A parent's guide · S1 Posting 2026
Your child is posted on their PSLE score, the order of their six choices and the places available. Better scores are considered first, and each child is tried at their first choice, then their second, and so on. This guide explains posting groups, cut-off points, the three tie-breakers, affiliation and SAP schools, using MOE's own rules.
Rules and dates on this page are from the Ministry of Education (MOE) and were checked against MOE's S1 Posting pages on 19 October 2026. MOE is the source of truth: confirm details on the linked MOE pages before you act.
The basics
MOE posts every child to a secondary school on three things: their PSLE score, in their eligible posting group; the order of their six school choices; and the vacancies in those schools. Students with better PSLE scores are considered first for the schools they chose.
In practice, the computer takes each child in score order and tries their first choice, then their second, and so on, until it finds a school with a place. That is why a child can list an ambitious first choice without losing their place at a later choice: if the first choice is full, they are simply considered for the next one.
Posting groups
The posting group decides which cut-off points apply to your child, and the level at which they start most subjects in Sec 1. These are MOE's bands.
| PSLE score | Posting group | Most subjects at the start of Sec 1 |
|---|---|---|
| 4 to 20 | Posting Group 3 | G3 |
| 21 and 22 | Posting Group 2 or 3 | G2 or G3 |
| 23 and 24 | Posting Group 2 | G2 |
| 25 | Posting Group 1 or 2 | G1 or G2 |
| 26 to 30 (with AL7 or better in English and Math) | Posting Group 1 | G1 |
If your child is eligible for two posting groups, you choose one, and it applies to all six choices: you cannot mix posting groups in one submission. Under Full Subject-Based Banding, students in Posting Groups 1 and 2 can take English, Math, Science or Mother Tongue at a more demanding level if they did well in that subject at PSLE.
Cut-off points
A school's cut-off point (COP) is the PSLE score of the last student posted to it in each posting group in the previous year. If your child's score is equal to or better than the COP, they would have been considered last year.
Three things to keep in mind. First, it is last year's number: MOE publishes this year's COPs in December, and they can move by a few points depending on each cohort's results and choices. Second, meeting a COP does not secure a place, because tie-breakers can still apply. Third, a COP marked 30* means the school still had places after posting.
You can see every school's 2025 COPs on our cut-off point calculator and beside each open house on the open house list, both taken from MOE SchoolFinder.
Tie-breakers
When two or more students with the same PSLE score are competing for the final vacancies in a school, MOE applies these tie-breakers in order:
This is why choice order matters most for schools where your child's score sits right at the COP.
Special cases
A child from a primary school affiliated to a secondary school gets affiliation priority there only if they list that school as their first choice and meet any extra criteria the school sets. Listed lower, they are considered as a non-affiliated applicant. Affiliation gives priority, not a place: at least 20% of places in each posting group are kept for students without affiliation priority. In schools offering both the IP and the SEC route, affiliation priority applies only to the SEC route.
Students who took both English and Chinese at PSLE can choose SAP schools. Those with a Pass, Merit or Distinction in Higher Chinese and a PSLE score of 14 or better get a posting advantage: among students with the same PSLE score, those with better Higher Chinese grades are considered first, before the tie-breakers. This is why some SAP schools' COPs carry an (M) or (D).
If your child applied through DSA-Sec, the outcome of that application affects whether and how they take part in S1 Posting. Follow the instructions in your DSA outcome and on MOE's DSA pages.
Submitting
Your child receives an S1 Option Form and an eligibility letter with their PSLE results. A parent or guardian then submits up to six choices, in order of preference, on the S1 Portal with Singpass, from 11.30am on results day for seven calendar days, closing at 4.30pm on the last day. You can also submit through your child's primary school on weekdays. You can change your submission any time before the deadline.
Students who submit no choices, or who cannot be placed in any of their choices, are posted after everyone else to a school with places, based on their registered address. It may not be near home. That is the main reason MOE asks every family to include schools with a range of COPs.
Source: MOE S1 Posting, checked 19 October 2026.
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After the choices are in
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Yes, if the school's cut-off point moves this year. COPs are last year's figures and move with each cohort's results and choices. That works in both directions, which is why MOE suggests including schools with a range of COPs.
No. Your child is considered for each choice in order, so an ambitious first choice does not cost them their later choices. Choice order only matters as a tie-breaker, at schools where students tie on score and citizenship.
Yes. A score of 21 or 22 makes a child eligible for Posting Group 2 or 3, and you choose one. The posting group you choose applies to all six choices.
Your child is posted after everyone who submitted choices, to a school with places based on your registered address. Submit on time, even if you plan to adjust: you can change your choices any time before the deadline.