Information on PG2 | Parent’s Guide to PSLE Scoring System and School CutOff Points

Overall PSLE Score	Posting Group position	First useful action
21 or 22	Choose PG2 or PG3.	Compare the starting learning demand and the school list under each eligible group.
23 or 24	PG2.	Build a realistic PG2 school shortlist and note individual subject strengths.
25	Choose PG1 or PG2.	Discuss readiness and support before selecting the group and school list.

The broader national bands and initial subject-level arrangements are set out in Bukit View Secondary’s official Full SBB information. Use the actual eligibility shown in the child’s official documents when applying.

Begin with three checks: write down the four subject results; identify whether a Posting Group choice is available; then open the PG2 entry information for each shortlisted school. This order prevents a family from spending an evening comparing the wrong column.

A school can admit students through several Posting Groups. Its PG3 figure does not describe its PG2 entry. Equally, a child entering through PG2 is not promised the same subject levels as every other PG2 entrant. Keep the admission record and the eventual subject offer on separate lines.

For the larger sequence from PSLE results to secondary learning, use eduKateSG’s What Happens After PSLE guide.

The PSLE Score combines the Achievement Levels for English Language, Mother Tongue Language, Mathematics and Science. SEAB’s PSLE overview gives the overall range as 4 to 32. Smaller totals indicate stronger overall results.

Subject AL	Raw mark band
1	90 and above
2	85–89
3	80–84
4	75–79
5	65–74
6	45–64
7	20–44
8	Below 20

These bands are reproduced from Seng Kang Primary’s official grading guide. Use them to understand the system. A school practice-paper mark is not an official prediction of the eventual PSLE result.

Illustrative calculation: English AL5, Mother Tongue AL6, Mathematics AL6 and Science AL6 give 5 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 23. The child is in the PG2 band. Do not average these ALs and then look for a group corresponding to the average.

The total helps with posting. The four separate results help with learning decisions. A total of 23 produced by 5, 6, 6 and 6 describes a different subject profile from 3, 6, 7 and 7. Neither profile should be reduced to a single claim that the child is “good” or “weak” in everything. Bring the individual results into the discussion about the first secondary-school timetable.

A Foundation grade is not added to the total as a letter, and Foundation A is not counted as Standard AL1. The official grading guide linked above gives the mapping used for the overall posting score:

Foundation grade	Foundation raw mark band	AL used in the overall score
A	75–100	6
B	30–74	7
C	Below 30	8

Illustrative calculation: a student has Standard English AL5, Standard Mother Tongue AL5, Foundation Mathematics A and Standard Science AL6. The total is 5 + 5 + 6 + 6 = 22. The group options follow that official total. The Foundation Mathematics result still matters when the secondary school discusses the appropriate Mathematics level.

Mapping serves a posting calculation. It does not mean that two children with the same contribution to the total have studied identical material. Preserve the words “Standard” and “Foundation” beside each result when making notes; removing them can create confusion when books or subject offers are discussed later.

If the child has an approved Mother Tongue exemption or another special arrangement, do not invent the missing component or add only three visible results. Use the officially assigned result and ask the primary school to explain it. eduKateSG’s Mother Tongue exemption and assigned-AL guide helps families prepare the right questions.

The practical safeguard is simple: copy the official total and the subject details before opening any calculator. A calculator should check arithmetic, not decide an unresolved eligibility issue.

At 23 or 24, the general table identifies PG2. At 21, 22 or 25, the family has an additional decision. The useful comparison is the starting curriculum the child can learn from, the support available, and the schools that fit under the selected group.

At 21 or 22

Discuss PG2 and PG3 with the child and primary-school teachers. Ask which subjects are secure without repeated prompting, where work slows down, and how the child responds to unfamiliar questions. A stronger total does not remove the need to examine an uneven profile. Neither does one difficult subject automatically settle the entire choice.

The eduKateSingapore guide to PG2 or PG3 at 21–22 develops that conversation.

