Primary 1 registration exercise: 67 primary schools oversubscribed by day 2 of phase 2C

SINGAPORE - A total of 67 out of 181 primary schools had received more applications than places available by the end of the second day of Phase 2C of the

2023 Primary 1 registration exercise.

Princess Elizabeth Primary School in Bukit Batok was the most oversubscribed school, with 249 applicants vying for 48 spots.

Northland Primary School in Yishun had 195 applicants vying for 44 spots, while Nan Hua Primary School in Clementi saw 161 applicants vying for 40 spots.

By the end of the first day of registration, 47 schools were already oversubscribed. Among them were popular schools such as St Hilda’s Primary School in Tampines and Holy Innocents’ Primary School in Hougang.

Registration for Phase 2C began on Tuesday and closed on Thursday. The results will be released on Aug 15.

Unsuccessful applicants after Phase 2C can apply again in Phase 2C Supplementary, which will begin on Aug 17.

In 2022, changes were introduced to Phase 2C, with the number of reserved places doubling from 20 to 40 in each primary school.

According to the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) website, this change is to help more children obtain a place in a school near their homes in Phase 2C, which is for children who have no prior connection to the school.

The MOE website states that this is in the educational interest of the child, to help the child spend less time travelling and have more time to pursue other interests, as well as for the convenience of the family.

In 2023, there is a cap on the intake of children who are permanent residents (PR) for Bukit Timah Primary School, Clementi Primary School, Opera Estate Primary School and Park View Primary School.

The cap, which is about 25 per cent to 30 per cent of the school’s planned Primary 1 intake, is applied only in Phase 2C and Phase 2C Supplementary.

The MOE website states that this is to prevent any concentration of PR children in those primary schools, while also providing a more conducive environment to encourage interaction between Singapore citizen children and PR children.

This could facilitate the integration of PR children into Singapore.

The cap does not result in any change to the priority that Singapore citizen children have over PR children. If there are more registrants than vacancies in any registration phase, Singapore citizen children will continue to be given priority over PR children, and will be admitted first.