Everyone's Spending More on DSA Prep. Does Your Child Actually Need To?

If you've caught yourself wondering whether you're falling behind because the family down the corridor just signed their child up for another DSA prep class — this one's for you.

A new study from the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS Working Paper No. 77, September 2026), which surveyed 1,500 parents of primary-school children, puts hard numbers to a feeling many Singapore parents already know: the spending is going up, the pressure is going up, and it has now reached DSA. Before you add one more class, read the maths. It's calmer than the mood.

The numbers behind the FOMO

Here is the loop the study captured, almost perfectly:

• Average monthly tuition spending has more than doubled in a decade — from $318 in 2016 to $677 in 2026. Enrichment rose from $125 to $355.
• Nearly nine in 10 parents (89.8%) think children already spend too much time on tuition and enrichment.
• Yet 70.2% say they would spend even more if they could afford to — and about half (51.9%) feel pressure simply because other parents are spending.
• And the spending has a new target: 31.8% of parents now send their child to enrichment classes specifically to prepare for DSA.

Read those last three together and you have the kiasu loop in one line: we already think it's too much, and we do more anyway — because everyone else is. That's not a judgement. It's the exact trap the numbers describe. The useful question isn't "how do I keep up?" It's "does my child actually need this?"

Most parents are paying for something they haven't fully mapped

Here's the quiet gap hiding inside that 31.8%. The same study tested what parents actually knew about DSA — and while about three in four understood the scheme in general, only 62.9% knew which schools and programmes DSA actually covers.

Sit with that. A meaningful share of families are already paying for DSA-focused enrichment before they've pinned down the most basic — and completely free — piece of the puzzle: which schools take their child's talent, and how few seats those schools even open through DSA.

That's backwards, and it's the cheapest part to fix. Before another class:

1. Get the scheme straight — what DSA actually is and our DSA guide.
2. Match your child's talent to schools genuinely strong in it, and check how each school type allots DSA places.

Knowing the map often changes the spending question entirely. You may find the right target needs less preparation than you feared — or that your dream school barely uses DSA for your child's talent, and the energy is better spent elsewhere.

What more money can't buy

Here's the part the spending race quietly ignores: DSA is not sold by the hour.

Schools don't select on how many classes a child attended. They select on a genuine talent and whether the child fits what that school is strong in. A child with a real, sustained ability in a sport, an instrument, or an academic area is a candidate. A child with the same number of prep hours but no real track record is not — no matter what was spent.

And DSA is not a safety net you can buy your way into "just in case." In the study, 78.2% of parents saw DSA as a hedge against a poor PSLE showing — but a hedge it isn't. Once you accept a DSA offer, your child is committed to that school and does not take part in the S1 Posting Exercise — they give up the PSLE-based choice entirely. That's a real decision, not a backup plan.

DSA is not a rich-kid game

If the spending data makes DSA sound like an arms race only well-off families can win, the study says the opposite — and it's worth sitting with.

Parents in smaller HDB flats (1–3 rooms) were the most likely to use enrichment for DSA — 50.4%, compared with about 25% of families in landed homes. They were also the most positive about the DSA scheme overall (55.6%, versus 35.7% among private-property families). IPS's own reading: many of these families see DSA as a path to a good school that isn't decided by exam grades alone.

The takeaway isn't about who spends more. It's this: DSA rewards a real talent, not a big budget. Spending is not the thing that gets a child in — which means not out-spending your neighbour is not the thing that keeps yours out.

Which kind of DSA parent are you?

The study did something more revealing than counting dollars: it sorted parents into three types, and the pattern is a mirror worth looking into.

• Loving Lions — the largest group (40.8%). They want their child to succeed at everything, are the most involved of the three types, and spend the most on tuition and enrichment. They also, by the study's own measures, carry the most stress.
• New-School Parents (34.3%). They lead with holistic development, put less weight on pure academics — and report the lowest stress and lower day-to-day involvement.
• Detached Realists (24.9%). They provide support and resources without a strong push either way.

Notice the uncomfortable line running through it: the group spending and pushing the hardest is also the most stressed — and nothing in the data says that extra spend buys a DSA place. More effort bought more anxiety, not more certainty.

If you read that and thought "that's me" about the Lions, this article is aimed squarely at you — with no judgement. The way out of the loop isn't one more class. It's an honest read on whether this path fits your child.

The better question: fit, not "keeping up"

So swap the question. Not "Everyone's investing more — should we?" but "Is this actually my child's path?" A quick, honest self-check:

• A real, sustained talent — years of steady training, competition results, squad or ensemble selection — not a hobby you started topping up this year.
• A talent that matches a school genuinely strong in it — not three brand-name schools chosen for the name.
• The interest is your child's, not yours — they can talk about it, unprompted.

If the honest answer is mostly "everyone's doing it, so we should too," that's the FOMO talking — and another prep class won't change the answer. It's fine to try as a long shot. Just don't let it drive real stress, and don't spend as if it's a guarantee.

What actually moves the needle (and costs little)

For a child who is a genuine candidate, the things that matter most aren't the expensive ones:

• Authentic interview practice — help your child talk about the talent, not recite a script. Coaches are unanimous that schools spot a rehearsed child, and that genuine interest is what lands. (See what interview coaches told us.)
• Match the talent to the right school — a strong player should target schools strong in that sport. Our DSA finder matches talent to schools.
• Don't ease off PSLE. In the same study, 58.5% of parents worried DSA prep might distract from the PSLE, and 75.8% still preferred their child to enter secondary school through PSLE results, not DSA. For most families, PSLE remains the main route — DSA is the bonus, not the plan.

The lever is fit and genuine interest. Neither is bought by the hour.

Your honest to-do

1. Before spending more, run the self-check above. Is your child a real candidate, or is this FOMO? That answer, not the budget, is what matters.
2. Map it before you pay for it. Understand what DSA actually is, then match talent to school — most parents skip this free step and pay for classes first.
3. Keep the bigger picture calm. The record applicant numbers this year are less scary than the headline too — here's why the maths is calmer than it looks.
4. Keep PSLE prep steady. It's still the main door for most children.

You don't keep your child in the running by out-spending the family down the corridor. You do it by being honest about whether this is their path — and if it is, backing the one thing money can't fake: a real talent your child genuinely loves.

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Survey figures in this article are from the Institute of Policy Studies, "Parents and Schooling in Singapore: Findings from the 2026 Survey on Singapore's Education System" (IPS Working Paper No. 77, September 2026). DSA scheme rules are per the Ministry of Education. Always confirm current details on the MOE website.