The results slip lands in your child’s hand at 11am on a Tuesday in late November, and by five past, the parents’ group chat wants one thing: what does this score get us? Two moving parts decide that. There’s the score itself, made up of four Achievement Levels, and the Posting Group it puts your child in, which sets the subject levels they start with in Secondary 1.
Below is the system in plain terms, with the 2025 dates to give you a feel for how the 2026 posting season will run.
Your child’s PSLE Score is the sum of four Achievement Levels, from 4 (best) to 32, and a score of 4 to 20 puts them in Posting Group 3, where most subjects start at the G3 level.
Lower is better. Since 2024 there are no Express or Normal streams. Every secondary school student takes each subject at G1, G2 or G3, and the PSLE Score only sets the starting point. Subject levels can move up during secondary school.
How the AL score works
Each of the four PSLE subjects (English, Mathematics, Science and Mother Tongue) is graded on an Achievement Level from AL1 to AL8. The band depends on your child’s own marks, not on how the rest of the cohort did.
|
|---|
| Achievement Level |
Marks |
| AL1 |
90 and above |
| AL2 |
85 to 89 |
| AL3 |
80 to 84 |
| AL4 |
75 to 79 |
| AL5 |
65 to 74 |
| AL6 |
45 to 64 |
| AL7 |
20 to 44 |
| AL8 |
Below 20 |
The top bands are deliberately narrow. MOE expects slightly under half the cohort to land in AL1 to AL4 for Standard subjects, so the five-mark bands at the top still separate students meaningfully without splitting hairs over a single mark.
The PSLE Score is the four ALs added together. Four AL1s make a 4, the best possible score. Four AL8s make a 32. A child with AL2, AL3, AL3 and AL4 has a PSLE Score of 12.
Foundation subjects and Mother Tongue exemptions
Foundation-level subjects are graded A, B or C, and converted for posting: A counts as AL6, B as AL7 and C as AL8. A child exempted from Mother Tongue is assigned a score between AL6 and AL8, worked out from how peers with similar English, Maths and Science results did in Mother Tongue.
Posting Groups: what each score range means
Posting Groups replaced the old Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) streams when Full Subject-Based Banding, which replaced streaming, reached every secondary school in 2024. They matter for two things only: which schools your child can be posted to, and which subject levels they start with.
|
|---|
| PSLE Score |
Posting Group |
Starting subject level |
| 4 to 20 |
Posting Group 3 |
Most subjects at G3 (the former Express standard) |
| 21 to 22 |
Posting Group 3 or 2, the family chooses |
G3 or G2 |
| 23 to 24 |
Posting Group 2 |
Most subjects at G2 (the former Normal Academic standard) |
| 25 |
Posting Group 2 or 1, the family chooses |
G2 or G1 |
| 26 to 30 |
Posting Group 1 |
Most subjects at G1 (the former Normal Technical standard) |
For Posting Group 1, MOE also looks for AL7 or better in both English and Mathematics. A child who scores above 30 isn’t posted through this process and will be guided by the school towards other pathways, including retaking the PSLE.
Scores of 21, 22 and 25 sit in overlap territory, and they hand your family a real decision. A child on 22 who chooses Posting Group 2 starts at G2 and can move up later. The same child choosing Posting Group 3 starts at G3 in a school whose cut-off admits a 22. Talk to the primary school’s teachers about which suits your child’s confidence and pace.
Taking a subject at a higher level from Sec 1
This is the part of Full SBB that families overlook. The Posting Group sets the level for most subjects, not all of them. A child posted through Posting Group 2 who did well in English can be offered English at G3 from the first day of Secondary 1, with the rest at G2. MOE’s guideline is that a strong AL in a subject, generally AL5 or better, makes the child eligible for the more demanding level in that subject.
Levels can also change during secondary school. A student who copes well can be offered a subject at a more demanding level at a later point, and one who’s struggling can take a subject at a less demanding level. The school decides based on performance, and on whether the change serves the child.
How the posting itself works
Once results are out, families submit up to six school choices online. Posting runs on the PSLE Score first, then choice order, then vacancies. When students with the same score compete for the last places in a school, MOE applies tie-breakers in this order: citizenship (Singapore citizens first, then permanent residents, then international students), then the order in which each family ranked the school, then a computerised ballot.
