Record Number of Working Adults Keen on Further Education

Kaplan Singapore ranked top again among all private education institutions

(Singapore, 19 December 2013): The demand for further education among Singapore adult learners has never been higher – 82.7 per cent of 8,367 respondents in the 2013 JobsCentral Learning Rankings & Survey indicated that they wanted to upgrade their qualifications, a significant increase of 15.6 per cent from 71.5 per cent in 2012 and the highest since the Survey began in 2009.

In addition, 86.5 per cent of all respondents also indicated that the biggest reason for pursuing further education is to advance their careers.

“Nowadays, being successful in a chosen career path often requires a Degree or even a Masters. Most diploma-holders have traditionally strived for a degree, while degree-holders increasingly look for post-graduate studies. In addition, we notice that corporate workshops and other professional certifications are also becoming increasingly popular. Our professionals recognise that while having the right qualifications can open doors to a promotion or raise, they also know that continuous upgrading increases their value beyond just a formal education,” says Mr Lim Der Shing, CEO of JobsCentral Group.

Held every year since 2009, the JobsCentral Learning Rankings and Survey ranks Singapore’s private education institutions (PEIs) and studies learning preferences of working professionals. A total of 8,367 respondents took part in this year’s survey, which was conducted online from September to October this year. The results of the survey are statistically significant and have an error margin of 1.07% at a 95% confidence level.

Top Three Private Schools Retain Their Ranks

Kaplan Singapore, SIM Global Education and PSB Academy retain their places as first, second and third most popular PEI respectively from 2012, while the LASALLE College Of The Arts and the Nanyang Academy Of Fine Arts return to the top ten this year.

Top 10 Rankings for the 2013 JobsCentral Most Popular Private Education Institutions:

Rise in popularity of Hospitality/ Tourism/ F&B courses

While Business Studies / Management courses (2,548 votes) continue to be the most popular choice for further education, an increase in popularity has been observed for Hospitality/ Tourism/ F&B courses. Hospitality/ Tourism/ F&B courses climb from 4th to 2nd as the most preferred course for further education after gathering 1,938 votes from 28 per cent of the respondents.

In contrast, Dentistry (39 votes), Marine-related (114 votes) and Architectural/ Building (114 votes) are among the least popular courses for further education.

Top 5 Most Preferred Courses of study

“The increasing popularity of Tourism & Hospitality courses reflects the growth of Singapore as a tourism hub. In recent years, we have seen many exciting developments with the growth of the integrated resorts, the Singapore Grand Prix, Michelin star restaurants, etc. These high-profile stories, when coupled with strong industry revenue growth, have led to a corresponding increase in interest for training and education to work in those industries,” notes Lim.

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About the JobsCentral Group

The JobsCentral Group, a CareerBuilder company, comprises of JobsCentral.com.sg, JobsCentral BrightMinds, JobsCentral Career and Learning Fair, JobsCentral Learning and BrightSparks. JobsCentral.com.sg (with JobsCentral BrightMinds) is one of Singapore’s largest job portals with over 1 million registered jobseekers, 8 million page views, 15,000 new jobseeker signups and 300,000 job applications every month. The annual JobsCentral Career and Education Fair enjoys >50,000 visits and features a unique networking session popular with employers and jobseekers. JobsCentral Learning offers a one-stop location for research, enquiries and signups of education and training programs. And BrightSparks is Singapore’s largest and most popular scholarship and higher education platform for pre-tertiary students.