At 25

Compare PG1 and PG2 as starting arrangements. Ask what learning support the student would need under each and which subject strengths can still be developed. Avoid presenting one option as a reward and the other as a punishment. An informed choice should be explainable in terms of the child’s actual work and school experience.

Read the PG1 versus PG2 discussion for Score 25 when this is your decision.

One group for the submitted school list

MOE’s published submission guidance states that the selected Posting Group applies to all school choices. Do not prepare some choices as PG2 and others as PG3 within one submission. That older document explains this rule; use the current S1 Portal for current login and submission instructions.

eduKateSG’s dual-Posting-Group parent guide connects this choice to the complete shortlist.

A cut-off point describes the score boundary produced by a particular school-posting exercise. It is not a permanent entry mark fixed years in advance. The published range reflects the earlier cohort’s results and choices, which is why the year and category belong beside every number.

For a child with Score 23, a previous PG2 COP of 24 is less stringent than 23. A previous COP of 22 is more stringent. The direction can feel unfamiliar to adults who remember higher T-scores being better. Under the AL system, lower totals are better.

When a range is shown as 21–23, do not treat both ends as separate minimum requirements. For ordinary interpretation of that historical range, 23 is the cut-off end. An otherwise eligible PG2 child is not disqualified merely because their score is numerically below a displayed first-student score; Posting Group eligibility must still be satisfied.

SEAB’s school-choice guidance says previous COPs are reference points and may vary with the cohort’s results and choices. The figure therefore helps a family compare uncertainty; it cannot issue an offer.

Keep these three lines together in your notes: “School name”, “PG2, correct admission category”, and “2026 Secondary 1 entry”. A table labelled only “2026 cut-offs” is ambiguous because some readers mean the year of the PSLE while others mean the year the child enters secondary school. For the next intake, check the label in the current official listing before relying on the number.

For a step-by-step reading method, open eduKateSG’s guide to SchoolFinder ranges and cut-off points. Use it beside the official school listing so the explanatory article and the current source each do their own job.

The following examples were checked against the linked schools’ own publications on 3 November 2026. They are a selected reference table, not a ranking or a complete list of schools. They describe entry in 2026 after the 2025 PSLE, not the eventual 2027 intake.

School and official source	Published PG2 figure	How to read this entry
Chung Cheng High School (Yishun)	21–22	2026 range; the school expressly says the 2027 range may vary.
Clementi Town Secondary	COP 23	2026 figure; school states DSA entrants are excluded.
Xinmin Secondary	21–23	2026 Secondary 1 cohort range.
Hillgrove Secondary	COP 24	School’s published 2026 posting reference.
Yuan Ching Secondary	COP 24	Figure on its 2026 registration page.
Junyuan Secondary	COP 25	Non-affiliated; calculation excludes DSA-Sec entrants.
St. Patrick’s School	Non-affiliated 22; affiliated 25	Boys’ school. The affiliated figure has eligibility and first-choice conditions; it does not apply to every applicant.

For St. Patrick’s, read its admission conditions alongside its school introduction. Do not transfer an affiliated figure to a non-affiliated child or to an ineligible school preference.

Some source pages also contain registration or appeal deadlines from December 2025. Those deadlines explain the historical cohort; they are not instructions for the forthcoming exercise. Take the cut-off reference with its year, then obtain current application instructions separately.

Use MOE SchoolFinder to develop the complete shortlist. Check school type, offered Posting Groups, current programmes, affiliation status and the displayed year. A correct number copied into the wrong category still leads to a wrong comparison.

PSLE merit is considered before the ordinary tie-breakers. Choice order matters when otherwise relevant candidates with the same PSLE Score compete for remaining places; it does not turn a weaker score into a stronger one.

The ordinary tie-break sequence is citizenship, school-choice order, then computerised balloting. Singapore citizens have priority over permanent residents, followed by international students. MOE explains the ordering in its S1 posting FAQ; Pasir Ris Secondary’s current official FAQ also describes the same sequence.

