregate computation is not allowed. The computation of ELMAB3 aggregate will only include the results from the GCE N-Level or GCE O-Level examinations in the academic year that immediately precedes your applications.

Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC)

An aggregate ELMAB3 (English Language, Mathematics, Best 3 other subjects) score of 15 points or better, which is computed with G2 subjects, excluding CCA points.

If you have taken subjects at G3, they will be mapped from G3 to G2.

Grade Mapping Table (G3 to G2)

G3	G2
A1, A2, B3	1
B4, C5, C6	2
D7	3
E8	4
9	5
-	6

In addition to meeting the educational qualification requirements, applicants must submit a portfolio, attend an admission test or audition, depending on their selected course of study. Applicants may be asked to attend an interview.

Successful applicants will be given a conditional offer of admission to the diploma programmes. Upon the successful completion of the NFP, students will be offered a place in their chosen diploma programme.

Educational Qualifications - International

Successful completion of at least 10 years of formal education.

If you have not completed a national or international examination after 10 years of formal education, you are required to submit a certified academic transcript from your most recent school examination or preliminary results.

If you are successful in your portfolio interview or audition, you will receive a conditional offer. However, you must still submit your final year-end examination results and meet the admission requirements of the respective programme. Failure to meet these requirements will result in the revocation of your conditional offer.

Upon the successful completion of the NFP, students will be offered a place in their chosen diploma programme.

English Language Proficiency

The English Language proficiency requirement for admission is a minimum of Grade 3 in the Singapore-Cambridge GCE N (A)-Level and SEC; or the following for international applicants:

IELTS Academic	TOEFL - iBT	PTE Academic	Duolingo English Test	SAT (Evidence-Based Reading and Writing component)
5	50	42	80	480

Any qualifications equivalent to any of the above

If you do not meet the English language proficiency requirement, you are still eligible to apply for the programme. However, you will be required to attend an interview and your application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Portfolio/Admission test/Audition Requirements

For programmes under Faculty of Art & Design

You will need to submit a portfolio or attend an admission test

(A) Portfolio Submission
You will need to submit 10-15 pieces of recent art or design original work from at least two of the following categories: paintings, drawings, collages, posters, sculptures, digital illustrations, photographs, and/or short videos. These works should demonstrate your creative development and process and be created solely by you (not copied from the internet, magazines or reproduced from another source) and not be generated by AI tools.

You are required to submit your portfolio here.

(Allowed image file types: .pdf,.jpg,.jpeg,.png,.gif,.tif,.tiff,.bmp. Maximum image file size: 10 MB)
(Allowed video file types: .mpeg,.mp4,.mov,.m4v,.avi,.wmv,.flv,.asf,.mpg,.mp3. Maximum image file size: 200 MB)

The work submitted should preferably be not more than two years old. It may be the result of assigned class projects or independent exploration. It is recommended that the selected examples of work reflect your interests, experience and competencies in art and design.

Your portfolio should contain your original works from at least two of the following categories: paintings, drawings, collages, posters, sculptures, digital images (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc), photographs, and/or video clips.

Guidelines on taking photographs of artworks:

A clean background with no visual clutter distracting the artwork should be used.

The artwork should be evenly lit and there should not be any shadows cast on the artworks

You are required to upload your portfolio online and label each work as follows:
1. Title of your work (if any)
2. Medium used
3. Month/year created
4. Description

You are also expected to write a statement of intent of about 100 words, stating your reasons for pursuing a programme of study in art and design. Please include your goals, interests, and aspirations for the future.

Submit Portfolio
19 December 2025 to 5 January 2026

(B) Admission Test

The duration of the admission test is 2 hours 15 minutes.

Part 1: Drawing from Observation (90 minutes) Part 2: Written Ability (45 minutes)

Please bring along these materials for the Admission Test:

Any type of drawing/colouring materials, e.g. 2B pencils, colour pencils, water colour, poster colour, markers, etc.
Blue/black pens, pencils and eraser
Set Square
Drawing Board (Optional)

Admission Test Date
8 January 2026

For Diploma in Arts Management

Personal Statement and optional Testimonial
You are required to submit a 500-word personal statement here. Submission of a Testimonial is optional.

