SingaporeMotherhood | Preschooler & Up
June 2013
Making Sense of the Primary 1 Registration Exercise
Come July, parents with children entering Primary One next year will begin the process of registering and balloting for places in the primary school of their choice. The following is a guide to help parents navigate through the various phases and changes in this year’s exercise.
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1. Who should register
Parents with children born between 2 January 2007 and 1 January 2008 (both dates inclusive) should register their child for the 2014 Primary One intake.
2. Where to register
Registration takes place at the school of your choice between 8am to 11am, and from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.
This year, parents can also register online under Phase 2C or Phase 2C (Supplementary) in any of the 80 schools listed here if they meet the criteria stated on the MOE’s website.
3. When to register
The registration exercise is conducted in three main phases, with Phase 2 being further divided into five sub-phases. Generally, the earlier you are able to register your child, the better your chances are at securing a place in the school of your choice.
Using the flowchart below, you can determine your eligibility to register under each phase and the dates to take note of.
4. What documents to prepare
Parents are required to bring along the originals of all the required documents on the day of registration.
For children who are Singaporeans, parents need to bring their child’s birth certificate and immunisation certificates. Both parents are also required to bring along their NRICs.
If you are applying under Phases 2A or 2B, you must also bring along the relevant documents which certify your eligibility to apply under these phases. A Primary school report book or PSLE certificate is required to show that you or the child’s sibling were a former student of the school. If you have misplaced these documents, you may request for a “Statement of Results” from the MOE here.
For children who are non-citizens and for other special cases, please check here for additional required documents.
5. How places are allocated
Only applicants under Phase 1 are guaranteed places in the school of choice. For all other phases, balloting may be required if the number of applicants exceed the number of vacancies available for that phase. The number of vacancies allocated for each phase is as follows:
The applicants under Phase 2 are classified according to whether they are Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents. They are then further categorised according to the proximity of their homes from the school. The following table shows the order of priority given to the applicants under each category. The higher up the table, the greater the priority given.
Singaporeans are given priority over Permanent Residents during the balloting process and this may result in more places being available for Singaporeans in popular schools.
The flowchart below illustrates how the balloting process works:
Detailed examples of the allocation process, as well as the allocation process for Phase 3 may be found here.
6. Some facts to note when registering under Phases 2A or 2B
a. Merger of former primary school:
If your former primary school has merged with another school under a new name, you can still register your child under Phase 2A at the new school. A list of recently merged schools may be found here.
b. Eligibility for Phase 2B:
Due to the popularity of some schools, membership in an affiliated church or clan association alone may be insufficient to qualify for registration under Phase 2B. Some schools only give priority to parents who have been active members of clan associations for more than a certain number of years, or those who have been serving in a church for a period of time. It is important to double-check the requirements of the school of your choice.
c. Registering as parent-volunteers:
While the MOE’s requirement is that parents join as volunteers at least one year before the registration exercise, parents are known to have signed up to volunteer way before that in popular schools. Some schools have application deadlines for parent volunteers, while others do not accept any more once the vacancies for parent volunteers have been filled. Do also note that serving more than the required 40 hours does not give you any added advantage during the balloting process.
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