Illustrative example: two applicants have the same PSLE Score and citizenship status and are competing for the last place. One listed the school second and the other fourth. Choice order becomes relevant. If those factors are also equal, balloting may be needed. This is an explanation of the rule, not a prediction about any named school.

Now change the example: the scores differ. Do not assume the applicant who placed the school first automatically wins. Putting a school first expresses a preference; it does not bypass academic-merit ordering or create a vacancy.

Affiliation and certain programme arrangements require their own checks. Use eduKateSG’s affiliation, SAP and Higher Chinese guide when those conditions apply. Do not borrow a SAP-school posting advantage and treat it as a general bonus deduction from every PG2 applicant’s PSLE total.

Rank eligible schools in the order your family genuinely prefers after checking the full list. An elaborate ordering trick cannot compensate for six choices that the family has not investigated or would not accept.

Start with a larger pool than six. Exclude schools or programmes for which the child is not eligible, then investigate enough practical options to make a considered final list. It is easier to compare eight plausible schools than to rescue a list containing only two acceptable choices.

SEAB’s guidance encourages at least two to three choices with previous COPs less stringent than the child’s score. Treat this as a way to reduce avoidable uncertainty where the available range permits; it is not a guarantee or a rigid formula that every score can satisfy.

For each candidate school, record the following:

• Entry facts: exact school and programme, code, selected PG, category and historical year.
• Daily fit: the actual journey, reporting arrangements, likely CCA travel and family logistics.
• Learning fit: subject offerings, support routes and the questions still awaiting a school answer.
• Student preference: one specific reason the child could imagine belonging there.
• Evidence: the official page or open-house answer behind the decision.

Preference	School and code	PG2 historical reference and category	Why we would accept it; final check
1	Complete after checking	Year, range/COP, category	Reason and unanswered question
2	Complete after checking	Year, range/COP, category	Reason and unanswered question
3	Complete after checking	Year, range/COP, category	Reason and unanswered question
4	Complete after checking	Year, range/COP, category	Reason and unanswered question
5	Complete after checking	Year, range/COP, category	Reason and unanswered question
6	Complete after checking	Year, range/COP, category	Reason and unanswered question

Only put a school on the final list if your family has a workable plan for the child to attend. An unfamiliar sixth choice deserves research too; it may become the actual school. Use the same care for its journey, support and subject offerings as for the first choice.

The companion six-secondary-school choice guide provides a fuller route through shortlisting and ordering. Return to this PG2 article when you need to check the particular scoring band or historical table.

Illustrative family, invented for explanation: Maya has Score 23 and is eligible for PG2. Her family initially writes down six schools because friends mentioned them. On inspection, several have previous PG2 cut-offs of 22 or 23, and the family has not checked whether the remaining schools are practical to travel to.

The first repair is to separate preference from evidence. Maya explains what she likes about each school. Her parents check the correct PG2 category, the published year and the journey. A school with a previous COP of 22 is a more uncertain historical comparison for her Score 23; one with a previous COP of 23 is also not an assured place.

The family then investigates additional suitable schools with previous COPs of 24 or 25. These are less stringent historical references for a score of 23. They do not automatically belong at the bottom: one may offer the daily environment Maya prefers after an actual visit. The family orders the final choices according to informed preference.

What changed?

No score was improved and no admission was promised. The family replaced assumptions with verified categories, broadened the range of suitable choices and made sure every listed school could be accepted. The new shortlist is more useful because the family understands what each entry means.

Do not copy Maya’s numerical pattern mechanically. Her example does not account for your address, eligibility, needs or preferred programmes. Use the process: inspect the first draft, identify a concentration of uncertain choices, research alternatives, then agree on the order.

Finally, ask the child to explain the list back in ordinary language: “These are schools I could attend; here is why I prefer this order; and I understand that the old cut-offs cannot promise the outcome.” If that explanation is impossible, another discussion may be more valuable than another hour of online speculation.

A PG2 applicant with Score 25 cannot simply find a PG2 historical cut-off of 26 to create the same numerical cushion that a Score 23 applicant might obtain from a COP of 25. The general PG2 eligibility band stops at 25. This makes accurate expectations particularly important.

