Hi, can anyone recommend any institutions that offer A-levels in Malaysia? Preferably in Selangor.

Also, would it be better to take A-Levels at a international school or a college? Because I know International schools like Dwi Emas and Cempaka offer A-levels but colleges like Taylors/Sunway also offer the same thing. Which option would be better in terms of both financially and academic quality?

The one closest to your house

I'm not sure but I think I'd prefer colleges over international schools if I want to study A-Level.

As for which institution, it depends on a lot of things like how far it is from your place of stay (or you want to live in in-campus / off-campus accommodations), the course fees, etc.

Sunway and Taylor's are pretty good in terms of A-Level in KL / Selangor, but of course they're more expensive than the others. I studied my A-Level at UCSI and I felt satisfied. My lecturers were good and my Maths lecturer is at Sunway now. I heard MCKL is a good choice as well but I'm not sure.

Yes. But the cheapest and the most value should be TARC.
Personally went through Cambridge A-Level in MCKL.

My experience wasn't a real enjoyable one.

My top options : Sunway College & Taylor's College
For most resources to study.

My value options : TARC or INTI Nilai/Penang

Other places try your luck. as mentioned my experience in MCKL wasn't a GREAT one.

This post has been edited by iSean: Mar 26 2017, 11:00 PM

please pick A-Levels from College or Universities...

Taylors or Sunway would be good choice

Why pick from colleges/unis?

Considering UCSI also because fees seem affordable. INTEC is one of my top choices because it's only 15minutes away from home but it looks like UCSI is cheaper. Does UCSI college at Damansara also offer A-Levels? Because the fee structure on the website ; https://www.ucsicollege.edu.my/images/admis...es_National.pdf are only for the KL campus. The KL campus is 30+ mins away from my house (28.9km away). Is that commute time doable daily?

Oh I forgot to mention that I went to UCSI University KL Campus, not the college. The college at Damansara Utama should also be offering A-Level according to this.

https://www.ucsicollege.edu.my/Cambridge_A-Levels.aspx

The fee should be the same 'cause it's the same for me as well. Don't really know how it's like in UCSI Colleges.

30+ min of travelling time should be fine. It's all up to you whether you're okay or not. Do remember to take traffic jams into consideration.

Not sure about INTEC. By the way, oops, seems like MCKL is not a good choice. I forgot about TAR UC which I think is fine as well and it's even cheaper than UCSI, but I don't know much about INTI.

However, if you really have the money and can afford, then Sunway or Taylor's. If not, then you can try the other institutions all of us listed here like UCSI, TAR UC, INTEC, INTI, etc.

Bro INTEC A-Level fees you no see ah. 60K fees.
Same as Taylor's

KYUEM is also a great place of bright minds but ulu abit. Full of bursarians last few years under Sime Darby Scholarship and others. (if they still exist this year )

If want notes padat, Sunway College really offered the best value.
- Has tutorial classes also.

Taylor's College just is that be wary of "Part Time Lecturers" in Seri Hartamas. If you are in Subang Jaya one will be more expensive, but good in terms of lecturer quality tho.

Actually INTEC's fees are RM41K for 2 years and RM38K for 1.5 years according to the website, still pretty steep but nowhere close to 60k

KYUEM fees are RM65k for 1.5years and RM86k for 2years haha. My grades are;

Bahasa Melayu; B
Bahasa Inggeris; A+
Pendidikan Islam; A-
Sejarah; B+
Mathematics; A
Additional Mathematics; C
Physics; B
Chemistry; A-
Biology; A-

So I don't meet the minimum requirements for KYUEM which is minimum B for addmaths, and I don't think any scholarships/bursaries is an option based on my grades lol

This post has been edited by Mario404: Mar 27 2017, 02:33 PM

Maybe I'd mixed up German-Malaysia Institute's German A-Level Program.
Anyhow do factor in External A-level costs RM 6k for the entire course

Thanks! Are the external costs standard in every college? Or do some schools cost more than others?

