Secondary 1 (S1): How to choose schools

5. Shortlist schools

You should have a list of 6 schools ready, in order of preference, before submitting your school choices.

Use school's COP in previous years as a guide.

• The PSLE score ranges in SchoolFinder serve as a reference as they are based on the PSLE scores and school choices of the previous year’s Primary 6 cohort. 
• Meeting the school's COPs does not guarantee admission, as tie breakers may still apply. For each school, the COPs are determined by the PSLE score of the last student posted to that school in each Posting Group.
• Schools’ COPs for this year’s S1 Posting Exercise will be published in December.

Select a Posting Group, if applicable

• If your child is eligible for only one Posting Group, they are not allowed to choose another Posting Group.
• If your child is eligible for two Posting Groups, choose the one that best suits their learning pace and abilities. The chosen Posting Group applies to all school choices, and you cannot mix Posting Groups in your submission.

Find out what are Posting Groups and the indicative level of subjects at Secondary 1.

Shortlist and rank your 6 school choices

• Consider your child’s position within the school cohort. If your child’s PSLE score just meets a school’s COP, most students in that school will have better scores.
• Meeting the school’s COP does not guarantee admission. If 2 or more students with the same PSLE score are vying for the last available vacancies, tie-breakers will be applied to determine who is posted. Due to tie-breakers, not every student meeting the COP will be posted to their chosen school.

When shortlisting your 6 school of choice, you are:

• Strongly encouraged to include at least 2 to 3 schools where your child's PSLE score is better than the school's COP in previous years.
• Submit up to 6 school choices, including schools with different COPs.
• List your preferred schools higher in your submission, considering your child’s PSLE score and using the schools’ previous year’s COP as reference.

Learn how posting works.

Understand affiliation priority

Indicate your child's affiliated secondary school as first choice to receive affiliation priority.

• This gives your child priority, but does not guarantee admission.
• If the affiliated school is not indicated as first choice, your child will be considered under non-affiliated admission.

Learn more about affiliation priority.