Primary School
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The Singapore Education System
In Singapore, all children will have to enrol into primary schools when they reach 7 year-old (base on calendar year). The primary school education consists of 6 years. The Singapore Primary School Registration Phases, where children will enroll into primary schools, in accordance with the following sequences.
Paid Courses
Free Courses
Phase 1
Phase 2A
Phase 2B
Phase 2C
Phase 2C Supplementary
Phase 3
| Phase | Description | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | For a child who has a sibling studying in the primary school. | All eligible Phase 1 applicants will be offered a place. |
| Phase 2A |
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| Phase 2B |
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| Phase 2C |
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| Phase 2C Supplementary |
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There will be a cap on the intake of PR children in a few schools to prevent the concentration of PR children in our primary schools. |
| Phase 3 | International students (IS) | IS can only register for P1 during Phase 3 of the P1 Registration Exercise, after all Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents have been allocated a place under the earlier phases. |
Types of Primary School
SAP School – Special Assistance Plan (SAP) is a programme that are committed to nurturing bilingual and bicultural students who are immersed in the Chinese language and culture, and are equipped with a global outlook. The government provides more funding to promote the learning of (Chinese) mother tongue and (Chinese) culture. There are altogether 15 SAP schools, also refer to as Chinese schools
| School Name | Gender | Affiliations |
|---|---|---|
| Ai Tong School | Mixed | Catholic High School |
| Catholic High School | Boys | Catholic High School |
| CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School | Girls | CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School |
| Holy Innocents’ Primary School | Mixed | Holy Innocents’ High School |
| Hong Wen School | Mixed | |
| Kong Hwa School | Mixed | |
| Maha Bodhi School | Mixed | Manjusri Secondary School |
| Maris Stella High School (Primary) | Boys | Maris Stella High School |
| Nanyang Primary School | Mixed | Nanyang Girls’ High School |
| Nan Hua Primary School | Mixed | |
| Pei Chun Public School | Mixed | |
| Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School | Mixed | |
| Poi Ching School | Mixed | |
| Red Swastika School | Mixed | |
| Tao Nan School | Mixed |
Primary schools with affiliation
Schools with affiliations are schools that are closely related in some way. Usually, they were established by one organisation, association, or school management, and continue to run as a ‘family’ of schools today.
Hence, graduating primary six students who apply to an affiliated secondary school can get an advantage over those from non-affiliated primary schools, that is the AL cut-off scores are higher for the students from affiliated primary schools. The extent of this advantage varies from school to school, it can range from as little as 1 point to a good 12 points. However, these students have to put the secondary school with affiliation to his / her primary school as first choice of school during the Sec 1 posting process.
Seeing this trend, in 2019, MOE came up with a new regulation that requires all affiliated secondary schools to reserve at least 20% of Secondary 1 places for students from non-affiliated schools.
Below is the complete list of affiliated schools (primary and secondary only) as of 2023:
Gifted Education Programme
At primary 3, all students from mainstream schools in Singapore are eligible to take the GEP or Gifted Education Programme Screening Test. This test aims to identify students with high potential in areas like critical thinking, language proficiency and logical reasoning. The two subjects tested in this round are English and Mathematics. For those that pass the Selection, they can enrol into GEP offered by the following 9 Primary Schools.
| School | Gender | Area | Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anglo-Chinese School | Boys | Novena | 50 Barker Road, S309918 |
| Catholic High School (Primary Section) | Boys | Bishan | 9 Bishan Street 22, S579767 |
| Henry Park Primary School | Mixed | Mt. Sinai | 1 Holland Grove Road, S278790 |
| Nan Hua Primary School | Mixed | Clementi | 30 Jalan Lempeng, S128806 |
| Nanyang Primary School | Mixed | Bukit Timah | 52 King's Road, S268097 |
| Raffles Girls' Primary School | Girls | Bukit Timah | 21 Hillcrest Road, S289072 |
| Rosyth School | Mixed | Serangoon | 21 Serangoon North Avenue 4, S555855 |
| St. Hilda's Primary School | Mixed | Tampines | 2 Tampines Ave 3, S529706 |
| Tao Nan School | Mixed | Marine Parade | 49 Marine Crescent, S449761 |
How does Subject-Based Banding (PRI) work ?
From Primary 1 to Primary 4, all students from mainstream schools in Singapore will study the 4 examinable subjects, namely English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and Science (students will only start learning Science from Primary 3 onward) at the standard level.
Come Primary 4, students will go through SBB or Subject-based Banding. Depend on their school-based examinations results, they will continue with learning subjects either at standard level or at foundation level.
The following is the details:
@Primary 4
- Students sits for school-based examinations
- School recommends a subject combination based on the student's results.
