PSLE Results and Secondary 1 Posting

13 October 2026 · Tutor Circle

PSLE results come out in November. Secondary 1 posting follows in December. The child is posted to the first school on your list that their PSLE Score qualifies for. A score of 4 to 20 is Posting Group 3. The next school year starts on Monday, 4 January 2027. The exact results day is the one MOE announces, and this page will not invent it.

Parents and a primary school boy reading a letter together at the dining table at night — Results come out in November, on the date MOE announces. The posting choices are the decision that follows.

Results: November, on the date MOE announces. 2026 written papers were 24–30 September
Posting: December. You are posted to the first choice the PSLE Score qualifies for
The score: English AL + Mother Tongue AL + Mathematics AL + Science AL. 4 is the best
Posting Group 3: PSLE Score 4–20. Most subjects start at G3
DSA: An accepted offer skips this exercise entirely
School starts: Monday, 4 January 2027 for primary and secondary

The weeks after the papers

A boy touching the first of four blank envelopes laid in a row on a dining table — Results are four Achievement Levels, one for each subject. The total is their sum.

The 2026 written papers ran from 24 to 30 September. Marking and the release of results take the weeks after that. MOE and SEAB name the results day. Until that announcement, a specific date on a blog is a guess. What does not move is the order of events. [4]

Table 1. The order of events after the PSLE written papers. Dates that MOE has fixed are stated. Dates it announces later are described, not invented.
Step	When	What you do
Written papers	24–30 Sep 2026, for the 2026 exam	Finished. The 2027 timetable is not published
Results	November, on the announced day	Collect the four ALs and the PSLE Score. Check the form, including the mother tongue
School choices	The submission window MOE opens with the results	List schools in real preference order, inside the Posting Group
DSA preference	19–23 Oct 2026, for pupils holding a 2026 DSA offer	Separate from S1 posting. Accepting a DSA offer ends this exercise
Posting results	December	The school named is the school. Appeals are exceptional
Sec 1 starts	Mon 4 Jan 2027	P1 and the new Sec 1 cohort start that day. P2–P6 start 5 Jan

Pupils who accepted a DSA-Sec offer do not submit this list. Everyone else does, including pupils who applied for DSA and were not offered a place. [3]

From AL to a Posting Group

Each subject is an Achievement Level from AL1 to AL8. AL1 is the top band. The PSLE Score adds English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and Science, so 4 is the strongest total and the number rises as the ALs worsen. The Posting Group is read off that total, and it sets the subject level the child starts Secondary 1 on. [1]

PSLE Score bands used for Secondary 1 posting

4–20. Posting Group 3, most subjects at G3
21–22. Posting Group 2 or 3
23–24. Posting Group 2, most subjects at G2
25. Posting Group 1 or 2
26–30. Posting Group 1 if English and Mathematics are AL7 or better

A lower PSLE Score is the stronger result. Score 25 can be posted in Group 1 or Group 2. Scores 26 to 30 are Group 1 when English Language and Mathematics are both AL7 or better. Group 1 is separate from AL1, which is a subject grade. Source: MOE, “What are Posting Groups”, updated 26 February 2026.

The addition, and a calculator, are on the PSLE AL score page. Posting Group 3 starts most subjects at G3, which is the standard that corresponds to the former Express course and, from 2027, to a G3 subject on the SEC. What G1, G2 and G3 mean on the certificate is on the SEC exam page. [2]

How choices are used

Secondary students with backpacks walking through a Singapore school gate in the morning — Choice order matters. A cut-off from last year is a reference, and it will move.

List the school you want first, if the score can reach it. The system does not save a “safer” second choice for you by rearranging the list.
Use last year’s cut-off as a range, not a target to hit exactly. The cut-off is the score of the last student posted, and the next cohort is a different set of children. The latest ranges are on the secondary school rankings page.
An IP school and a SEC-track school are different six-year and four-year commitments. Decide that before you sort them by fame. The comparison is on the IP and SEC page.
Citizenship and the school’s affiliated rules can matter at the margin. Read the posting information booklet for the year, which MOE issues with the results, before you lock the list.