Personal Statement
Your personal statement should articulate your interest for the arts and future career goals. Through your personal statement, you will be evaluated based on your:

Past experiences in artistic practice, arts management and/or attending arts events
Aspiration to work in the arts and cultural industries
Written communication skills

Testimonial (optional)
The testimonial should be written by an official (e.g. teacher, principal, advisor, etc.) of an educational institution you have attended. Through the testimonial, you will be evaluated based on your:

Personality traits
Participation in co-curricular activities
Leadership ability or potential
(Allowed document file type: .pdf. Maximum document file size: 10 MB)

Submit Personal Statement and/or optional Testimonial
19 December 2025 to 5 January 2026

For Diploma in Dance

Audition
You will receive a confirmation email containing the audition details nearer to your assigned audition date.

You will be required to attend an audition.

The audition consists of two sections - Practical Assessment and Interview.
You are required to report to the audition venue 30 minutes earlier to register, warm up and change into appropriate attire for dancing. You must bring your own attire.
The audition may take up to 2 hours.

Practical Assessment
You are expected to prepare and perform two contrasting solos of any dance genre/style (e.g. Ballet and Cultural Dance; Chinese classical dance and Chinese folk dance).

Each dance should not exceed 90 seconds. The solo dance can be choreographed by yourself or by someone else (e.g. your dance teacher).
You are required to bring your own music which can played from your own media device (e.g. phone, tablet, or other audio device).
A costume (e.g. tutu for female ballet classical solo) may be worn.
Through your performance, assessors will evaluate your:
- Technique - coordination, control and alignment
- Artistry - spatial awareness, musicality, dynamic range and performance quality
- Fitness - strength, control, flexibility, coordination, speed, stamina and stretch

Interview
You are expected to discuss why you want to study dance during the interview. You will be evaluated based on your:

Existing knowledge of and experience in dance performance
Dance-related interests and career aspirations
Dance proclivity and learning attitude
Any medical or health concerns

Applicants who are unable to attend a live audition may request for an online audition. Both options will be followed by an online interview with the applicant alone and without the assistance of any other person.

Guidelines for the pre-recorded solos are as follows:

You cannot perform/ dance with any make up in the audition videos, although you can tie your hair according to what's necessary.
You have to come to the front of the camera (where your face can be seen clearly) and do a brief introduction of yourself. You will then proceed to move into the space and start dancing your solos after the introduction. * Please note that the video has to be shot in one take and not being edited in any way. Otherwise, the audition videos will not be considered.
This applies to both male and female applicants.
The photo that you send in should be the one that resembles how you look like now.
For the online interview, no interpreter should be around, or the interview could be disqualified.

Dance Audition Date
14 January 2026

For Diploma in Theatre

You are required to attend an audition. The audition consists of three sections — Workshop, Audition Monologue and Interview.

You will be given three audition monologues at least one week prior to the audition and you will need to choose one. You are expected to memorise or be very prepared with your chosen piece
You are required to report to the audition venue 30 minutes earlier to register
The audition may take up to three hours
Wear comfortable clothing that allows for ease of movement

Workshop
You are expected to participate enthusiastically in the improvisation exercises and theatre games during the workshop. Through your participation in the workshop, you will be evaluated based on your:

Openness to improvisation and willingness to work with others
Vocal response in an improvisation – projection, range, tone and clarity
Physical response in an improvisation – expressiveness, spontaneity and range

Audition Monologue
During the audition, you will be asked to perform one of the three pieces of dramatic texts. You are expected to arrive with your chosen monologue memorised. Through your performance of the monologue, assessors will evaluate your:

Ability to perform a dramatic text – comprehension, characterisation and creativity
Physical skills – presence on stage, spatial awareness, physical range, movement vocabulary and physical portrayal of character
Vocal skills – projection, clarity, range and tone

