PSLE Results 2026: How to Choose Your 6 Schools for S1 Posting

PSLE results day is a long day. Within a few hours you learn your child's score, find out what it opens up, and start a 7-day window to choose up to 6 secondary schools. This guide walks through S1 Posting 2026 in order: the day itself, what the score means, how posting decides, and how to rank a list of 6 you would be content with whichever school comes through.

The 2026 dates at a glance

These are MOE's tentative dates for 2026. Always confirm on the MOE S1 Posting page before acting.

When	What happens
Tue 24 or Wed 25 Nov 2026 (tentative), 11am	PSLE results are released
From 11.30am that day, for 7 calendar days	Submit up to 6 school choices. The S1 Portal is open 24 hours and closes at 4.30pm on the last day
Fri 18 Dec 2026 (tentative)	S1 Posting results, through the S1 Portal and by SMS
December	MOE publishes cut-off points for this year's exercise

For reference, in 2025 results came out on 25 November and choices closed on 1 December. Counted the same way, a 24 November release would close on Monday 30 November and a 25 November release on Tuesday 1 December; check MOE's confirmed date on the day. Either way, the window runs over a weekend, which matters if you plan to submit in person.

What results day looks like

PSLE results are released at 11am. From 11.30am the school choice window opens. You can submit in one of two ways:

• Online, through the S1 Portal. A parent or legal guardian logs in with Singpass. The portal is open 24 hours a day during the window.
• At your child's primary school. Schools are open 9am to 4.30pm on weekdays and closed on weekends.

You can amend your choices until the deadline, so submitting early does not lock you in.

If your child applied for DSA, their DSA-Sec allocation result comes out the same day: you collect it at your child's primary school or via the S1 Portal from 11.30am.

Step one: find your child's Posting Group

Your child is posted through Posting Group 1, 2 or 3, based on their PSLE score. The Posting Group also sets the level most subjects start at in Secondary 1. Remember that under the Achievement Level system a lower score is stronger.

PSLE score	Posting Group	Most subjects at start of S1
4 – 20	3	G3
21 – 22	2 or 3	G2 or G3
23 – 24	2	G2
25	1 or 2	G1 or G2
26 – 30 (with AL7 or better in English and Maths)	1	G1

If your child's score falls in an overlap (21–22 or 25), you choose one Posting Group, and it applies to all 6 choices. You cannot mix Posting Groups in one submission, so settle this first: it decides which cut-off points you read.

How posting decides who goes where

MOE posts students on three things:

1. PSLE score, within their Posting Group. A student with a better score is considered first for their preferred schools.
2. The order of their school choices.
3. Vacancies in the chosen schools.

When students with the same PSLE score are competing for a school's last places, tie-breakers apply in this order: citizenship (Singapore Citizens, then Permanent Residents, then international students), then how high each student ranked that school, then computerised balloting. That is why meeting a school's cut-off point is not a guarantee.

Reading cut-off points without over-reading them

A school's cut-off point (COP) is the PSLE score of the last student posted to that school, in each Posting Group, in the previous year. It records where the line fell; it is not a pass mark. MOE says the PSLE score ranges it shows in SchoolFinder "serve only as a reference".

• It moves. MOE says changes of about 1 point a year are typical, and 2 or 3 points are possible.
• This year's COPs are not out yet. MOE says cut-off points for the 2026 exercise will be published in December. In November you are working from previous years' figures.

So read a trend, not one number. Our PSLE cut-off dashboard puts 2023 to 2025 side by side, and our guide to reading a cut-off point shows how to match the right row to your child.

Choosing your 6: MOE's advice in plain words

MOE's guidance, in four points:

• Have your list of 6 ready, in order of preference, before you submit.
• Include at least 2 to 3 schools where your child's score is better than the school's COP in previous years. These are the schools your child comfortably clears.
• Submit up to 6 choices, including schools with different COPs.
• Put the schools you most prefer higher in the list. Choice order is one of the tie-breakers, so it carries weight.

Two more things worth weighing:

• Where your child would sit in the cohort. If their score only just meets a school's COP, most classmates will have stronger scores. A school where your child is comfortably placed can be the better fit.
• The school itself. Look at programmes, CCAs and culture through MOE's SchoolFinder and school websites, and ask your child what they enjoy. Our school pages put each school's cut-off band and talent areas in one place.

A simple test for every name on the list: would you be content if this were the school that came through? Any of the 6 could be.

A worked example (fictional)

This example is illustrative only. The schools and numbers are invented to show the method, not to describe any real school.

