PSLE 2021: Supporting Students and Their Parents in Making Informed School Choices

1 The new PSLE scoring system will be implemented this year. This is part of MOE's efforts to shift away from an over-emphasis on academic results by reducing fine differentiation of students' examination results at a young age. To support the first batch of students and their parents in making informed choices when choosing secondary schools, the Ministry of Education (MOE) is releasing the indicative PSLE Score ranges for individual secondary schools.

Indicative PSLE Score Ranges for All Secondary Schools

2 Under the new scoring system, students will be scored by Achievement Levels (AL) based on their individual performance in the PSLE subjects, regardless of how their peers have done. Please refer to Annex A for a summary of the new PSLE scoring and Secondary One (S1) Posting systems.

3 The indicative¹ PSLE Score ranges reflect the score of the first and last student who would be posted into each school under the AL scoring system, based on the 2020 cohort's PSLE results and school choice patterns. Similar to the T-score system, schools' Score ranges may vary from year to year depending on the cohort's PSLE results and their school choices in the previous year's S1 Posting Exercise. The PSLE Score of the last student posted to a particular school in the previous year is referred to as the school's Cut-Off Point (COP). Slight fluctuations from year to year in schools' COPs can happen and would typically be by 1 AL. Please refer to Annex B for more details on the presentation of the PSLE Score ranges.

4 PSLE Scores are less finely differentiated under the AL scoring system, as there are now only 29 possible PSLE Scores compared to more than 200 possible aggregates under the previous T-score system. Schools will therefore also be less differentiated by COPs, which means that students would have a wider range of secondary schools to choose from. There is also a good spread of schools with a range of COPs across school zones. Please refer to Annex C for a map showing the COPs of schools for various courses in each school zone. Based on 2020 indicative PSLE Score ranges, the indicative COPs for secondary schools start from 6.

Making Informed School Choices

5 The PSLE Score ranges for individual secondary schools serve as a good starting point for students and their parents as they begin considering secondary school choices. However, beyond grades, there are other equally important factors when considering what would be a good fit for the student's overall learning needs, e.g. schools' distinctive programmes, Co-Curricular Activities, ethos and culture, as well as home-school distance. For a more holistic understanding of the offerings by 139 secondary schools taking part in the 2021 S1 Posting Exercise, please visit SchoolFinder (https://moe.gov.sg/schoolfinder).

DSA as an Alternative Admission Pathway

6 Students can also consider the Direct School Admission (DSA)-Secondary as an alternative admission pathway. The DSA recognises students' diverse talents and achievements in areas that are not demonstrated at the PSLE, such as sports, performing arts and leadership. More information on the DSA-Sec 2021 Exercise will be released in May.

Our Journey Forward

7 MOE will continue to ensure our students, parents and schools are well-supported during this transition. Schools will also be engaging students and their parents to help them understand the changes to the PSLE scoring and S1 Posting systems, as well as continue to provide Education and Career Guidance (ECG) support to guide them in making informed decisions on school choices.

8 For more details on the changes to the PSLE scoring and S1 Posting systems, please refer to https://www.moe.gov.sg/microsites/psle-fsbb.

Frequently Asked Questions

Footnotes

1. The PSLE AL Score ranges for the individual secondary schools are indicative as this is the first year we are transiting from T-score to AL, and the AL Score ranges are simulated using the 2020 PSLE cohort results and students’ school choice. For subsequent years, the PSLE Score range for secondary schools will be based on PSLE AL scores and school choices of the students from the preceding year.