Direct School Admission · DSA-Sec 2026

DSA to secondary school which doors could your child try?

Direct School Admission lets a P6 child apply to a secondary school on a talent instead of a PSLE score. 143 schools take applications across 38 talent areas, and 3 admit only through DSA. A child may make up to three DSA choices, two at most at one school.

Find by strengthThe 2026 timeline

Source: MOE SchoolFinder, 2026 DSA-Sec exercise

Applications
6 May to 2 June
Outcomes
By 28 August
School preferences
19 to 23 October
Allocation
24 to 25 November
What is your child strong at?schools
MOE's seven talent groups.

Timeline

The DSA-Sec 2026 timeline

For a P5 child, the same steps come round next year, in the P6 year.

  1. 6 May to 2 June
    Apply: up to three choices, two at most at one school
  2. June to August
    Trials, interviews or auditions, each school its own
  3. By 28 August
    A confirmed offer, a wait-list place, or no offer
  4. 19 to 23 October
    Choose up to three offered schools. This commits your child
  5. 24 to 25 November
    The DSA allocation, with the PSLE results
  6. December
    S1 posting, for every child without a DSA place
Dates for the 2026 exercise, from MOE. "June to August" is when schools usually hold trials; each sets its own.

Only through DSA

Three schools you can only enter through DSA

They take no S1 posting choices and publish no cut-off, so there is no score to fall short of. The only way to miss them is never to apply.

How it works

How DSA to secondary school works

How many schools can my child apply to for DSA?

Up to three choices in all, and at most two talent areas at one school. Applying is free.

In MOE’s words

You can indicate up to 3 choices and 3 talent areas and may indicate up to 2 talent areas for the same school.
Read it on MOE’s site

Does a DSA offer still need a PSLE score?

Yes, one that qualifies for a Posting Group the school offers. At 24 of the 139 schools with a cut-off that means 22 or better at 21 and 25 or better at 3; at the rest, any score that qualifies for posting.

In MOE’s words

To be successfully admitted to a school through DSA-Sec, your child's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results must qualify them for the Posting Group offered by the school.
Read it on MOE’s site

What happens after a DSA offer?

Outcomes arrive by 28 August: a confirmed offer, a place on the wait list, or no offer. A child with an offer then chooses up to three of those schools, in order, from 19 to 23 October, and the allocation comes with the PSLE results.

In MOE’s words

Students with a confirmed offer or on a wait list can submit up to 3 school preferences
Read it on MOE’s site

Can my child still choose schools after accepting a DSA offer?

No. A child admitted through DSA takes no part in S1 school choices and cannot transfer. A family not ready to commit submits no preference in October, and the child joins S1 Posting as usual.

In MOE’s words

If your child is admitted to a secondary school through DSA-Sec, they are not allowed to submit school choices during S1 Posting, nor transfer to another school.
Read it on MOE’s site

What are the chances from a DSA wait list?

About one in two, going by past years. A wait-listed child still has to choose the school in October and qualify on the PSLE.

In MOE’s words

In previous years, about half of the students on the schools’ wait lists were eventually given a place.
Read it on MOE’s site

Is a DSA place in the IP or the O-Level track?

Each talent area admits into a named track, and every school's row below says which; at 8 schools it is both. An Integrated Programme place needs a PSLE score of 22 or better.

In MOE’s words

Students must achieve a PSLE score of 22 or better to be successfully admitted through DSA-Sec for the Integrated Programme.
Read it on MOE’s site

The PSLE condition

What a PSLE score of 22 takes

A score of 22 is four Achievement Levels that add up to 22, so every subject at about AL 5 or AL 6. One way to make it:

  • English

    AL 6

    45 to 64

  • Maths

    AL 5

    65 to 74

  • Science

    AL 6

    45 to 64

  • Mother Tongue

    AL 5

    65 to 74

A DSA offer still needs a PSLE result that qualifies for a Posting Group the school offers; without one, the child joins S1 Posting instead. In Maths, AL 5 starts at 65 marks and AL 6 at 45: 20 marks on a 100-mark paper decide a whole point of the score.

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Find a school

Every school with a DSA door

Pick a strength to narrow the list. Each row says whom the school's DSA takes and what an offer needs.

143 schools

  1. Hwa Chong Institution#1 · Bukit TimahBoysIPOffer needs 22 or betterIP6M
  2. Nanyang Girls' High School#1 · Bukit TimahGirlsIPOffer needs 22 or betterIP6M
  3. Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)#3 · Toa PayohGirlsIPOffer needs 22 or betterIP6
  4. Raffles Institution#3 · BishanBoysIPOffer needs 22 or betterIP6
  5. Methodist Girls' School (Secondary)#3 · Bukit TimahGirlsIP and O-LevelOffer needs 22 or betterIP6
  6. Catholic High School#6 · BishanBoysIP and O-LevelOffer needs 22 or betterIP7M
  7. CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School#6 · Ang Mo KioGirlsIP and O-LevelOffer needs 22 or betterIP7M
  8. St. Joseph's Institution#8 · NovenaBoysIP and O-LevelOffer needs 22 or betterIP7
  9. Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)#8 · QueenstownBoysIP and O-LevelOffer needs 22 or betterIP7
  10. Singapore Chinese Girls' School#8 · NovenaGirlsIP and O-LevelOffer needs 22 or betterIP7
  11. Dunman High School#11 · KallangBothIPOffer needs 22 or betterIP8M
  12. National Junior College#12 · Bukit TimahBothIPOffer needs 22 or betterIP8

By talent area

DSA by talent area: all 38

Each links its own page: every school taking that talent, whom it takes, and the PSLE score an offer needs.

Leadership and Uniformed Groups · 2

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics · 2

Language and Humanities · 4

Visual Arts, Design and Media · 1

Entrepreneurship and Innovation · 1

Applying for DSA?
Keep the Maths strong.

At 21 schools a confirmed offer still needs a PSLE score of 22 or better. StudyLah is Maths practice built to real PSLE standard, from P1 to P6, with Lah talking your child through any question they are stuck on.

Try it freeOr start with the PSLE score calculator