SINGAPORE - This year's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) saw 140 Primary 6 pupils being granted special consideration for Covid-19-related reasons, with some missing papers because they were on medical leave for an acute respiratory infection.

These pupils accounted for 0.4 per cent of the 2020 PSLE cohort. On Wednesday (Nov 25), 39,995 pupils received their results, down from 40,256 pupils last year.

To ensure fairness to all in the light of the pandemic, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) said on Monday that it took multiple factors into consideration.

These included the pupils' performance in the other papers and their school cohort's performance for that affected subject in the PSLE and their school-based examinations.

The pupils collected their results in their classrooms instead of the school hall, which is the norm, due to the Covid-19 pandemic this year.

Doing it that way gave them "the opportunity to be with their classmates and consult their teachers face to face on their next steps" when collecting their results, said the Education Ministry.

Due to the younger age of PSLE pupils, a parent or guardian was allowed to accompany their child or ward to school to collect their results.

For the fifth year running, 98.4 per cent of the pupils did well enough to progress to secondary school. It matched the rate from 2016 to last year, and remains the best performance since the national exam was introduced in 1960.

From 1980 to 2015, between 81.7 per cent and 98.3 per cent of pupils who sat the PSLE were eligible to enrol in secondary schools.

This year, 66.3 per cent of the cohort qualified for the Express course in secondary schools, which is similar to last year's rate.

In 2013, a record 66.7 per cent made it to the Express course.

Of the 2020 cohort, 21.2 per cent are eligible for the Normal (Academic) course, and 11 per cent for the Normal (Technical) course.

Students eligible to enrol in secondary schools received option forms when they collected their result slips.

They will be able to access the online system to submit their choices from Wednesday to next Tuesday.

The Secondary 1 posting results will be released on Dec 22.