New P1 Registration Rules For 2022: All You Need To Know

We are sure it feels like yesterday when your little one said their first word. But time flies and it flies fast, and your little one is all set to begin their academic journey. Finding the right school for your child pretty much takes care of 50% of your worries.

But getting into a good school in Singapore that meets your needs is nothing short of a trying time for the parents. Registering your child for primary school can be a stressful process, and it’s likely to get a tad bit harder with the new P1 registration rules for 2022. 

The Ministry of Education recently announced changes to Phase 2C, which will make more seats accessible to children. With the need to address the growing number of Generation Alpha in Singapore, the move levels the playing field in a way. 

Here’s all you need to know about the new P1 Registration 2022 rules: 

Updated P1 Registration 2022 for Phase 2B

For registrants with parents who:

• Contributed at the primary school as a parent volunteer by July 1 of the year prior to P1 registration.
• Offered at least 40 hours of service to the school by June 30 in the same year of the P1 registration.
• A member endorsed by the church or clan that serves as an immediate affiliate of the primary school.
• Recognised as an active community leader.

If you qualify for any of the mentioned descriptions, you are required to fill out and submit the online registration. For further updates, you may join MOE's mailing list.

More Spots in Phase 2C

The authorities have doubled the number of admission spots for kids who don’t qualify for priority admission from next year onwards.

At present, the Ministry of Education set aside 20 places in each primary school for Phase 2C registrations. This number will now go up to 40 places. 

This surely will come as a relief to new mums and dads, who do not have a prior connection with the school of some kind. Phase 2C is the first phase in the registration process that does not grant priority admission to pupils. 

Essentially, children or parents who do not have any prior affiliation with the school are allowed to get a seat. The only criteria though is that the child should live within close proximity of the school. 

What led to the change in Phase 2C rules? 

The Phase 2C regulations changed to address the changing academic scenario in Singapore. Here’s what prompted this. 

The ministry figured that there was a drop in the number of children who could access schools close to their homes without any links. By 2021, about one in three schools had to undergo balloting for Phase 2C for Singaporeans living within one km of the school.

The whole point of adding more seats is to make sure that schools remain accessible, open and inclusive toward children. 

More Remaining Vacancies Go To Phase 2C Applicants

To make further schools more accessible, the ministry revised the rules to allocate remaining vacancies from earlier phases to Phase 2C. Seats from Phase 1 and Phase 2A were previously evenly distributed between Phase 2B and 2C. 

However, from 2022, applicants in Phase 2C will get two-thirds of the remaining vacancies while Phase 2B applicants will get the remaining one-third of the vacancies.

The ministry suggests that about 32 primary schools (close to 20 per cent) would most clearly benefit from this change.

Spots For Prospective Pupils Under Phase 2B

A big change in the admission regulations is combining Phase 2A (1) and Phase 2A (2). Under Phase 2A (1), children whose parents joined the school’s alumni association or are members of its advisory or management committee received priority admission. 

Meanwhile, under Phase 2B (1), children whose parents were not members of the association, children of staff members and children in MOE kindergartens located within the primary school were given preference. 

Under the new regulations, these two phases have been combined into one starting from 2022. 

Larger Home-School Distance Than Previous Years

The ministry of education has also revised the way it calculates the distance between home and school, which will lead to larger coverage of homes. 

This change will allow about a 10% increase in applicants for each home-school distance category for every school. This further increases the chances of kids who already live within close proximity of their school. 

The new rules will help speed up and ease the process for parents who are looking for the right home and school for their children. This only provides more opportunities for the less privileged to get admission into the schools of their choice. 

At the same time, experts believe the new P1 Registration rules will shake up Singapore’s property market by a healthy margin. Thus, parents try to find homes close to the more popular schools in Singapore. 

5 Tips For Parents For Securing Admission Under P1 Registration

1. Register at a school that suits your child’s needs
2. Do your homework about the school and what they have to offer. Some schools also provide tours, so you can sign up for the same.
3. Keep your paperwork ready with all the documentation comprising immunisation records, evidence of citizenship, Singapore NRIC for both parents, and the child’s birth certificate. Some phases may require additional documents, so make sure to check beforehand on the requirements.
4. As a precaution, don’t build too many hopes in the child till the admission is secure. While must tell them about the school and how they’d like it there, don’t build too many expectations within the child just in case.
5. Always have a backup no matter how confident you are of securing admission to the desired school. However, if that doesn’t work out due to unforeseen circumstances, you can always rely on the second option.

This article was updated by Kaira De la Rosa.

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