Say a child scores 14, which places them in Posting Group 3. The family shortlists six schools and notes each one's previous-year COP for Posting Group 3:

Rank	School	Previous-year COP	How the child's 14 compares
1	School A	12	2 points short. A stretch
2	School B	13	1 point short. A stretch
3	School C	14	Exactly at the line. Tie-breakers may decide
4	School D	16	2 points better
5	School E	18	4 points better. Comfortable
6	School F	19	5 points better. Comfortable

Why this list works:

• It is ranked by genuine preference. School A is first because the family most wants it, not because it is the most likely. The trade-off is School C: if it comes down to a tie at 14, a student who ranked C higher than third would be ahead on choice order.
• It has the 2 to 3 comfortable schools MOE advises. D, E and F all have COPs above 14. Since a COP can move by 2 or 3 points, E and F (4 or more points of margin) are the real safety net; D has a 2-point cushion.
• It uses all 6, and every school is one the family would accept. If E or F is where the child lands, that is still a school they chose.

Affiliation priority

If your child's primary school is affiliated with a secondary school, your child may get affiliation priority, but only if that secondary school is your first choice and your child meets the qualifying criteria. Listed anywhere else, your child is considered as a non-affiliated applicant. Affiliation priority helps but does not guarantee a place, and at dual-track schools it applies only to the SEC track, not the Integrated Programme.

Where DSA fits in

DSA-Sec allocation results are released along with the PSLE results. There are two outcomes: successful or unsuccessful.

• Allocated a DSA-Sec school: your child does not submit school choices in S1 Posting. Their place is confirmed with the PSLE results, provided their score qualifies for a Posting Group the school offers. If it does not, they are not admitted through DSA and go through S1 Posting instead. Some allocated students also receive an Eligibility Letter with their PSLE results, with options such as a Posting Group or a Third Language. If your child gets one, submit those options through the S1 Portal or the primary school by the last day of the choice window; otherwise MOE places your child in the Posting Group with subjects at the more demanding level and treats them as opting out of a Third Language.
• Unsuccessful, including a wait-listed child who was not given a place: your child takes part in S1 Posting as normal, in the same 7-day window, and can still list schools they applied to through DSA, except specialised independent schools, which do not take part in S1 Posting. An unsuccessful DSA application does not count against them. Wait List outcomes are released on results day too, so if your child was wait-listed, have a list of 6 ready before 11.30am either way.
• No school preference submitted in October: MOE treats this as withdrawing from DSA-Sec. Your child takes part in S1 Posting and can still choose that school there if eligible (again, not a specialised independent school).

If a DSA outcome is still open for your family, have a draft list of 6 ready before results day, so the two decisions don't land at once. Our DSA results guide covers each outcome.

If your child isn't posted to any of their 6 choices

Students who cannot be placed in any of their chosen schools are posted after everyone else, to a school with remaining vacancies, based on their official registered address. Because vacancies are limited by then, that school may not be near home. Listing all 6 choices, with 2 to 3 your child comfortably clears, is the most direct way to lower this risk.

After the results: appeals

S1 Posting results come out on Friday 18 December 2026 (tentative), through the S1 Portal and by SMS. After that, you can appeal for a school transfer, and the route depends on the reason. For serious medical conditions, you appeal through the posted school by 12pm on the next working day after the results. For other reasons, you appeal directly to the school you prefer, which sets its own process and documents on its website. For non-medical reasons, MOE encourages families to let their child settle in the posted school first.

Your results-day checklist

Before the day

• Draft a list of 6, in order of preference, using three years of cut-off points, with a version for each score range you think realistic.
• Make sure the parent or guardian who will submit can log in to Singpass.
• Mark the closing time: 4.30pm on the last day. Primary schools are closed on the weekend inside the window.

On the day

• 11am: note your child's PSLE score and find their Posting Group. If it falls in an overlap, decide which group to use for all 6 choices.
• From 11.30am: if your child applied for DSA, check the allocation result, and whether an Eligibility Letter came with it.
• Re-check your draft against the actual score: at least 2 to 3 schools your child comfortably clears, all 6 slots used, ranked by real preference.
• If an affiliated school matters to you, confirm it sits in first place.

Before the deadline

• Talk the list through with your child. They will be the one walking through the gate.
• Submit, review once more before the last day (amendments are allowed until 4.30pm on the last day), and keep a screenshot of the final list.

For the full process on one page, see our S1 Posting guide.

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Dates are MOE's tentative dates for the 2026 exercise; rules are from MOE's S1 Posting and DSA-Sec pages, checked 4 November 2026. Always confirm details on the official MOE S1 Posting page before submitting. Cut-off figures on DSALink are indicative and compiled from publicly available posting data. The worked example uses fictional schools. DSALink is an independent resource and is not affiliated with MOE.