Secondary 1 (S1) Posting Exercise in Singapore: What You Need to Know

[Updated] On 20 December 2019, students who sat for this year's PSLE will get to know which secondary schools they have been granted admission to. 

This process is called the Secondary 1 (S1) Posting Exercise. Students are posted to secondary schools based on merit, according to three criteria: PSLE results, their choice of schools and the vacancies available in the schools.

Secondary 1 Posting Exercise in Singapore: What parents should know

As per the rules:

• Those who are already successful in the Direct School Admission - Secondary (DSA - Sec) Exercise will not be eligible to participate in the S1 Posting Exercise, except to make their Third Language and/or Course Option based on their PSLE results.
• P6 students who are interested to enrol in Specialised School for Normal (Technical) SSNT [i.e. Crest Secondary School (CSS) or Spectra Secondary School (SSS)] should apply to the school directly after the release of the PSLE results.
• P6 students who have accepted offers from the Singapore Sports School (SSP) are still required to participate in the S1 Posting Exercise. This will allow them to return to the posted mainstream secondary school provided to them under the S1 Posting Exercise, if they subsequently need to leave the SSP.

The Secondary 1 Posting Exercise is conducted in 3 phases (Click here for the exact dates):

Secondary 1 Posting Exercise in Singapore: S1 Option Phase

This is the phase where parents submit their child’s secondary school options after the release of the PSLE results. 

P6 students who are eligible for secondary school will each receive their PSLE results slip along with:

• A personalised S1 Option Form:  Parents can use the unique password (S1 PIN) provided in the S1 Option Form to submit their child’s S1 options via the S1 Internet System (S1-IS) during the S1 Option Phase.

(The S1 PIN can be found at the top right-hand corner in the child’s S1 Option Form).

You are allowed to submit a list of 6 schools in order of preference.

• A personalised Eligibility Letter: This letter (enclosed in the S1 Option Form) provides a list of eligibilities that the student is eligible for. This includes:

  -Third Language (Chinese (Special Programme) [CSP],Malay (Special Programme) [MSP], Bahasa Indonesia (BI), Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Spanish)

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• -Express/Normal (Academic) course or Normal (Academic)/Normal (Technical) course

  Students, including those successfully allocated a secondary school via DSA-Sec Exercise, who are eligible for these eligibilities, may submit their options during the S1 Option Phase.

Students who are interested in both the IP and ‘O’ Level Programmes offered by the same school are required to indicate the option codes from both programmes separately as their school choices in order of preference.

Parents are advised to make use of all six secondary school choices.

The S1-IS is accessible 24-hour starting from 11 am on the first day until 3 pm on the last day of S1 Option Phase. Click here for help to use the S1-IS.

Remember to print and retain a copy of the Verification Slip (VS) after submitting your child’s options on the S1-IS. Note that if you are unable to view the VS, your child’s options may not have been submitted. In such cases, log in to the S1-IS again to confirm the status of your submission.

Optionally, if parents require assistance to submit their child's S1 options, they may bring the completed S1 Option Form to their child’s primary school during the S1 Option Phase. 

If you are not in Singapore during the S1 Option Phase, you may authorise a proxy to act on your behalf to (i) collect your child's PSLE results and S1 Option Form from your child's primary school and/or (ii) bring the completed S1 Option Form to your child's primary school.

At the primary school, the proxy would be required to produce the following documents for verification:

• Proxy form completed by you
• You and your spouse's original NRICs
• Your child's original Birth Certificate
• Your appointed proxy's original NRIC

School Posting Phase

This phase is for the posting of students to secondary schools taking into consideration their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results, choices of schools and available vacancies in the schools.

• Students are posted to secondary schools based on merit, using the PSLE score.
• Student with a better aggregate score will be considered for admission first subject to the availability of vacancies in the selected school.

If there are no more vacancies, then the student will be considered for his/her next choice school(s).

• If two students with the same score are being considered for the last place in a school, the following tie-breakers will be used:

  • • Citizenship
      (priority given to Singapore Citizens, then Singapore Permanent Residents, then International Students)

    • Computerised balloting (each student is given an equal opportunity)

• When applying to SAP schools, Higher Chinese Language (HCL) students will continue to receive an advantage.

Although HCL results do not count towards the PSLE Score, if students with the same PSLE Score are vying for limited places in the same SAP school, those with better HCL grades will be allocated a place ahead of other students. 

• Students who fail to get a place in any of their choice of schools will be posted to a school near their home which still has vacancies. 

(As such, parents who have changed their official residential address in their NRIC are advised to update the primary school of their new address by the end of PSLE.)

Posting Results Release Phase

This is the phase when the results of secondary school posting get released.It usually takes place in the 3^rd/ 4^th week of December.

Students should report to their posted secondary schools on the next working day after the release of the posting results.

Your child may wear his/her primary school uniform and bring along the Report Book and PSLE Results Slip when he/she reports to the posted secondary school. 

(This year, posting results will be released at 9 am on 21 Dec 2017, and students have to report to their secondary school for registration at 8:30 am on 22 Dec 2017.)

Parents and students will be able to check the posting results via:

• SMS via applicant’s local mobile number (if provided by applicants during the S1 Option Phase)
• Secondary 1-Internet System (S1-IS)
• Child’s primary school

If you are not in Singapore during the Posting Results Release, you may authorise a proxy to handle the registration on your behalf. For registration at the secondary school, the proxy should be required to produce the following documents for verification:

•    Proxy form completed by you  
•    You and your spouse's original NRICs 
•    Your child's original Birth Certificate 
•    Your appointed proxy's original NRIC

For further clarifications on the matter, you may also contact the posted secondary school directly for assistance.

Also READ: Choosing a secondary school in Singapore

(Source: MOE)