It varies from places to places for External Examination Fees. I heard is subjected to "amount of students within the school" for Cambridge could lower the pricing. But I suspected some of them just purposely raised them high.

Of course if got cheaper place to do your exams why not go there instead?

INTEC is RM ±40k, which is also the same as GMI's German A-Level (GAPP). I think the only one more expensive than Taylor's is KYUEM in KL / Selangor.

I think it's still possible for you to get scholarships/bursaries since you still have 5A's in your SPM nonetheless. Just try to apply.

Why must you study A-level? it is a very challenging course to begin with and takes longer period to reach the degree destination.

why wasn't your experience in MCKL enjoyable? I'm thinking of joining either sunway or MCKL, but i cant decide between the two.
how did you find MCKL? which is better?

I think I wrote a lot times before about MCKL, I will eventually open a blog page about it for my experience from July 2015 until November 2016.
If money is the factor go to TARC. Atleast TARC are very transparent with their stuff unlike MCKL,

MCKL wise, there are a lot of things I don't really like. Like my other coursemate who went along MCKL, with their parents' thinking with Methodist in their name, they should be a good school, I should send my child here. But most of them including me, felt that it is a lie, and upset and did not like the teaching style there.
And I have experienced the hard truth that MCKL isn't for me because of their a bit of "corruption" in the management from "overcharging students" or in most people perspective not getting what you supposedly get, with high expectation from its over proclaimed "good college".

They have:
(1) poor new lecturer selections process, with INEXPERIENCED LECTURERS to the syllabus teaching you, and most of the didn't went through Exam board training,
(2) you paid for "students academic resources RM 300/semester", but you get literally get almost nothing out of it, atmost with half of the classes you attend won't get any, besides digital slides, printing of materials are not included. Physics and Maths, no notes, all can be found in your textbook, for my lecturers.
(3) bad canteen services, this one if the confession page didn't shut down, you will always see students complaining about no fix pricing for "zapfan" with most food almost tasteless, oily and bland.
(4) Overpaid lab fees, where we sit whole semester 3 mostly sit in Air Con Lab paid RM 400 per Science subject for it, because in A2 there's not more Practical Hands On Experiments.
(5) and overpaid external exams fees with the staffs kept saying "we are a "NGO" we didn't overcharge you, but the truth is if you go ask friends from other colleges, you will definitely find out MCKL isn't a cheap external exam fee option as you think.
(6) "Overdone MPU subjects : U4: Developing practical community-minded skills, where in the suggested curriculum, where students should perform 10 hours of community service, but they revamp it to 20 hours of community services, this is very troubling as eventually if you are already in a selfish position in struggling with your grades and have no time for that.

Anyhow, that is why I felt that I am financially "cheated" by studying in this college, and not getting what I asked for.
I have some regrets for not attending TARC, as I registered for it, and it is technically a longer duration program than MCKL, during the April 2015 intakes, but because my family doesn't technically wants me to stay in Setapak. Because it will not be as "cheap" as studying in MCKL if I stayed there, and they did the Financial Math and not me. The thing became worsen as my dad got employed halfway, and he suffered minor stroke one day, when picking me up from college. As I was already struggling to keep up, I'm also at the verge of breaking point of stress with the dissatisfaction of some of the lecturers here and myself.

But I'm consider lucky I was rational enough not to injured myself, unlike one of the accommodation classmate, who went through the same class with me for Chemistry for the first semester, since she went through emotional problems with her relationship, and problems with her studies and not performing well in semester and trials exams, cut herself crying with suicidal thoughts, eventually dropping out and moved to another A-level college.
You can read her open blog plost: https://hellopoetry.com/poem/1874378/depres...fighters-story/

To be honest, most of my classmates actually did dropped A-Levels for A2 (last examinations), because they felt that they needed more time, and can't cope up.
Some of them like me, have no option to "delay" my examinations, because you see most of your friends are with you with the exams, and you don't wanted to be left out and "not attending the graduation ceremony". Of course with more time, you might do better. But you risk yourself, not able to apply for IPTA, to lessen your future financial burdens, hence I rather pick to be graduating on time.