Interview
You are expected to discuss why you want to study theatre during the interview. You will be reviewed based on your:

Existing knowledge of and experience in theatre and/or performance
Personality traits
Innovation and creativity

Theatre Audition Date
14 January 2026

For Diploma in Music and Diploma in Music Teaching

The list of principal study instruments offered by School of Music is as follows:

Keyboard Studies	Piano
Strings Studies	Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass Harp
Winds Studies	Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon Horn, Trumpet, Euphonium, Tuba Saxophone (applicants can play either two contrasting works on Alto saxophone or one on Alto and one on Tenor/Baritone)* Trombone (applicants must perform with Tenor Trombone)*
Percussion Studies	Percussion (applicants must prepare Snare Drum, Mallets, and Timpani for audition)
Chinese Instrumental Studies	Gaohu, Erhu, Liuqin, Pipa, Ruan Guqin, Sanxian Yangqin Guzheng Dizi, Sheng, Suona, Guanzi
Vocal Studies	Voice (Classical)
Composition Studies	Composition (Diploma in Music ONLY)

Please see below for instructions to the audition process for (A) instrumentalists and vocalists, or (B) composers.

(A) Instrumentalists and vocalists
You are to attend an in-person audition fulfilling the following requirements:

Duration: total performance duration of at least 12 minutes
Pieces: 2 contrasting works
Pieces must be written by different composers
Pieces must demonstrate contrast in style, character, and technical command
Suggested repertoire include:
- Instrumentalists: sonata, concerto, étude, or solo works
- Vocalists: operatic repertoire, art songs, or works from other established classical genres

Note:

Works from popular music genres (e.g. pop songs or contemporary commercial music) will not be accepted.
Only acoustic instruments are permitted. Electric instruments are not allowed.

Accompaniment Requirements

You are encouraged to perform with an accompanist if the chosen works require accompaniment.
If a live accompanist is not available, you may use a backing track with your own device and speaker.

(B) Composers
You are to submit a composition portfolio fulfilling the following requirements:

Portfolio to include 2 – 5 contrasting compositions
Compositions must be written scores using composition software such as Sibelius, Finale, MuseScore, etc.
Compositions must be submitted in PDF format. Recording of compositions (live or midi) is optional.
The written music must be clear and legible with full information of instrumentation, scoring and performance details.

Audition Requirements
The in-person audition will consist of the following:

Performance of two contrasting works (for instrumentalists and vocalists)
Reviewing of composition portfolio (for composition applicants)
Sight-reading
Aural awareness
Music theory*
Short interview with the audition panel about your musical experiences, interests and ambitions for future studies and career

Important notes on preparing for your in-person audition

All instrumentalists except percussionists and pianists are required to bring their principal study instrument for the audition. You are required to provide a set of music scores of the pieces for the audition panel.

You are encouraged to perform with an accompanist if the chosen works require accompaniment. If a live accompanist is not available, you may use a backing track with your own device and speaker.

You are not allowed to bring a page-turner, a teacher or a translator to the audition. The only people in the audition room will be you, the accompanist and the audition panel.

As our programmes are taught in English, you will be expected to communicate in English at the audition.

The audition panel reserves the right to hear only part of the programme overall.

The audition will be recorded for evaluation purposes and used solely for the selection process.

*Music Theory Test

During the music theory test (approximately 60 minutes), you will be tested on various areas at a level comparable to ABRSM Grade V.

You will be exempted from the music theory test if you submit any of the following documentary evidence before the audition:

ABRSM Grade V Music Theory or its equivalent
Pass in GCE ‘O’ Level or GCE ‘A’ Level Music
Pass in SOTA Music Year 4 and above
Pass in Music Theory subject in a specialist music school

You are also required to submit the following documents to the Student Admissions Office at least ONE (1) day before the scheduled audition:

ABRSM/Trinity Practical and Theory Certificates and Transcripts
Form 5B: Background and References

Music Audition Date
14 January 2026