How to choose your child's six secondary schools

What a balanced list looks like

This is an example for a PSLE Score of 14. The top two are a stretch, one sits right at the score, and three are within reach. MOE suggests including at least two or three schools whose cut-off your child's score beats.

List the schools in the order your child really wants them. Your child is placed in the highest choice that still has a place, so a safe school ranked first takes that place even if a school you prefer had room.

How S1 posting works

MOE posts children in order of PSLE Score, within their Posting Group. The child with the better score is placed first, in the highest of their six choices that still has a vacancy.

When children with the same score want the last places in a school, the tie is broken in this order:

1. 1Citizenship. Singapore Citizens first, then Permanent Residents, then international students.
2. 2Choice order. The child who ranked the school higher goes first.
3. 3Computerised ballot. Only when score, citizenship and choice order are all the same.

So if your child really wants a school that sits right at their score, rank it high. At the last places, a child who put it first comes before one who put it second.

How many schools each PSLE Score reached in 2026

A score of 20 met the cut-off point of 46 schools. A score of 21 met 118. The difference is the Posting Group: at 21 and 22 your child may choose Posting Group 2 or 3, and choosing 2 opens every school's Posting Group 2 places. Whichever group you pick applies to all six choices.

Posting Groups at a glance

Posting Group 1 also needs AL7 or better in English and Maths. Children in Posting Groups 1 and 2 can take English, Maths, Science or Mother Tongue at a more demanding level if they did well in that subject.

Mistakes that cost a choice

• Putting the affiliated school second. Affiliation priority only counts when the school is choice 1. Anywhere else, your child is considered like everyone else.
• Six stretches. If no school on the list is within reach, your child may be posted to a school with places left near home.
• Missing the deadline. Children who submit nothing are posted after everyone who did, to a school with places near home, which may not be close.
• Mixing Posting Groups. If your child can choose between two groups, all six choices must be in the one you pick.
• Treating the cut-off as a promise. Cut-offs move a few points a year with each cohort's scores and choices. Last year's is a guide, not a guarantee.

Results week, step by step

SEAB's calendar puts the 2026 PSLE results on Tuesday 24 or Wednesday 25 November. Last year's results week ran like this:

You submit through the S1 Portal on MOE's S1 Posting website, with one parent's Singpass. Have a shortlist ready before results day, so the week goes to checking it, not starting it.

Where StudyLah fits

1. 1Build your child's six choices. Our table shows every school's 2026 cut-off against your child's score, with the same labels as the list above. Put them in order, then share the list on WhatsApp. Open the cut-off point table
2. 2No score yet? Turn the four subject grades, or prelim marks, into a PSLE Score and a Posting Group. Open the PSLE score calculator
3. 3A younger child at home? A free Maths exam paper for every level, marked on screen, with Lah's working for every mistake. Free Maths exam papers, P1 to P6