Course Curation
Overview of the course guidelines in NUS
Short Course (Non - Credit Bearing)
Professional Certificate
Advanced Professional Certificate
Modular Course (Credit Bearing)
Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma
Bachelor's Degree/Master's Degree
Standalone vs Stackable Courses
Standalone/
Short Courses
- Non-credit bearing course
- Can be stacked up to either a Professional Certficate or Advanced Professional Certificate
Stackables/ Academic Modules
- Credit-bearing course
- Stacked up to a full qualification (a Graduate Diploma and above)
Certificates in NUS
| Certificate Type | What is this certificate for? | What it is comprised of | How long does it take? | What can it stack towards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional Certificate (PC) | Acquire industry-relevant knowledge and skills in a particular subject area. For topical or fast-moving technological areas, PCs may provide training at an advanced level. | Non-credit bearing short courses | 6 to 7 days | May be stacked towards and Advanced Professional Certificate |
| Advanced Professional Certificate (APC) | Deepen industry-relevant knowledge and skills in a particular subject area | Comprises a series of PCs | 18 to 28 days | NA |
| Executive Certificate | Ideal for upskilling and acquiring competencies in new skill areas | Comprises credit-bearing short courses | 1 semester | May be stacked towards a Specialist Certificate/ Graduate Certificate/ Graduate Diploma/Degree |
| Graduate Certificate | Ideal for deepening mastery in specific sub-areas based on the completion of combinations of credit-bearing modules | Comprises credit-bearing postgraduate modular courses | ~1 semester to 3 years | May be stacked towards a Graduate Diploma/Master’s Degree |
| Specialist Certificate | Designed for working adults who wish to obtain specialised knowledge in subject area
|
Comprises credit-bearing undergraduate modular courses | ~12 to 18 months | May be stacked towards a Bachelor’s Degree |
| Graduate Diploma | Provides focused professional training in a specific niche at the graduate level | Credit-bearing courses | 1 to 3 years | May be stacked towards a Master’s Degree |
| Bachelor’s Degree | University degree for undergraduates | Comprises of credit-bearing modules | 3 to 4 years | NA |
| Master’s Programme | Develop mastery of a field and prepares students for the practice of a profession or as a precursor to doctoral training | Comprises of credit-bearing modules | NA |
Course Funding Eligibility
CET units are required to take note of the following:
- SSG’s course funding regime will comprise of two tiers
- Tier 1 – baseline subsidy of up to 70% course fees; up to 90% of course fees with enhanced subsidy
- Tier 2 – baseline subsidy of up to 50% course fees; up to 70% of course fees with enhanced subsidy
- CET units should ensure sufficient grant allocation, including both quantum and training places, is available before curating new courses for approval.
- All stackable programmes must adhere to the 50% modularization cap limit and other stacking conditions to a full-time qualification degree
- All programmes must be conducted in adherence to SSG-approved information submitted.
- CET units must ensure that applicants fulfill the following requirements:
- Must either be a Singapore Citizen (SC) or Permanent Resident (PR) of Singapore to qualify for the funding
- Must meet SSG’s requirement of a minimum of 75% attendance rate to be eligible for a certificate.
- Must pass all prescribed examinations and assessments
- Courses will have to secure a minimum response rate of 75% response rate from the TRAQOM Quality survey, and not be ranked in the lowest-quality category by SSG
- From Jan 1, 2025, courses due for renewal must meet at least a 75% attendance rate and to ensure their courses are relevant to industry needs
- All CET units will be subjected to SSG TPQA audit
Non-Credit Bearing Courses
Non-credit bearing courses refer to short courses that do not stack up to a Graduate Diploma/Bachelor’s Degree/Master’s Degree.
- Course structure guideline for short course:
- Minimum training duration for each short course must adhere to the 7 hours/day requirement (excluding assessment hour, tea/lunch break, travel time, evaluation, ice breaker, field visits etc.)
- Course structure guideline for Professional Certificate:
- Minimum duration for a professional certificate is 42 hours (excluding assessment, hour, tea/lunch break, travel time, evaluation, ice breaker, field visits etc.). This is equivalent to 6 full days.
- Course structure guideline for Advanced Professional Certificate:
- The minimum duration for an advanced professional certificate is 84 hours (excluding assessment, hour, tea/lunch break, travel time, evaluation, ice breaker, field visits etc.). This is equivalent to 12 full days.
- 2–3 Professional Certificates (PCs) can be stacked to attain an Advanced Professional Certificate (APC), with each PC comprising 42 hours of training.
