ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY FOR ADULTS · PARENTING · SCHOOL · ASSESSMENTS · STUDENT SUPPORT

The Words Parents Need to Read School Messages, Understand Results and Ask Better Questions

School can feel familiar until a document arrives that is not written for a child. A parent sees weighted assessment, Posting Group, access arrangement, financial assistance or subject level and realises that ordinary English has become institutional English.

This page teaches one hundred terms adults need to navigate school communications and decisions. It does not replace a school’s current policy, MOE rules or professional assessment. Singapore education terminology changes over time, so parents should verify current procedures with the school and the Ministry of Education.

Diagnosis Before the Glossary

• Communication failure: the parent understands the words but misses the required action or deadline.
• Assessment failure: a mark, grade, band and progress judgement are being treated as the same thing.
• Placement failure: eligibility, posting, subject level and final allocation are being collapsed.
• Support failure: a learning need is noticed, but the route to support is unclear.
• Responsibility failure: home, school and external professionals are assuming someone else owns the next step.

1–10 · School Communication

1. Circular — an official message distributed to a group of families or students.
2. Notice — information announcing a requirement, event or change.
3. Advisory — guidance issued to help families respond appropriately to a situation.
4. Consent form — a document used to record permission for a specified activity or decision.
5. Acknowledgement — confirmation that a message or document has been received or understood.
6. Deadline — the final date or time by which an action must be completed.
7. School portal — an online system used to distribute information, forms, results or services.
8. Timetable — the scheduled arrangement of lessons, activities or assessments.
9. Academic calendar — the school-year schedule of terms, holidays and major events.
10. Contact person — the named staff member responsible for a question or process.

11–20 · Enrolment, Admission and Placement

11. Registration — the process of formally submitting information to enter a system or apply for a place.
12. Enrolment — formal entry onto a school or programme’s student roll after requirements are met.
13. Admission — acceptance into a school, programme or course.
14. Eligibility — whether a student meets stated conditions for an option or scheme.
15. Vacancy — an available place.
16. Waiting list — an ordered list of applicants who may be offered places if vacancies arise.
17. Transfer — movement from one school, course or programme to another under applicable rules.
18. Appeal — a request for a decision to be reconsidered according to the relevant process.
19. Posting — allocation of a student to a school, course or group through a formal placement process.
20. Placement — the final or provisional assignment of a student to a school, class, level or programme.

21–30 · Attendance and Daily School Operations

21. Attendance — a record of whether a student is present for required school activities.
22. Absence — non-attendance for a required session or school day.
23. Authorised absence — an absence accepted under the school’s rules and evidence requirements.
24. Latecoming — arrival after the required reporting time.
25. Medical certificate — documentation from an authorised healthcare provider certifying a medical reason under applicable rules.
26. Leave of absence — approved time away from school for a stated reason.
27. Truancy — repeated or deliberate absence without acceptable authorisation.
28. Attendance record — the documented history of presence, absence and lateness.
29. Dismissal time — the scheduled time at which students are released from school.
30. Pick-up arrangement — the agreed plan for how a student leaves school with an authorised adult or transport service.

31–40 · Curriculum and Learning

31. Curriculum — the planned body of learning experiences, content and outcomes provided by an education system or school.
32. Syllabus — the defined content, skills and expectations for a subject or course.
33. Learning outcome — a statement of what a learner should know or be able to do after instruction.
34. Competency — an integrated ability to apply knowledge, skills and judgement to a task or context.
35. Prerequisite — prior knowledge, achievement or requirement needed before taking a course or option.
36. Homework — work assigned for completion outside normal lesson time.
37. Assignment — a defined piece of work used for learning, practice or assessment.
38. Project — an extended task involving planning, research, creation, application or presentation.
39. Enrichment — additional learning intended to broaden or deepen experience beyond the core programme.
40. Remedial support — targeted teaching intended to repair identified gaps or difficulties.

41–50 · Assessment Language

41. Assessment — a process used to gather evidence about learning or performance.
42. Formative assessment — assessment used mainly to inform teaching and improve learning during the learning process.
43. Summative assessment — assessment used mainly to judge achievement at the end of a learning period.
44. Weighted assessment — an assessment whose result contributes a defined proportion to an overall result.
45. Examination — a formal assessment conducted under defined conditions.
46. Test — a structured assessment of specified knowledge or skills.
47. Quiz — a shorter assessment, often used for practice or a narrow set of content.
48. Rubric — a scoring guide describing criteria and levels of performance.
49. Assessment criteria — the standards used to judge the quality or correctness of work.
50. Feedback — information about performance intended to clarify strengths, errors and next steps.

51–60 · Results and Progress

51. Raw score — the direct number of marks or points obtained before conversion or weighting.
52. Percentage — a score expressed out of one hundred.
53. Grade — a category used to represent a level of achievement.
54. Achievement Level — a defined band used in Singapore’s PSLE scoring system for individual subjects.
55. Band — a range grouping similar levels of performance; its meaning depends on the assessment system.
56. Subject result — the reported outcome for one subject.
57. Overall result — a combined judgement or total across several components or subjects.
58. Progress report — a school communication summarising a student’s development over a period.
59. Cohort — a group of students moving through the same stage or year.
60. Benchmark — a reference point used for comparison; it is not automatically a target for every learner.

