Photo by Salman Hossain Saif on Unsplash

If your child is in Primary 6, you might be wondering when applications for the DSA-Sec (or Direct School Admission for Secondary Schools) will begin.

Well, the key dates have been announced! The 2022 DSA-Sec application period—for entry into Secondary 1 in 2023—will be from 5 May 2022 11am to 1 June 2022 3pm.

What is the DSA-Sec All About?

For first-time parents or those new to the Singapore system, the DSA-Sec refers to a school applications process that allows Primary 6 students to apply to their preferred secondary schools—before taking the Primary School Leaving Examination.

If your child is admitted to a secondary school through the DSA, he or she will not submit school choices during the Secondary 1 posting process at year end. Your child must also commit to the chosen school, even if his or her PSLE results are good enough to qualify for a ‘better’ school. 

To better understand how the DSA process works, be sure to bookmark the Ministry of Education’s DSA page and use it as your go-to information source.

Why Apply to a Secondary School Through the DSA?

For primary school students with a passion or talent, the DSA is a chance to secure a spot in a secondary school that can support and nurture that gift. If your child also happens to be less academically inclined, the DSA offers an alternative entry route to a school that is based on talent, rather than exam results.

More specifically, DSA students do not need to meet a secondary school’s PSLE cut-off point for admission. For instance, whether they have applied via the DSA to join the Express or Integrated Programme stream, they will only need to qualify for Express to gain entry, with an AL score of 20.

Curious about the number of DSA applicants every year? In 2020, 1 in 4 P6 students—or a total of 11,900 students—applied for the DSA. In 2021, 12,100 students opted for the DSA route.

As for success rates, 2021 figures are not available, but in 2020, 3,600 were successful in their DSA applications— about 30% of applicants. Here’s what else we know:

• About 33% were admitted to Integrated Programme schools
• 40% of admissions were via sports and games
• 20% of admissions were via performing arts
• 20% of admissions were via STEM
• Nearly 10% of admissions were via leadership skills and uniformed groups
• About 10% of admissions were across these talent areas: 
  • entrepreneurship and innovation
  • languages and humanities 
  • visual arts, design, and media

Do refer to our DSA guide to explore the different talent areas that secondary schools are looking out for!

How to Choose a DSA School for My Child?

Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of school choices? The Ministry of Education recommends that you follow these steps:

1. Shortlist schools that can nurture your child’s talent.
2. Visit the schools’ websites to learn more about their selection process.
3. Take note of the PSLE scores for the Express, Normal (Academic), and Normal (Technical) pathways—if your child is most likely to qualify for the Normal (Academic) or Normal (Technical) pathways, he or she will not be able to DSA into a school that only offers Express or Integrated Programme courses.
4. Choose a school type that suits your child’s goals. For Singapore citizens, financial assistance and scholarships are available to help them attend the school of their choice.
5. Consider the location of your shortlisted schools, and think about transportation options for your child.
6. If your child has special educational needs, choose a school that can support these needs.

Once you have chosen the schools that you think will suit your child, you will need to submit your child’s application online through the DSA-Sec portal by 3pm on 1 June 2022. Get the full details and step-by-step instructions here.

Is it Essential to Attend a School’s Webinar or Open House?

Now that Singapore has eased its Covid-19 group mingling rules, we can expect some secondary schools to hold in-person open house events this year. That said, there is already plenty of information that one can access online, either via the school websites or on forums like ours. If you still have burning questions but are strapped for time, you might be better off calling the school directly to get your queries answered, or to set up a private meeting.

On our part, we’ve visited the websites of the 142 secondary schools that offer DSA entry. Unfortunately, a number of school websites were down at the time, and of those that we managed to access, only a handful of schools had posted their event information. However, many school websites were fairly comprehensive, and a fair number of schools also had virtual open house sites for prospective students to view.

Based on what we could gather, we’ve put together a table below, so that you can begin browsing schools right away! If you are keen to visit certain schools, we encourage you to call them directly or check their websites regularly to find out if they will be holding any events in May.