Understand the exam
The PSLE AL score, explained
The short version
Each PSLE subject is graded from AL1 (90 marks or more) to AL8 (below 20 marks). Your child's PSLE Score is the four ALs added together, from 4 to 32, and lower is better. The score decides the posting group: 4 to 20 is Posting Group 3, 23 to 24 Posting Group 2 and 26 to 30 Posting Group 1, with a choice at the scores in between. A subject with AL5 or better can still be taken at G3.
- Each subject
- AL1 to AL8
- PSLE Score
- 4 to 32
- Best score
- 4, lower is better
· Sources
An example result
From four ALs to a secondary school
How one PSLE result reads, line by line.
| Subject | AL | In Posting Group 2 |
|---|---|---|
| English | AL5 | G3 or G2 |
| Mother Tongue | AL6 | G2 |
| Maths | AL4 | G3 or G2 |
| Science | AL6 | G2 |
PSLE Score21
5 + 6 + 4 + 6
lower is better
21 is a choice score, so the family picks the group. In Posting Group 2, Maths at AL4 can still be taken at G3.
What is the PSLE AL score?
The PSLE AL score is how each PSLE subject is graded: an Achievement Level from AL1, the best, to AL8. Your child's PSLE Score is the four subject ALs added together, so it runs from 4 to 32, and lower is better.
MOE
Each Achievement Level will reflect how well students have done relative to learning objectives of the curriculum.
So a child is measured against a fixed standard, not ranked against the other children who sat the paper that year. English, Mathematics, Science and Mother Tongue are each graded this way.
What marks give AL1 to AL8?
AL1 is 90 marks or more out of 100, and AL8 is below 20 marks. The bands in between are narrow at the top and wide in the middle, so a few marks matter most for the best grades.
| AL | Marks (out of 100) |
|---|---|
| AL1 | 90 to 1001 |
| AL2 | 85 to 891 |
| AL3 | 80 to 841 |
| AL4 | 75 to 791 |
| AL5 | 65 to 741 |
| AL6 | 45 to 641 |
| AL7 | 20 to 441 |
| AL8 | below 201 |
MOE
As we expect slightly less than half of the PSLE cohort to score AL 1-4 for Standard subjects, the upper AL bands have comparatively narrower ranges.
- AL190 to 100
- AL285 to 89
- AL380 to 84
- AL475 to 79
- AL565 to 74
- AL645 to 64
- AL720 to 44
- AL8below 20
How is the PSLE Score calculated?
Add the four subject ALs. The example result at the top of this page scores AL5 in English, AL6 in Mother Tongue, AL4 in Maths, AL6 in Science: 5 + 6 + 4 + 6 = 21.
Every subject counts in full, so one subject moves the whole score. In that example, Maths up one band, from AL4 to AL3, makes the total 20: Posting Group 3.
A Foundation subject counts too, as the standard AL its grade stands for (see the questions below). The best possible score is 4, AL1 in all four, and the weakest is 32. Our PSLE score calculator adds it up from marks or ALs.
Which PSLE score is which posting group?
A PSLE Score of 4 to 20 is Posting Group 3, 23 to 24 is Posting Group 2, and 26 to 30 is Posting Group 1. At 21, 22 and 25, the family chooses between two groups. The group sets the level most subjects start at in Secondary 1.
| PSLE Score | Posting group | Most subjects start at |
|---|---|---|
| 4 to 20 | Posting Group 32 | G3 |
| 21 to 22 | Posting Group 2 or 3, your choice2 | G2 or G3 |
| 23 to 24 | Posting Group 22 | G2 |
| 25 | Posting Group 1 or 2, your choice2 | G1 or G2 |
| 26 to 30 | Posting Group 12 | G1 |
Above 30, MOE arranges the next step with the family directly. Which schools took which score last year is on the cut-off point table.
Can my child take a subject at G3 with a lower score?
Yes, subject by subject. A child in Posting Group 1 or 2 can take English, Mother Tongue, Maths or Science at a more demanding level when that subject's own AL is good enough: AL5 or better opens G3.
