Mother Tongue Languages
Learn about the Mother Tongue Language policy, syllabuses, and requirements for A-Level and university admission.
Mother Tongue Languages (MTL)
About the Programme
The Mother Tongue Language (MTL) policy requires all students (including international students) to offer an MTL. In general, students who are Chinese/Malay/Indian in ethnicity are required to study their respective MTL. There is, however, flexibility in the implementation of the MTL policy. Students who are Eurasians or of mixed parentage may apply to offer any of the 3 official MTL. For Singapore Citizen students with double-barrelled race, MTL will be assigned based on the first component race. Non-Tamil Indian students may apply to offer one of the 5 approved NTIL i.e. Non-Tamil Indian Languages (Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu). In addition, a non-Chinese/non-Malay student may apply to offer CL/ML as his/her MTL if there are valid grounds to do so. All applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
MTL B
Mother Tongue B is not a H1 or H2-Level subject. Performance in the Chinese B/Malay B/ Tamil B is indicated as Merit, Pass or Ungraded. Students who pass MTL B will be deemed to have met the Mother Tongue requirement for admission to University. However, no consideration will be given in the computation of university admission score.
A-Level Syllabus
Click the following link for an overview of the 8655 H1 Chinese Language syllabus as well as the assessment format:
https://www.seab.gov.sg/docs/default-source/national-examinations/syllabus/alevel/2023syllabus/8655_y23_sy.pdf
Click the following link for an overview of the 8611 H1 Chinese Language B syllabus as well as the assessment format:
https://www.seab.gov.sg/docs/default-source/national-examinations/syllabus/alevel/2023syllabus/8611_y23_sy.pdf
Click the following link for an overview of the 8656 H1 Malay Language syllabus as well as the assessment format:
https://www.seab.gov.sg/docs/default-source/national-examinations/syllabus/alevel/2023syllabus/8656_y23_sy.pdf
Click the following link for an overview of the 8613 H1 Malay Language B syllabus as well as the assessment format:
https://www.seab.gov.sg/docs/default-source/national-examinations/syllabus/alevel/2023syllabus/8613_y23_sy.pdf
Click the following link for an overview of the 8657 H1 Tamil Language syllabus as well as the assessment format:
https://www.seab.gov.sg/docs/default-source/national-examinations/syllabus/alevel/2023syllabus/8657_y23_sy.pdf
Click the following link for an overview of the 8614 H1 Tamil Language B syllabus as well as the assessment format:
https://www.seab.gov.sg/docs/default-source/national-examinations/syllabus/alevel/2023syllabus/8614_y23_sy.pdf
Prerequisites/Suitability
For MTL Syllabus
Students who obtained a D7 or better for CL/ML/TL, or an E8 or below for HCL/HML/HTL in the O-Level examination must offer H1CL/ML/TL and sit for the A-Level H1MTL examination in JC1.
Students need not take the H1 MTL at A-Level if they have obtained a D7 or better in Higher MTL (HTML) at O-Level as they would have been deemed to have fulfilled the MTL requirement. However, as MTL is an integral part of the A-Level curriculum, H1 MTL cannot be replaced with another subject. All students will need to meet the minimum ‘S’ grade (sub-pass) in H1 MTL or D7 in O-Level HMTL for local university admission.
For university admission, students who score well may submit their MTL grades (as an H1) on top of other subjects required towards their University Admission Score, which will be re-based. O-Level HMTL grades can take the place of H1 MTL in the computation of the University Admission Score. O-Level HMTL cannot be counted together with H1 MTL. The better grade of the two subjects may be used.
For students who have previously obtained official approval to offer non-MTL (i.e. Chinese, Malay or Tamil) or Non-Tamil Indian Languages (NTIL), it is not necessary to submit a new application. These students will continue to offer the approved non-MTL or NTIL at pre-university level, if applicable. Students offering an approved H1 Foreign Language/Asian Language/ Non-Tamil Indian Language in lieu of MTLs will have to register their FL/MTL in their own language centres (e.g. MOE Language Centres).
For MTL B Syllabus
Students who already offered CLB/MLB/TLB in their secondary schools will continue to offer the approved MTL B in JC.
Other Contact Details
Do you have a question that has not been addressed on this site? If so, feel free to write to one of us:
HOD / Ms Lee Ting Ting:
lee_ting_ting@moe.edu.sgSH / Mr Tan Lye Huat:
tan_lye_huat@moe.edu.sg