secondary

teen in classroom

How do you choose a secondary school for your teen?

After receiving the PSLE results, you and your teen will need to shortlist suitable secondary schools, and submit your school choices within 7 calendar days.

Based on your teen’s preliminary exam results, you could shortlist about 10 schools of interest, before you further cut down this list to your best six choices:

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Of these, 1–2 schools could have an entry score that is slightly out of reach for your teen. Ask yourself how your teen will benefit from attending the school, and whether it is worth the gamble of listing it as a top choice.
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Next, look at 6–7 schools that you think your teen can comfortably qualify for. Which are your favourites in this list, and why? Should one of these schools be your top-choice school instead?
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Finally, you should have 1–2 schools that are safety net schools, which your child can easily qualify for. This gives you a sense of control, knowing that at worst, your child will get their last-choice school, which you have both decided is an acceptable option.

What factors should you look at when shortlisting schools? Here is what the Ministry of Education (MOE) recommends:

1
School Culture: This refers to the values and relationships that influence how a school operates. Talking to different stakeholders (staff, current students, and parents) might give you an idea of what the school culture is like. When you talk to others, ask for specific examples. For instance, if someone says that School X is inclusive, ask them to tell you about a situation where they have seen this.
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Subjects, Learning Programmes, CCAs: Does the school offer programmes suited to your teen’s talents or interests?
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Location: What’s the travel time required to get to the school? Will it be a strain on your teen?
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Special Needs: Is your teen a special-needs learner? Do choose a school with facilities and resources that can support them.

As parents, we may want our children to enter top secondary schools. In Singapore, these are the Integrated Programme (IP) schools, where students will ‘skip’ the milestone exams that secondary school students typically take after four years of studies. Instead, IP students only need to prepare for either the A-Level or International Baccalaureate exams in their sixth and final year of the programme.

However, in a cohort of about 40,000 Primary 6 students, only about 10% (almost 4,000 students) will qualify for the IP. Most students will enter secondary school via the G3 (formerly Express) pathway, while some students will take subjects at either the G2 (formerly Normal Academic) or G1 (formerly Normal Technical) levels.

There are no official statistics for what an average PSLE score is. However, those who have previously scored AL17 to 18 for the PSLE might have noticed that they were still able to meet the entry requirements for about half the secondary schools in Singapore. This suggests it’s a score range that many students achieve.

Although neighbourhood schools may not be on your radar now, it’s useful to find out more about them. It’s wiser to have school options for different score ranges, in case your child’s grades don’t turn out as expected.

We hope parents can move away from the perspective that the best secondary school in Singapore is the one that is hardest to get into, while the worst schools are those with lower entry barriers. Focus on choosing a school where your teen can thrive, both academically and socially.

Below, you can get answers to some of our community's biggest questions about school postings and appeals. 

Once your teen's secondary school posting is settled, you may be wondering how best to support them. This can look quite different from guiding a child in primary school, so please check out our resources to help you prepare for this new season!

FAQ

They will be posted to a school with remaining vacancies, based on their official registered address, after all the students who have indicated their choices have been posted. 

Due to limited vacancies, they might not be posted to a school near to their official registered address.

If you have changed your residential address on your NRIC, do inform your child’s primary school by end October to update their records.

According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), you can appeal for a school transfer if your child has a serious medical condition (such as a chronic heart condition) or a physical impairment, and you feel that the posted secondary school is unable to accommodate your child’s physical health needs.

In such cases, appeals should be filed at your child’s posted secondary school by 12pm on the following working day after the release of the school posting results. 

You must provide supporting medical documents, and school staff will assist in filing your appeal. Do note that success is not guaranteed, and the appeal outcome will only be made known in January.

If you are seeking a school transfer for other reasons, you should submit your appeal directly to your preferred school, noting the following guidelines:

  • Your child’s PSLE score must meet the school’s cut-off point (COP) for the year
  • School transfers are subject to available vacancies and meeting the school’s admission criteria
  • Schools need time to process appeals, so the outcome may be available only from mid-January
  • Schools have the discretion to consider appeal requests, but they may not be able to accept appeals due to limited or no vacancies

Bear in mind that school appeals can lead to anxiety, and this could disrupt your child’s transition to secondary school. Some parents may decide to focus on accepting the results, and helping their children to settle in their posted secondary school.

Do check with your desired school directly, through their website or enquiry hotline.

Popular secondary schools typically provide information about appeals on their websites. Below are some examples of schools and their appeal pages:

Not every student who meets the cut-off point (COP) will be posted to their preferred school.

This is the reason: When two or more students with the same PSLE score vie for the last available vacancies in a school, their posting will be determined according to tie-breakers, which are in the order of citizenship status, then choice order of schools, and if need be, computerised balloting.

No, you will not be able to appeal.

Here is the guideline from the Ministry of Education (MOE): To ensure fairness, transparency and objectivity for all students who participated in the posting exercise, it is necessary for your child’s PSLE score to meet the school’s COP of the posting year, in order for the school to process your appeal.

Admitting students who do not meet the COP would not be fair to other students who obtained a similar or better PSLE score, but were not offered a place in the school through the posting exercise.

The PSLE score ranges in SchoolFinder are only a reference, as they are based on the previous year’s cut-off scores.

Every year, cut-off points (COPs) can fluctuate by a few points, depending on each cohort’s PSLE results and the school choices in that year’s Secondary 1 Posting Exercise.

In addition, meeting a school's COP does not guarantee admission. If a school has limited places, and two or more students with the same PSLE score vie for the last available vacancies in a school, their posting will be determined according to tie-breakers, i.e. citizenship status, choice order of schools, and computerised balloting if necessary.

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