Here comes the time of the year where people are wondering whether to go JC or poly. I've mentioned a lot of times to my students about it, esp to my graduating class.

The general guidelines is like that:

1. Poly is safer - why? If you take JC and didn't do well enough for uni entrance, you'll be stuck with a A'lvl cert, which isn't exactly marketable. If you take poly and didn't do well enough to go to university, you'll have a diploma, which is good enough to get a job, so that you can work, save $ and go overseas for your eventually degree.

If you do well in both, it doesn't matter right? Poly has lesser downside risk, all else being the same.

2. Poly route + Uni is more marketable than JC route + uni - the time taken to graduate from Uni is the same. Assuming Poly takes 3 years and uni course takes 4 years (but for diploma grads, can enter straight to the 2nd yr of university, saving 1 year), the total time is 3 + 3 = 6 yrs.

For JC to uni route - it's 2 years for JC and 4 years for uni, again totalling to 6 years.

3. JC do not guarantee an entrance to university. Neither is it easier to go to university than through poly. In poly, you'll have to be in the top 5% to 10% to get into university, so a lot of people are afraid they can't make it. In JC, the admission rate depends highly on which JC you go to. In lower tiered JC, it's as depressing as this: out of 10 students, maybe only 2-3 can make it to the course they want.

Pick your choice.