Two special cases:
- SAP schools. For the Special Assistance Plan schools, a Distinction, Merit or Pass in Higher Chinese gives priority over other applicants with the same PSLE Score. There are no bonus points added to the score itself.
- Affiliated schools. Primary schools with a secondary affiliate usually have a more generous cut-off for their own pupils, provided the child lists the affiliated school as the first choice. Ask the primary school what its affiliation cut-off was last year.
Cut-off points
A school’s cut-off point is simply the PSLE Score of the last student posted there the previous year. It moves a point or two each year with demand, so MOE publishes the ranges as a reference, not a promise. The most sought-after Integrated Programme schools have cut-offs in the single digits, typically 6 to 8, and the full list is on MOE’s SchoolFinder and in the Secondary 1 posting booklet each November. If you’re building a shortlist, it’s worth reading up on how secondary cut-off points work across popular schools before you commit to an order.
Key dates: the 2025 pattern, and what to expect in 2026
For the 2025 cohort, PSLE results were released at 11am on Tuesday 25 November. School choices opened 30 minutes later and closed at 4.30pm on Monday 1 December. Posting results came out at 9am on Friday 19 December, and Secondary 1 registration followed the next week.
MOE hasn’t announced the 2026 dates at the time of writing, but the shape is consistent year to year: results in the last full week of November, about a week to submit choices, and posting results shortly before Christmas. Check the MOE Secondary 1 posting page once results are out.
What comes after: the new secondary exam from 2027
The Full SBB cohort that entered Secondary 1 in 2024 will be the first to sit a single national examination at the end of Secondary 4 in 2027, the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate, which replaces the separate O-Level and N-Level exams. Each subject is examined at the level the student took it, so a child who moved English up to G3 in Sec 2 sits English at G3 in 2027.
Common questions
What’s a good PSLE AL score?
A PSLE Score of 4 to 20 places a child in Posting Group 3, where most subjects start at G3. Scores from 4 to about 8 open the most competitive Integrated Programme schools. “Good” depends on the school and subject levels that suit your child, and a 14 in a school where they thrive beats a 9 in a school where they sink.
Is a lower PSLE score better?
Yes. The PSLE Score is the sum of four Achievement Levels, and AL1 is the top band, so the best possible score is 4 and the weakest is 32.
What’s the AL score range for each Posting Group?
Posting Group 3 is 4 to 20, Posting Group 2 is 23 to 24 and Posting Group 1 is 26 to 30. Children scoring 21 or 22 choose between Posting Groups 3 and 2, and children scoring 25 choose between Posting Groups 2 and 1.
Can my child move from G2 to G3 subjects later?
Yes. Under Full Subject-Based Banding, subject levels can be adjusted during secondary school based on how the child is coping, and a strong PSLE result in one subject can earn the more demanding level for that subject from Secondary 1.
How is a Foundation subject counted in the PSLE Score?
Foundation grades convert to Standard-level equivalents for posting: A counts as AL6, B as AL7 and C as AL8.
Does Higher Chinese give extra points for SAP schools?
Not points. A Distinction, Merit or Pass in Higher Chinese gives your child priority over other applicants with the same PSLE Score when applying to a SAP school.
When are the PSLE results released?
In the last full week of November. In 2025 they came out on Tuesday 25 November, with posting results on Friday 19 December.
Before you rank those six schools
Do the arithmetic once, calmly: four ALs added up, and 20 or below means Posting Group 3 with G3 subjects. A 21, 22 or 25 deserves a sit-down with the form teacher, because that choice sits with your family and it shapes the whole of Secondary 1. Whatever level your child starts at, no door has closed: subjects move up through secondary school, and the 2027 exam tests each one at the level they end up taking. Ask around and plenty of grown adults will explain why a PSLE score doesn’t decide a child’s future. Your twelve-year-old will believe it a lot sooner if they hear it from you, on results day, before anyone else in the group chat gets a word in.
More on PSLE and secondary school
Scoring bands, Posting Group ranges and posting dates are from the Ministry of Education’s PSLE scoring and Full Subject-Based Banding microsite and its Secondary 1 posting pages. Cut-off points change every year, so confirm the current figures with MOE before submitting choices.
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