A previous PG2 COP of 25 identifies an earlier outcome at that boundary; it does not reserve another place. Research several schools that fit, use the full choice list, and check which historical entries genuinely apply to the child. Do not quietly substitute an affiliated 25 where only a non-affiliated 22 is relevant.

Because Score 25 also gives a PG1 option, the family can compare the two starting arrangements before finalising the submission. This is a curriculum and school-choice discussion, not an invitation to use PG1 as an invisible second application after choosing PG2. The selected group applies across the school choices.

Bring three things to the teacher conversation: the four subject results, a few examples of independent work, and the draft school list under each eligible group. Ask where the student is ready for greater demand and where support is likely to be needed.

A child with a clear strength should have that strength considered even when the overall score is at an option boundary. The deeper eduKateSingapore PG2 guide explains how the subject profile develops after entry. Use it to look beyond the immediate school list without making promises about later admission.

PG2 describes the entry arrangement. G2 describes a particular subject’s level. They are not interchangeable labels. A PG2 entrant may begin most academic subjects at G2 and take an eligible subject at G3.

SEAB’s explanation of more-demanding subject eligibility states that Standard-level AL5 or better can support taking the corresponding English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics or Science subject at G3 or G2, as applicable to the student’s starting arrangement. For a student starting most subjects at G2, the relevant more-demanding option is G3.

Illustrative profile: a child’s four Standard subject ALs are 3, 6, 7 and 7, giving 23 overall. PG2 follows the total, while the subject with AL3 warrants a separate G3-offer check. Do not infer that all subjects must be G2 because the total is 23, or that one G3 subject changes the entire school-entry group.

Once the school communicates its offers, make a subject record:

• Write the exact subject and offered level.
• Note whether a response is required and its current deadline.
• Ask what the workload and any bridging support involve.
• Confirm the booklist before purchasing materials.
• Agree on how progress will be reviewed if difficulties persist.

These are questions to take to the school, not additional national eligibility tests invented by eduKate. Later subject-level reviews depend on the school’s assessment and applicable arrangements. A promise that every student can move level after one fixed percentage is too broad.

Use eduKateSG’s subject-offers and Higher Mother Tongue guide when reading an offer, and its G1, G2 and G3 review guide when preparing a later conversation with teachers.

A cut-off table cannot tell you how a child will experience an ordinary Tuesday. Add questions about lessons, transport, activities and support before deciding that one school is a better fit than another.

Learning and subject choices

Ask how the school explains G-level offers to new families, what happens when a student needs help in one subject, and where current subject-combination information can be found. Do not assume that every subject in a national syllabus directory is offered by every school.

Daily travel

Try the actual route at a relevant time if practical. Count walking, transfers and waiting rather than relying only on a train journey estimate. Consider how the journey works after a CCA session or on a day when a parent cannot collect the child. This is a family planning exercise, not a claim that one commuting duration suits every student.

Belonging and participation

Ask the child which activities or learning opportunities they want to understand better. Check availability and selection arrangements with the school. An attractive photograph is a reason to ask a question, not confirmation that every incoming student receives that opportunity.

Support and communication

If the child has an existing learning or support need, discuss the relevant arrangements through the appropriate school channels. Explain what has helped, rather than expecting a total PSLE Score to communicate the whole situation. Record the school’s answer accurately and distinguish a general programme from an individually confirmed arrangement.

These checks support the holistic choice approach described in SEAB’s official results guidance. They also give the child a role in the decision. “I like this school because I can see myself joining this activity and managing the journey” is more informative than repeating another family’s ranking.

Prepare the decision outside the portal first: agreed Posting Group, six schools in order, correct school codes and any applicable programme conditions. Then use the current official application system and verify the final summary before submitting.

If the child has already been successfully allocated a DSA-Sec place, follow the DSA instructions rather than treating the ordinary six-school submission as a second application. Yuying Secondary’s 2027 DSA guidance distinguishes the remaining eligible options from an ordinary choice of schools.