MCKL fees breakdown, you will found out what vague "Development Fee", "Student Activity Fee" and "Academic Resource Fees" that most students who paid for it under utilize it. And have no clue what functions that does category even mean.


This post has been edited by iSean: Apr 19 2017, 12:05 AM

On the side note, I always felt that Spoonfeeding in A-Levels is better than a weak foundation stepping stone from "not being spoonfed".
Students can be spoonfeed with materials, but not be critical thinking is bad, which is the important element here if you going to STEM field.
If spoonfeed right with proper critical thinking materials, it will enhance their understanding of the subject, anyhow, resources wise really go to Sunway College and attend their A-levels, you might not be disappointed on your study materials there. I've been quite impress with the study materials and lecturer notes from their senior there. It helped me alot with my understanding especially Physics, Biology and Chemistry. But Math wise, can't help me as much, but their notes are nicely presented.

Also please be mentally prepare that you will have no time to accomplish most these past years.
With these numerous thick past years on your way. So think wisely and plan out your timetable properly.


This post has been edited by iSean: Apr 19 2017, 12:22 AM

I went to KYUEM so you could ask me if you need further info.

Ultimately, it depends on what you want in life.

If you're set on going to top/prestigious universities then A-level is definitely a must option. I have plenty of friends who went to LSE, Oxbridge etc.

If you're okay with decent universities, do consider foundation. Some of the foundation programmes give you direct entry route into their universities. Do google up, some of the universities are not bad at all.

Foundation is definitely easier than A Levels, faster route of progression.

In general you get what you pay for. A Levels is not easy without great teachers especially if you're thinking of taking History, English Lit.

KYUEM may be expensive but they have great level of support. Plus, the advantage of having top scholars in your class. My classmates were mostly intelligent scholars, some even top 20 in Malaysia.

Do you have a price list for External A-Level Subjects fees for AS and A2.

Sorry, I don't. I'm almost graduating from university so I'm not too sure of the prices these days.

Ok thanks for reply tho.
What batch are you from tho?

could you please tell me more abt KYUEM ? I mean .... what's so good abt it ... the fees are x.x thx

First of all, please do take into the account that you're paying for boarding + food. Understandably, it will be more expensive.

The top scholars are sent to KYUEM for A Levels apart from KTJ. That alone speaks volume of the college itself. I have friends who are scholars of Khazanah, Sime Darby, Shell, Maybank etc.

Yes, there are private students but they too are vetted. We don't simply get accepted based on our capabilities to pay (I was a private student). A close friend of mine was rejected from KY so he went to KTJ. Simply, it's an environment that cultivates people to study. Plus, it is basically in the middle of nowhere. Less distractions.

The teachers are primarily expats. Perhaps the reason why tuition fees are expensive. They are great teachers though especially when it comes to subjects like History, English Lit (if you're planning on taking those). I don't think a local teacher could teach those subjects as good as they could.

Plus, additional support in terms of writing personal statement, university application. You do get extra support if you're thinking of pursuing medicine/ trying to get into Oxbridge. There will always be a group of people who got into Oxbridge every year.

I am not sure if I make this fact right. But, Epsom College Malaysia in Bandar Enstek has the most expensive a-level fees for its 2 year programme.

2 year programme= +- RM300,000

It is costlier that kyuem and ktj combined together.

Why not consider Help University (Help Academy) for A-levels? Their prices are cheaper than Taylor and Sunway but IMO their teachers are just as good. (in 2015 it was RM35,000 whereas Sunway/Taylors charge RM50,000)
The downside is that their subjects are quite limited but if you plan to take the mainstream subject combinations then it won't be a problem.
If you do well for SPM I think you will be able to get partial scholarship too.

How about KDU Penang? Is the 'A' level conducted there is ok ? Overall, the 'A' level is the same 'A' level regardless of college isn't it?