- Further notes on PC/APCs:
- All courses (100%) within each PC and APC) must be NUS courses. These are defined as courses that are taught, co-taught, supervised, or co-supervised by one or more NUS-appointed teaching staff.Please refer to “Framework for NUS Professional and Advanced Professional Certificates” <PVO>
- The stacking model for the non-credit bearing course is a guidance to
Short Course
Profesional Certificate (PC)
Advanced Professional Certificate (At least 2 to 3 PCs)
Credit Bearing Courses
- Stacking model – The stacking model for credit-bearing courses may follow either of the pathways below. All modules must meet the minimum training hours requirement of 7 hours (excluding assessment, lunch break, preparation work, course survey, ice breaker and self-learning)
- Modular courses with 1 – 4 units per course can be stacked up to an Executive Certificate (4 units of 1unit/module)
- An Executive Certificate can then be stacked up to a Specialist Certificate measuring up to 16 units, which can then be stacked up to a undergraduate degree.
Modular Courses
Executive Certificate
Specialist Certificate
Undergraduate Degree
- An Executive Certificate can be stacked up to a Graduate Certificate, that is made up of 8 to 16 units.
- A Graduate Certificate can be stacked to a Graduate Diploma worth 24 units, which can then be stacked to a Master’s Degree.
Modular Courses
Executive Certificate
Graduate Certificate
Graduate Diploma
Master's Degree
- Cross-stacking
- Cross-stacking of modules across different faculties/schools are allowed.
- Cross-stacking
- Modularization Cap
- For stackable programmes such as the Master’s Degree, Bachelor’s Degree and Graduate Diploma, SSG has a modular cap of 50%. Hence, CET units must ensure that SSG-funded modules only take up half of the programme.
- An example will be a Master’s Degree that is made up of 40 units. The maximum allowable number of units will be 20 units of SSG-funded programmes.
- The remaining 20 units must be non-SSG funded modules. With this approach, CET units will not exceed the 50% funding cap set by SSG
- For stackable programmes such as the Master’s Degree, Bachelor’s Degree and Graduate Diploma, SSG has a modular cap of 50%. Hence, CET units must ensure that SSG-funded modules only take up half of the programme.
| Certificate Type | Total No. of units | Modularisation Funding Cap by SSG (50%) |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate Diploma | Minimum 24 units with at least 18 units at Level 5000 and above or 6 courses worth 4 units each | 12 units |
| Bachelor’s Degree | Min. 120 – 160 units | 60 – 80 units |
| Master’s Degree | Min. 40 units with at least 30 units at Level 5000 – 6000, or 10 courses worth 4 units each | 20 – 40 units |
COURSE FEE GUIDE
CET units are to follow the recommended course fee guide listed below during the course curation phase and complete the Costing Template provided.
- Cost Recovery Ratio (CRR) cannot exceed 30%, as per guidelines from SSG.
- Attrition for unforeseen circumstances has to be factored into the costing (failure to claim CFG due to participant failing or not completing the programme). attrition It is suggested CET units include 10% of the break-even numbers to account for the.
- Actual cost and imputed cost (existing operational cost for CET units)
- Short courses – The recommended course fee guide below is based on the minimum of one-day training or 7 hours/day
- Basic level: $850
- Intermediate level: $950
- Advanced level: $1,050
- Modular courses – The recommended course fee guide below is based on the minimum of one-day training or 7 hours/day
| No. of MC | Post-Graduate Non-Lab | Post-Graduate Lab |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | $5,400.00 | $5,800.00 |
| 3 | $4,050.00 | $4,350.00 |
| 2 | $2,700.00 | $2,900.00 |
| 1 | $1,350.00 | $1,450.00 |
Further Guide on Course Fee
- CET units are required to go by block hours of every half day or 3.5 hours (i.e. course durations will be a minimum of 7 hours or 10.5 hours with an incremental of 3.5 hours). Course fees will increase accordingly.
- For a 10.5-hour Basic programme, the calculation will go as follows:
- 850 + (850/7×3.5) = 850 +425 = $1,275
- Should there be a need for CET units to deviate from the course fee/day’s structure, the ceiling will be $1,200 per day for an Advanced-level programme.
- Strong justifications in writing must be provided for approval (e.g. use of specialized equipment or niche skillsets of trainers commanding premium pricing, etc.)
Costing Template
CET units are to take note of the following points when completing the costing template
- For programme-specific fixed/development costs, CET units are to amortize the cost by the number of estimated course runs, where applicable.
- Eg. If the programme development cost incurred is $10,000 for 10 planned runs, the fixed cost should be $10,000/10 = $1,000.
- Input the CET unit’s notes/assumptions for each cost item.
- SSG Course Submission Fee is $100 per SSG-Funded course, subjected to prevailing GST rates.