The Ministry Of Education (MOE) announced that applications for the 2021 School Placement Exercise For Returning Singaporeans (SPERS) will begin from July 7, 2021. Students who are Returning Singaporeans (RS) returning from overseas will be able to apply for secondary schools, junior colleges (JC) or Millennia Institute (MI) in Singapore.
In a press release shared on Tuesday (July 6), MOE stated, “SPERS is a centralised placement exercise held towards the end of each year for RS students who have lived and studied overseas and now want to seek a place in a local school.”
MOE: 2021 SPERS To Open Applications From July 7, 2021
Image source: Facebook / Ministry of Education, Singapore
With the MOE SPERS process, Singaporean parents who work abroad can apply for re-entry into the mainstream school system for their children once their family returns to Singapore.
MOE added that RS students will only need to sit for one set of centralised SPERS tests. This will indicate their school choices before the ministry places them in a suitable school.
How To Apply
- For RS students seeking admission to Secondary 1 to 3 in 2022
You can apply here to take the SPERS-Sec tests scheduled on September 21, 2021. - For RS students seeking admission to Pre-University 1
You may also apply here to take the SPERS-JC/MI tests on November 11, 2021.
RS students will generally not re-enter the school system at Secondary 4 and Pre-University 2, since these levels are national examination years.
In that regard, MOE noted, “SPERS applicants will receive their school placement results in December 2021, enabling them to join our secondary schools and JC/MI at the start of the school term in 2022.”
“RS students have the alternative option of enrolling in a secondary school near their Singapore residence, without the need to sit for any centralised test, under MOE’s Assured School Placement service,” added the ministry.
The Assured School Placement service is a convenient admissions route where RS students will be guaranteed admission into a school with “vacancies near their residence, even before they return to Singapore.”
Supplementary Placement Exercise For Those Unable To Return On Time
Image source: Facebook / Ministry of Education, Singapore
MOE will be conducting another round of tests in December this year for RS students who are unable to return in time to sit for the SPERS tests. This will be done as part of the Supplementary Placement Exercise (SPE).
Applications for SPE will open in October and the tests will tentatively be scheduled for December 7, 2021. Those who take the test will receive their school placement results around February 4, 2022, for admissions from February 2022.
“While RS students can choose to take part in either the SPERS-Sec or SPE exercises, they are advised to apply for SPERS-Sec if they are able to return in September, since this would allow them to start the 2022 academic year in January together with their peers,” clarified MOE.
Given the current Covid-19 situation, the SPERS-Sec, SPE and SPERS-JC/MI exercises will follow the national safe management measures “leading up to and during the actual test dates.”
The ministry says they will keep applicants updated should there be any changes or cancellations.
You can find more information about the SPERS-Sec, SPE and SPERS-JC/MI exercises here.
Primary School Admissions For RS Students
Image source: Facebook / Ministry of Education, Singapore
Primary-school age RS students seeking admission into primary schools in Singapore can approach MOE at any time of the year. The ministry will offer them a place in a primary school with vacancies near their residence and “at a level appropriate for the child’s age cohort.”
“The RS student will not have to sit for any placement test for admission, although the primary school may conduct school-based tests after admission. This is to ascertain the child’s current attainment level and provide the appropriate assistance to help the child settle into the school,” says MOE.
Lead image source from Facebook / Ministry of Education, Singapore.
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