5 key questions answered
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Pupils will continue to be posted based on academic merit, which means that the pupil with the better PSLE score will be admitted ahead of a pupil with a poorer PSLE score.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
The Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) entry scores for 139 secondary schools under a new scoring system were released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday.
MOE addressed some frequently asked questions.
Q: How were the indicative PSLE score ranges for individual schools simulated?
A: The PSLE score ranges for the individual schools were simulated using last year's Primary 6 cohort's PSLE results and school choices.
MOE first simulated each pupil's individual subject score in AL (Achievement Level) terms, based on their raw subject scores. It then added the AL scores for each PSLE subject to form a pupil's total PSLE score.
Using these simulated PSLE scores and pupils' school choices from last year, MOE simulated their posting outcomes based on the new Secondary 1 posting system and its tie-breakers - in the order of citizenship, choice order of schools and computerised balloting.
The indicative PSLE score ranges for individual secondary schools were then generated based on the PSLE scores of the first pupil and the last pupil who would have been posted into the school under the simulation.
As last year's PSLE cohort had its results in T-score terms, the PSLE score ranges are indicative only, as they were simulated using last year's PSLE cohort results and pupils' school choices.
The actual PSLE score range for a school for a particular year is not pre-determined, and may vary from year to year, depending on the PSLE results and school choice patterns of each Primary 6 cohort.
Q: Will there be an increased likelihood of balloting because there are fewer possible PSLE scores and more schools at every score?
A: Pupils will continue to be posted based on academic merit, which means that the pupil with the better PSLE score will be admitted ahead of a pupil with a poorer PSLE score.
If there is more than one pupil with the same PSLE score vying for the last available place in a school, tie-breakers will be applied in the following order:
• First, citizenship: A Singapore citizen has the highest priority, then a Singapore permanent resident, and lastly, an international student;
• Second, school choice order: First choice over second choice, and so on;
• If the citizenship status and school choice order are the same, then computerised balloting will be used to determine who will be admitted.
Pupils will be balloted only when those vying for the last place in the same school have the same PSLE score, citizenship and choice order of schools.
Q: If my child meets the school's indicative cut-off point (COP), does that guarantee my child's admission into the school?
A: Meeting the school's indicative COP does not guarantee a child's admission into the secondary school. The indicative COP is the PSLE score of the last pupil admitted into the school, based on the PSLE scores and school choice patterns of last year's PSLE cohort.
Actual COPs are not pre-determined before the posting and may vary from year to year de-pending on pupils' PSLE results and their school choices for that particular year's Secondary 1 posting exercise.
In addition, if there are two or more pupils with the same PSLE score vying for the last place in the school, pupils will be placed according to the tie-breakers, in the order of citizenship, school choice order and computerised balloting.
Given this, it is possible for pupils with the school's COP score to be placed according to a tie-breaker.
Q: Why do several schools have the same indicative COP? How do parents make school choices when the indicative COPs for many schools are the same?
A: With PSLE scores being less finely differentiated under the AL system, there are now only 29 possible PSLE scores compared with more than 200 aggregates under the previous T-score system.
As a result, schools would be less differentiated by COPs. This means that pupils would generally have a wider range of secondary schools to consider when choosing schools.
Similar to the T-score system, schools' COPs for that year are not pre-determined, and may vary from year to year, depending on the previous year's cohort's PSLE results and their school choices in the Secondary 1 posting exercise.
MOE said that it encourages parents and pupils to look beyond the schools' COPs when choosing a secondary school, and to consider schools that would be a good fit for the pupil's overall learning needs.
They should consider the pupil's learning needs, interests, strengths and aspirations, and how the school's culture, environment, ethos and programmes can support the pupil's development.
As choice order of schools will be a tie-breaker under the new Secondary 1 posting system, MOE encourages parents and pupils to give careful consideration to the choices that they indicate on the Secondary 1 Option Form, and choose schools that are a good fit for the learning needs of the pupil.
They are also advised to consider at least two to three schools where the pupil's PSLE score is better than the school's COP.
Q: How will the new scoring system affect those applying to affiliated schools or Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools?
A: For affiliated schools, the new entry scores will have additional information on the score range for pupils who are coming from affiliated primary schools.
This is similar to the practice under the T-score system.
For SAP schools, the entry score range will include the pupils' Higher Mother Tongue grade in brackets, if applicable.
