Primary school ranking 2017 – top 21 by awards

As we move towards the "all schools are good schools" philosophy, some parents are still looking for markers of a schools performance. So we've taken a look at the MOE awards that primary schools have received as an indicator.

Primary education lays the foundation for a child’s academic path. Hence, many parents in Singapore find the selection of a primary school for their child a very stressful experience. For them, academic achievement is still an important marker of success. As there isn’t any official primary schools ranking (understandably so), parents are left looking for other indicators of a school’s success.

At theAsianparent.com, we’ve taken a look at the MOE awards that primary schools have received to give you an indicator of the school’s success. This primary schools ranking is not an official one, nor should it be the sole basis of your primary school selection. After all, all schools are good schools and academic achievement and awards are not everything.

Overview of Primary School Awards

Overview of the types of awards accredited to schools in Singapore.

MOE masterplan of awards for schools

Level One Awards are given to schools to affirm their achievements in certain domains in at least a single year.
Level Two Awards recognise schools for their sustained excellence in specific areas.
The Special Awards recognise schools’ holistic efforts in establishing outstanding education processes and obtaining excellent outcomes.

Special Awards

School Excellence Award (SEA)

The SEA is the highest and most prestigious award and serves as a mark of distinction for schools that have sustained achievements in a wide spectrum of student development processes.

School Distinction Award (SDA)

The SDA recognises high-achieving schools with exemplary school processes and practices. It is the second highest award conferred to schools.

Level Two Awards

Sustained Achievement Award (SAA)

The SAA recognises schools’ ability in sustaining good outcomes over a number of years, in 3 areas: Aesthetics, Sports and Physical Health. Schools need to achieve an Achievement Award in the same category over 3 consecutive years before they are awarded the SAA.

Development Award (DA) and Outstanding Development Award (ODA) for Character Development

The DA and ODA recognizes schools that have put in place systems and processes for the effective development of students’ character.

DA and ODA for National Education

The National Education Awards recognise schools for their national education efforts. From the winners of the Outstanding Development Award for National Education, a maximum of 2 award recipients, one for the Primary School category and another for the Secondary School/Junior College/Centralised Institute category, will be selected for the Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) National Education (NE) Award. Introduced in 2002, this award is the pinnacle of the National Education Awards.

Best Practice Award (BPA)

The Best Practice Award (BPA) recognizes schools for their effective practices and systems that lead to good education outcomes. There are 4 categories for the BPA: Organisational Effectiveness, Student All-Round Development, Staff Well-Being, and Teaching and Learning.

As of now, only 21 primary schools in Singapore have attained at least one Special Award. Without a doubt, these are the crème de la crème of primary schools in Singapore.

The table shown below are the top 21 primary school ranking 2017 in Singapore:*Recipient of LKY (NE) Award


Name of school	SEA	SDA	SAA	ODA	BPA
Raffles Girls Primary School	X	X	XXX		XXX
Rulang Primary School	X	X	XX	X	XXX
St. Hildas Primary School	X	X	XXX		XXX
Ai Tong School		X	XXX		XX
Catholic High School		X	XXX	X	XXX
CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls School		X	XXX		X
Chongfu School		X	X	X	XX
Gongshang Primary School		X	XXX	X	X
Henry Park Primary School		X	XXX		X
Kong Hwa Primary School		X	XX		X
Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School		X	XX		X
Maris Stella High School		X	XX		X
Methodist Girls School		X	XXX	X	X
Nanyang Primary School		X	XXX		XX
Pasir Ris Primary School*		X	XXX	XX	XX
Pei Chun Public School		X	XXX		X
Radin Mas Primary School		X	XX		X
Rosyth School		X	XX	X	X
Tampines Primary School		X	X	X	X
Tao Nan School		X	XXX		X
Temasek Primary School		X	XX		XX

X - denotes the number of award received

These are what our parents shared about the primary school rankings 2017 on our Facebook page:

primary school ranking 2017

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Written by

Felicia Chin

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