Families comparing an IP school with a neighbourhood school that runs the SEC track should read IP versus the SEC before results week, not during it. The cut-off table is at secondary school rankings.

Parents and a boy arranging six plain coloured folders in a row on a dining table at night — School choices are an order. Put the schools you would actually attend, in the order you prefer them.

December, before Sec 1

Parents walking a secondary school boy toward a school entrance, with other students ahead of them — School starts on Monday, 4 January 2027. December is for the posting outcome and a short start on the new subjects.

The posting result arrives, and then there are about three weeks before 4 January. The topic that most often goes wrong in Term 1 is algebra, because primary math did not use letters this way. A short, specific December plan beats a general “Sec 1 headstart” that redoes PSLE papers. That plan, week by week, is on the Sec 1 preparation page, and the errors themselves are on the Sec 1 algebra page.

If you want a tutor in place for the first week of term, ask in December. January is when the assignment list is busiest. Sec 1 rates are on the rate table.

Request a Sec 1 tutor for January

A teenage boy in a new white school uniform adjusting his backpack outside a school porch — Secondary 1 starts in January. The December weeks are for the posting outcome, books, and the route to school.

Questions parents ask

When are PSLE results released?

SEAB and MOE announce the date each year. Results have been released in November, after the written papers in late September. As at 13 October 2026, the 2026 results date should be taken from the official announcement, not from a tuition-site guess. The 2026 written papers were 24 to 30 September. S1 posting results follow in December, and the next school year for primary and secondary starts on 4 January 2027.

How does Secondary 1 posting work?

You submit secondary school choices in order of preference. Your child is posted to the first choice their PSLE Score qualifies for, under the posting rules for that year. Choice order matters: a school listed second is only considered if the first choice does not take them. Cut-off scores are the scores of the students posted last year. They are a guide, and they move.

What is a Posting Group?

The PSLE Score is the sum of the Achievement Levels for English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and Science. Scores from 4 to 20 are Posting Group 3, and most subjects start at G3. Scores 23 and 24 are Posting Group 2. Scores 26 to 30 are Posting Group 1 if English and Mathematics are AL7 or better. The bands in between can fall either way. The calculator is on the PSLE AL score page.

Does a DSA offer change posting?

Yes. A child who accepts a DSA-Sec offer is posted to that school and does not take part in S1 posting. A child who is not offered a place, or who does not accept one, goes through S1 posting with their PSLE Score like everyone else. DSA does not add points to the PSLE Score.

What should we do in the December holiday?

The school is already chosen by then, or about to be. Use December to start the Sec 1 topic that most often cracks in Term 1, which is algebra, and to learn what G1, G2 and G3 mean for the subjects on the new timetable. A tutor booked in the first week of January is joining a queue. The holiday plan is on the Sec 1 preparation page.

Sources

Ministry of Education, “What are Posting Groups”, updated 26 February 2026. Posting Groups are derived from the PSLE Score and guide the initial subject level at Secondary 1. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://www.moe.gov.sg/secondary/s1-posting/how-to-choose/what-are-posting-groups
Tutor Circle, PSLE AL score guide. How a mark becomes AL1 to AL8, how the four ALs add to a PSLE Score, and which scores map to which Posting Group. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://tutorcircle.sg/psle-al-score
Ministry of Education, Direct School Admission for secondary schools. A student who accepts a DSA-Sec offer is allocated that school and does not participate in the Secondary 1 posting exercise. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://www.moe.gov.sg/secondary/dsa
Ministry of Education, school terms for 2027, 14 July 2026. Primary and secondary schools start on Monday, 4 January 2027. Accessed 13 October 2026. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-releases/20260714-school-terms-and-holidays-for-2027