The Spreadsheet That Started at the Void Deck
It began, as many things do in our estate, at the void deck. I was waiting for my daughter Zara to come back from CCA, and two mothers on the next bench were comparing secondary schools in the kind of detail usually reserved for resale flat prices. Scores, bus routes, whose nephew went where and what he thought of the canteen. By the time Zara appeared, water bottle in hand and shoelaces undone, I had a headache and a vague feeling that I was already behind.
That night I opened a spreadsheet. By the weekend it had fourteen schools in it, with columns for travel time, CCAs and notes from friends. Then Zara, reading over my shoulder, asked if she could add a column of her own. She called it "vibes". I have come to accept that it is the most honest column in the sheet.
The PSLE written papers are done, and results are expected tentatively on Tuesday 24 or Wednesday 25 November 2026. After that, families have seven calendar days to submit up to six secondary school choices. Seven days sounds generous until you are in the middle of them, juggling a child's feelings, relatives' opinions and a dozen open browser tabs. So our approach, borrowed from friends who have done this before, is to do the thinking now and the deciding later. Here is how we are going about it.
How Posting Actually Works
Before building a list, it helps to understand what the list is actually used for. Based on MOE's explanation of S1 posting:
- Students are posted by merit first, meaning their PSLE Score, within their eligible Posting Group, and then by their choice order, subject to vacancies. A better score gets priority for vacancies.
- When students with the same score are competing for the last places in a school, tie-breakers apply in this order: citizenship (Singapore Citizens, then Permanent Residents, then International Students), then choice order, then computerised balloting.
If you would like a refresher on how the PSLE Score itself is worked out from Achievement Levels, we have a separate post on that. This one is about what you do with the score once you have it.
Shortlist Now, Finalise After the Score
You cannot know the exact score yet. But you probably have a rough sense of the range, from school results through P6, from the preliminary exams and from your child's own feeling about the papers. That is enough to start.
My suggestion is a long list of ten to fifteen schools that covers a wider range of possible scores than you expect. Include schools that would make sense if things go better than hoped, and schools that would make sense if they go less well. Once the score is known, you narrow the long list down to six. That is a much calmer job than starting from a blank page on results day.
A few starting points:
- Use MOE's official information. SchoolFinder on the MOE website lets you search for schools and see what they offer, and MOE publishes schools' previous cut-off points. Rely on these rather than on lists forwarded in chat groups, which are often out of date or simply wrong.
- Treat previous cut-off points as a guide, not a promise. A previous cut-off point (COP) reflects an earlier year's posting. This year's cohort applies differently, so the line can move. That is exactly why it pays to include schools where your child's score has some room to spare.
- Write things down as you go. Travel time, CCAs, anything distinctive. After the fifth school website, they all start to blur together.
Reach, Likely, Safe: Building the List in Bands
The most useful framework I have found is to sort schools into three bands, relative to your child's eventual score:
- Reach: schools whose previous cut-off point is a little better than your child's score. Possible, not likely, and lovely if it happens.
- Likely: schools whose previous cut-off point is around your child's score.
- Safe: schools whose previous cut-off point your child's score clearly beats.
A balanced six might be one or two reach schools, two likely schools and two or three safe schools. The exact mix depends on your child and how strongly they feel about particular places.
Because the bands depend on a score you do not have yet, we have prepared our long list so it can be sorted quickly for two or three possible scores. When the real number arrives, we are not starting again. We are just sliding a few schools from one band to another.
The test for every school on the list, including the safe ones, is simple: would we be genuinely happy if Zara went here? If the answer is no, it does not belong on the list. A safe school you would be miserable with is not safe at all.
What to Look at Beyond the Cut-Off Point
The cut-off point tells you whether a school is realistic. It tells you almost nothing about whether it is right. For that, look at:
- Travel time. Do the journey for real, at morning peak, by MRT or bus, ideally with your child. A school that looks close on the map can turn out to involve two transfers and a long walk. Your child will make that journey for years.
- CCAs. If your child has a sport, art, music or uniformed group they love, check which schools offer it. If they want to try something new, check that too.
- Programmes. Many schools have their own areas of focus and distinctive programmes, usually described on their websites. Ask your child which ones sound interesting to them, not which ones sound impressive to the relatives.
- School culture. Harder to measure, but often what matters most. Talk to current students and their parents if you know any. Notice what the school celebrates and how it describes itself. If schools offer open houses or virtual tours, make use of them.
- Everyday practicalities. Where will your child have lunch? How will they get home after a late CCA? How long will their day be, door to door?
- Friends. Nice to have, but not a reason on its own. Children make new friends quickly in Secondary 1, and old friendships survive different schools far better than we fear.
Let Your Child Have a Real Say
Zara's "vibes" column started as a joke. It has turned into one of our most useful conversations.
When I asked her what "good vibes" meant, she struggled for a moment and then said: "Somewhere people look like they're having fun, and nobody looks scared." That tells me more about what she needs from a school than any number could.
Some ways to involve your child properly:
- Ask what they want from secondary school. A particular CCA? A shorter journey? A fresh start away from a difficult friendship? Their answers may surprise you.
- Look at schools together. Websites, social media pages, the walk past the gate on a Saturday. Let them react out loud.
- Explain the bands honestly. Children can understand reach, likely and safe. It helps them see the list as a plan rather than a judgement.
- Give their preferences real weight. If they are strongly against a school, find out why before overruling them. They will be the one walking through that gate every morning.
Ordering the Six: Why Choice Order Matters
Once the score is known and the bands are sorted, you have to put six schools in order. Some principles we are following:
- Order by genuine preference. Put the school your child would most like to attend first, then the next, and so on.
- Remember the tie-breaker. Because choice order is the second tie-breaker, a school your child really wants, where their score sits close to the previous cut-off point, deserves a place near the top rather than at the bottom.
- Fill all six. MOE advises it, and an empty slot is a missed opportunity.
- Keep two or three schools your child's score beats. Again, this is MOE's advice, and it is your family's safety net.
- Check the names carefully. Some schools have similar names. Make sure each choice is exactly the school you mean.
The Seven-Day Window, Day by Day
Submission opens from 11.30am on results day, runs for seven calendar days and closes at 4.30pm on the last day. Choices go in through the S1 Portal using Singpass, and only one parent needs to submit. If you need help, your child's primary school can help, including if you cannot submit online.
Here is roughly how we plan to use the week:
- Day 1 (results day): feelings first. A nice lunch, no big decisions. Perhaps a quick look at which band each school now falls into, if everyone is calm.
- Day 2: sit down together and narrow the long list using the real score.
- Days 3 and 4: check travel routes, call schools with questions, revisit websites. Let the list settle.
- Day 5: agree the final six and their order as a family.
- Day 6: submit, and keep a screenshot.
- Day 7: spare. Life happens, and Singpass occasionally has opinions. Remember it closes at 4.30pm, not midnight.
A List You Can Live With
S1 posting results are expected on Friday 18 December 2026 (tentative). As with everything here, please confirm the dates on moe.gov.sg nearer the time.
There is no perfect list. There is only a thoughtful one: six schools, in honest order, each one a place where your family would be content to see your child grow up a little. Build it now, while the stakes feel abstract. Finish it calmly after the score arrives. Then put the spreadsheet away and enjoy the holidays.
Zara's vibes column will stay in our final version. It keeps us honest about who this list is really for.