Sec 1 Posting Outcomes Similar to Previous Years Despite Changes in Cut-Off Points

We thank Madam Chen Han for her letter "Did Dragon Year with larger cohort affect secondary schools' cut-off points?" (Dec 20).

Each year, the Ministry of Education (MOE) plans for sufficient Secondary 1 places to cater to all PSLE students in that cohort. The 2024 PSLE cohort was larger than the cohorts in the last few years, and this was taken into account in our planning. Every student who took the PSLE in 2024 and qualified for secondary school was posted to one of our secondary schools.

Changes to the cut-off points (COPs) of some schools, especially popular schools, do happen from year to year. When more students with the same PSLE scores pick the same schools, COPs of these schools could become more stringent than what they were in previous years. The larger cohort taking the PSLE in 2024 could also have contributed to this effect for some popular schools.

This is why, during the Secondary 1 posting exercise each year, we remind parents and their children to use previous years' COPs only as a reference. We also encourage parents and their children to include at least two or three schools within their six school choices where their PSLE score is better than the school's previous year's COP, to increase their chances of securing a place in one of their preferred school choices. Parents and their children should also consider other factors when choosing schools, such as the schools' culture, distinctive programmes, subject offerings and co-curricular activities.

Even though there were changes in the COPs of a number of schools this year, overall posting outcomes remain comparable to previous years. More than 80 per cent of students were posted to a school within one of their first three choices, while more than 90 per cent of students were posted to a school in one of their six choices.

Students who required tie-breaking had their posting mostly decided by citizenship and school choice order, and the proportion of students who underwent computerised balloting remained around 1 in 10.

Lim Huay Chih
Divisional Director, Student Placement and Services
Ministry of Education