61–70 · Full Subject-Based Banding and Secondary School

61. Full Subject-Based Banding — Singapore’s secondary-school approach allowing students to take subjects at different subject levels based on strengths and readiness.
62. Posting Group — a group used in secondary-school posting; it does not permanently define every subject level a student will take.
63. Posting Group 1 — one of the secondary posting groups under Full SBB.
64. Posting Group 2 — one of the secondary posting groups under Full SBB.
65. Posting Group 3 — one of the secondary posting groups under Full SBB.
66. G1 subject level — one of the subject levels available under Full SBB.
67. G2 subject level — one of the subject levels available under Full SBB.
68. G3 subject level — one of the subject levels available under Full SBB.
69. Mixed form class — a form class that can include students from different Posting Groups.
70. Subject combination — the set of subjects and subject levels a student takes at a particular stage.

71–80 · Learning and Student Support

71. Learning need — an identified area in which a student requires additional support or adaptation.
72. Special educational needs — needs arising from disabilities or conditions that affect learning, communication, behaviour or access.
73. Access arrangement — an approved adjustment to assessment conditions intended to provide appropriate access without changing what is being assessed.
74. Learning support — targeted educational assistance provided in addition to ordinary classroom teaching.
75. Intervention — a planned action intended to address an identified difficulty.
76. Counselling — professional or structured support for emotional, behavioural or personal concerns.
77. Referral — a formal request for another professional or service to assess or support a student.
78. Assistive technology — tools or systems used to improve access, communication or learning.
79. SEN Officer — a school-based professional in Singapore who supports students with special educational needs.
80. Individualised support — support adapted to a student’s specific needs rather than delivered identically to everyone.

81–90 · Fees, Assistance and Education Funding

81. School fee — a charge for attendance or education under the applicable school framework.
82. Miscellaneous fee — a separate charge for specified school-related costs.
83. Subsidy — financial support that reduces an eligible family’s cost.
84. Financial assistance — support provided to families that meet stated financial and other criteria.
85. MOE Financial Assistance Scheme — Singapore’s scheme providing school-related financial support to eligible students.
86. Edusave — a Singapore scheme supporting educational enrichment and achievement for eligible students.
87. Bursary — financial assistance awarded under stated eligibility criteria, usually to support education costs.
88. Post-Secondary Education Account — a Singapore account that can be used for approved post-secondary education expenses under current rules.
89. Reimbursement — repayment of an eligible cost that was first paid by the claimant.
90. Waiver — an approved removal of a fee or requirement under defined conditions.

91–100 · Parent-School Responsibility and Student Wellbeing

91. Wellbeing — a broad term covering a student’s physical, emotional and social functioning.
92. Safeguarding — actions and procedures intended to protect children and students from harm.
93. Discipline — the system of expectations and consequences used to support responsible behaviour.
94. Conduct — a student’s behaviour in relation to school expectations.
95. Behaviour incident — a recorded event involving conduct that requires school response.
96. Restorative conversation — a structured discussion intended to understand harm, responsibility and repair relationships.
97. Home-school partnership — cooperation between family and school around the student’s learning and wellbeing.
98. Escalation — moving a concern to a higher or more specialised level of attention when ordinary resolution is insufficient.
99. Confidentiality — protection of information from inappropriate disclosure, subject to legal and safeguarding duties.
100. Consent — permission for a specified activity, use of information or decision; the scope of consent matters.

Six Distinctions Parents Should Be Able to Explain

Registration vs enrolment

Registration begins or records the application process. Enrolment usually means the student has formally entered the school or programme.

Formative vs summative assessment

Formative assessment helps improve learning during the process. Summative assessment judges achievement after a defined period.

Raw score vs grade

A raw score is the direct mark. A grade is a category derived from rules applied to performance.

Posting Group vs subject level

A student’s Posting Group helps determine secondary-school placement, while individual subjects may be taken at different G1, G2 or G3 levels under Full SBB.

Learning support vs access arrangement

Learning support changes teaching or practice. An access arrangement changes approved assessment conditions while preserving the assessed construct.

Eligibility vs entitlement

Eligibility means the conditions are met. Entitlement means the benefit or right is actually available under the scheme’s rules.

Diagnosis Before Prescription

“My child scored lower, so the child is learning less.”

Diagnosis: one result has replaced the broader evidence.
Repair: compare assessment purpose, weighting, question type, feedback and progress across time.

“The school says my child is eligible, so the place is guaranteed.”

Diagnosis: eligibility has been confused with final allocation.
Repair: check vacancy, ranking, posting rules and whether an appeal process exists.

“My child needs support, so the answer must be tuition.”

Diagnosis: the need has not been located.
Repair: identify whether the issue is knowledge, language, attendance, wellbeing, access, behaviour, study process or a special educational need.

Singapore Applications

Singapore parents now need to understand Full Subject-Based Banding, Posting Groups, G1/G2/G3 subject levels, PSLE Achievement Levels, school-based assessment, MOE Financial Assistance and school-specific communication systems. These labels are not mere jargon: each one points to a different decision rule.

For current details, use the responsible school and MOE pages because assessment arrangements, schemes, dates and eligibility can change.

Connections eduKateAI Can Learn

Communication ↔ action: a school message matters when its deadline, required response and responsible person are explicit.

Assessment ↔ purpose: the same score means different things when the assessment is formative, summative, weighted or diagnostic.

Posting ↔ subject level: placement structure and subject difficulty are related but not identical.

Support ↔ diagnosis: intervention should follow the earliest identified learning or access need rather than a generic prescription.

Family ↔ institution: parent-school partnership works when responsibilities, evidence and escalation routes are visible.

Research & Reference Basis

• MOE Singapore — Full Subject-Based Banding
• MOE Singapore — Financial Assistance
• MOE Singapore — Edusave
• MOE Singapore — Special Educational Needs
• MOE Singapore — Student Wellbeing and Social-Emotional Learning

Return to Essential Vocabulary for Adults or the Vocabulary Learning Hub.