MOE
Students who scored AL 5 or better for a PSLE Standard subject can take the subject at G3 or G2. Students who scored AL 6 for a PSLE Standard subject or AL A for a PSLE Foundation subject can take the subject at G2.
| The subject's result | It can be taken at Sec 1 at |
|---|---|
| AL1 to AL5 | G3 or G23 |
| AL6, or Foundation A | G23 |
| AL7 or AL8, or Foundation B or C | The posting group's own level |
MOE
For the 2025 Primary 6 cohort, about 65% of students eligible for Posting Groups 1 and 2 can take at least one subject at a more demanding level.
How is the AL score different from the old T-score?
The T-score ranked each child against everyone who sat the PSLE that year, and it was last used in 2020. The AL score grades each subject against a fixed standard, so a child's grade no longer depends on how the cohort did.
MOE
In 2021, we introduced the PSLE scoring changes to reduce fine differentiation of students’ examination results at a young age, and recognise children’s level of achievement, regardless of how their peers have done.
Far fewer totals are possible now, so more children share a score, and choice order and the tie-breakers decide more places.
MOE
With 29 possible PSLE Scores, students' examination scores are less finely differentiated, and more students will have the same PSLE Score.
Questions about the PSLE score
Is a lower PSLE score better?
Yes. 4 is the best possible score, AL1 in all four subjects, and 32 is the weakest. S1 posting places every score from 4 to 30.
What do AL 1 to 8 mean?
They are the eight Achievement Levels each PSLE subject is graded in. AL1 is 90 marks or more and AL8 is below 20 marks, and the four subjects' ALs add up to the PSLE Score.
How do Foundation subjects count?
A Foundation subject is graded A, B or C, and the grade counts as an AL in the total: A (75 to 100 marks) counts as AL6, B (30 to 74 marks) counts as AL7 and C (below 30 marks) counts as AL8.
Does Higher Chinese add to the PSLE score?
No. The score is only the four standard subjects. A Higher Chinese grade counts elsewhere: with a PSLE Score of 14 or better, a Distinction, Merit or Pass in Higher Chinese gives an advantage when choosing a SAP school.
Who can take Higher Mother Tongue in secondary school?
A child with AL1 or AL2 in Mother Tongue, or a Distinction or Merit in Higher Mother Tongue at the PSLE. Schools may also allow a child who shows exceptional ability in the language.
What PSLE score does a third language need?
A foreign language (French, German, Japanese or Spanish) needs a PSLE Score of 8 or better. An Asian language (Arabic or Bahasa Indonesia) or a Malay or Chinese Special Programme needs 24 or better. Each has citizenship and language criteria too.
What happens when two children have the same PSLE score?
When they want the last place in a school, citizenship comes first, then the order in which each child ranked that school, then computerised balloting.
Can I convert an old T-score into an AL score?
No. The T-score ranked a child against everyone who sat the exam, and the AL score grades each subject against a fixed standard, so the two scales do not convert. Use this year's marks or ALs instead.
Setting a goal, one band at a time
Look at where each subject sits now and aim for the next band up, not a leap to AL1. A band is a range of marks, so steady work on the weak topics moves a child up one far more reliably than chasing a perfect paper.
One band can matter more than it looks. In the example above, Maths from AL4 to AL3 turns a choice score of 21 into 20, which is Posting Group 3 outright.
And a band is a snapshot of one subject on one day, not a verdict on your child. What you can influence between now and the exam is the direction it is moving.
Where StudyLah fits
A band only means something next to a paper your child actually sat, marked the way the exam marks it.
- See the marking first. Ten minutes, no account. Three exam-standard questions with the working shown afterwards, so you can see what gets a mark and what does not. Try it free
- Then let your child sit a full paper, free. It comes back with an Achievement Level for P5 and P6, or a Band for P1 to P4, marked the same way every time. One a month is free, enough to watch the number move across a year. Start free
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these, read on the day shown.
- 1Ministry of Education, How will the current PSLE scoring system benefit your child?, read 28 October 2026The AL bands, the 4 to 32 score, Foundation grades, Higher Mother Tongue and third languages
- 2Ministry of Education, Secondary 1 (S1): How to choose schools, How posting works, read 27 October 2026Posting groups and the tie-breakers
- 3Ministry of Education, Release of 2025 PSLE Results, read 28 October 2026Subjects at a more demanding level from Sec 1
Now the practice has to happen.
These guides tell you what usually goes wrong. Your child's own practice tells you what's going wrong for them. StudyLah does the second part, and shows you the answer.