Is CCA important in JC?

CCA enhances the overall portfolio of the student, but at the end of the day, the foundation of the portfolio is still ‘A’ levels.

Especially for local uni admission, CCA is not really taken into consideration.

For top tier scholarships / top local courses, it would require good ‘A’ level results + good CCA though.

Question from JC1 student on Kiasuparents: “but the school focuses a lot on other areas of development like CCA and etc so i want to know that is it really that important cos i don’t feel like taking part in all these activities anyone got experience in these areas??”:

I would think for majority of students, it would be better to prioritize to get:
Good ‘A’ level results & Mediocre CCA
rather than Mediocre ‘A’ level results & Good CCA.

Of course, if one is all-rounded, one can aim for the ideal goal of:
Good ‘A’ level results & Good CCA.
(To be realistic, not everyone can achieve that…)

The only exception is if one’s CCA results is so excellent (e.g. win top award at national or international level), it can potentially lead to special case arrangements for university admission even with poor ‘A’ level results. Note that this is probably a 0.1% case scenario for top CCA performers, a typical “President of CCA group” position may not suffice, let alone an ordinary member of the CCA.

CCA training hours can vary widely among different CCAs. I have seen students with CCA that can last up to 9pm or later on weekdays. This can be extremely tiring considering that school starts at 7am next day. Someone succinctly summarized on Kiasuparents that: “In conclusion, the minimal you need to do is to choose a CCA with only one session per week and make yourself physically present on that day.“