- Parents fill up an option form indicating the preferred combination.
@Primary 5
- Student takes subject combination chosen by parents
- English Language, Mathematics, Science snd Mother Tongue Language are available at standard and foundation levels.
- Higher Mother Tongue Language is also available.
- School assesses student's ability to cope with the current subject combination at the end of the year. Adjustments to the number of standard and foundation subjects can be made, if necessary
@Primary 6
- Student takes subject combination decided by his or her school and sits for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) at the end of Primary 6
The PSLE, that is the Primary School Leaving Examination AL Scoring System
At primary 6, all students from mainstream schools in Singapore have to take the PSLE or Primary School Leaving Examination, so that they can be promoted to Secondary Schools.
Below are the 2 set of scoring systems for subjects taken at Standard level vs at Foundation level
*Click on the tab below to read more information*
| Achievement Level (AL) | Score Range |
|---|---|
| 1 | ≥ 90 |
| 2 | 85-89 |
| 3 | 80-84 |
| 4 | 75-79 |
| 5 | 65-74 |
| 6 | 45-64 |
| 7 | 20-44 |
| 8 | < 20 |
| Foundation level AL Reflected on result slip | Foundation Raw Mark Range |
|---|---|
| A | 75-100 |
| B | 30-74 |
| C | < 30 |
| Achievement Level (AL) | Score Range |
|---|---|
| 1 | ≥ 90 |
| 2 | 85-89 |
| 3 | 80-84 |
| 4 | 75-79 |
| 5 | 65-74 |
| 6 | 45-64 |
| 7 | 20-44 |
| 8 | < 20 |
| Foundation level AL Reflected on result slip | Foundation Raw Mark Range |
|---|---|
| A | 75-100 |
| B | 30-74 |
| C | < 30 |
| Foundation Level | AL Reflected on Result Slip | Foundation Raw Mark Range | Equivalent Standard Subject AL | Standard Raw Mark Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Foundation | 75-100 | BC | 6 |
| B | Standard | 45-64 | BC | 30-74 |
| C | Advanced | 20-44 | BC | 7 |
| D | Proficiency | < 20 | BC | < 30 |
Foundation Level Subject Grades
For the purpose of S1 posting, Foundation level AL A to AL C will be mapped to AL 6 to AL 8 of Standard level subjects respectively, to derive a student’s overall PSLE Score.
Similar to the current PSLE scoring system, this mapping is based on the learning and assessment load of the subjects, and informs students of their readiness to access the curriculum at the secondary level.
| Foundation Level AL Reflected on Result Slip |
Foundation Raw Mark Range | Equivalent Standard Subject AL | Standard Raw Mark Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 75-100 | 6 | 45-64 |
| B | 30-74 | 7 | 20-44 |
| C | < 30 | 8 | < 20 |
Scoring of Foundation Subjects for S1 Posting
♣ A student’s PSLE Score is the sum of the four AL scores across his/her Standard and Foundation subjects.
♣ Students taking Foundation subjects are eligible for the Express Course, as long as they meet the course placement criteria.
♣ With Full Subject-based Banding in secondary schools, students may also take subjects at a higher level for those that they are strong in.
| Subject | Code/Score |
|---|---|
| English | AL3 |
| Foundation Mother Tongue | ALA |
| Foundation Mathematics | ALC |
| Science | AL4 |
| PSLE Score | 21 |
| Placement Outcome | PSLE Score |
|---|---|
| Express | 4-20 |
| Express / N(A) Option | 21-22 |
| N(A) | 23-24 |
| N(A) / N(T) Option | 25 |
| N(T) | 26-30, With AL7 or better in both EL & MA |
Higher Mother Tongue Language (HMTL)
Doing HMTL in primary school, allows a student certain advantage in continuing with HMTL in secondary school.
For a student to take HMTL in secondary school, the student should meet the following criteria:
| Eligibility Criteria for Secondary School HMTL |
|---|
| (i) An overall PSLE Score of 8 or better OR (ii) An overall PSLE Score of 9 to 14 (inclusive); and attain >> AL 1 / AL 2 in MTL or >> Distinction / Merit in HMTL |
The eligibility criteria are intended to ensure that a student will be able to cope with the higher academic load. It takes reference from the criteria under the T-score system.
Schools also have the flexibility to allow students who do not meet the above criteria to take HMTL, if they are assessed to have exceptional ability in MTL and are able to take HMTL without affecting their performance in other subjects.
The choice to take up HMT is offered to students in the Primary and Secondary level. Thereafter, in junior colleges, students who took HMT at the secondary level have the choice to opt out of mother tongue classes entirely.
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