Pupils undergo four to five years of secondary education with different curricular emphases.
The majority of pupils undergo the Special course or Express course while the rest enter the Normal course. The four-year Special course provides able pupils with the opportunity to study English and the Mother Tongue at a higher level, that is, Higher Malay, Higher Chinese or Higher Tamil. At the end of Secondary Four, they take the GCE 'O' level examination. Unlike pupils in the Special course, pupils study English and the Mother Tongue, which is either, Malay, Chinese or Tamil. Pupils take the GCE 'N' level examination at the end of the fourth year.