The S1 Portal uses a parent’s Singpass, as described in the official introduction of the current portal. Do not follow an old S1-IS PIN screenshot as though it describes the present login process. Check MOE’s current Secondary 1 posting page for the applicable year’s dates and instructions.

Work through the summary aloud with another family member where possible. Confirm the school name as well as the code, the chosen group, the ordering and the contact information. A correct set of schools in an unintended order is still a different application.

Keep the system’s confirmation or acknowledgement. Reaching a review screen or typing the sixth school is not the same as establishing that the application was submitted. If the portal reports an error, read the message and seek help through the official route; do not repeatedly change carefully agreed choices just to make an unfamiliar message disappear.

For practical troubleshooting, use eduKateSG’s S1 Portal submission, Singpass and application-errors guide.

After posting, follow the assigned school’s current registration instructions. If considering an appeal, check the correct route, actual admission criteria and vacancies. Hillgrove’s published guidance, for example, requires families to retain their posted place while an appeal is pending. Do not assume an appeal is a second unrestricted school-choice exercise or that a place has changed before official confirmation.

Once the placement and subject offers are confirmed, the family’s job changes. Rechecking the old COP every evening no longer tells you what to practise. The useful evidence is now the child’s timetable, work, teacher feedback and daily routine.

The Secondary 1 first-year guide helps with the new routines. Choose one manageable learning question. Does the child understand a Mathematics problem before calculating? Can they explain what a paragraph means? Are assignments being recorded and submitted? An organisational difficulty and a conceptual difficulty require different help.

For an example of diagnosing missing foundations before increasing practice, see the Clementi Secondary 1 Mathematics guide. The transferable idea is to identify the step the student cannot yet perform independently, teach that step and check a changed question.

Keep examination years distinct. SEAB introduces the SEC from 2027, but a child entering Secondary 1 in 2027 is not therefore taking the SEC in 2027. A straightforward four-year progression would normally bring that cohort to Secondary 4 in 2030; actual examination entry and syllabus must be confirmed with the school.

The same caution applies to later courses. PG2 does not by itself guarantee a polytechnic or ITE place. Future admission depends on the applicable subject-level profile, results and intake rules. Keep the longer horizon visible through the Singapore School Pathways and Calendar hub, while making the next learning task specific enough to begin this week.

Does Score 24 mean my child can enter every PG2 school?

No. PG2 eligibility identifies the admission group. Individual school outcomes depend on the posting process, demand and available places. The relevant historical school figure helps you plan; it does not guarantee entry.

If our score equals last year’s COP, should we remove the school?

Not automatically. Decide whether the school is a genuine preference, understand the uncertainty, and check the rest of the list. The mistake is treating equality as a promise and leaving too few suitable alternatives.

Is a numerically larger COP evidence of poorer teaching?

A cut-off records an admissions outcome. It is not a classroom inspection or a measure of the support your child will receive. Investigate the school’s actual offerings instead of asking the number to answer a different question.

Can strong Science make the whole result PG3?

The overall score determines the general Posting Group eligibility. A strong individual subject result can matter for that subject’s level. Keep the aggregate calculation and subject offer separate.

Should we reuse last year’s portal deadline?

No. Verify the current year’s dates and instructions. Historical school pages are useful for correctly labelled score references, but their old registration dates should not be copied into the family calendar.

What if parents and child prefer different schools?

Ask each person to name the reason: travel, subjects, friends, activities, support or an unverified worry. Check the reasons that can be checked. Then agree on a list the child can understand and the family can support.

What should we have ready before submitting?

• The official total and four subject results, including Standard or Foundation details.
• The eligible and chosen Posting Group.
• Six researched schools, correctly ordered, with verified codes and categories.
• Historical references labelled by entry year, plus an honest understanding of uncertainty.
• Current portal instructions and a plan to retain the submission confirmation.

Return to this checklist when new information arrives. Change the part of the plan affected by that information, then check the complete list again. The aim is a well-understood school decision followed by steady learning, with each step supported by the right record.

For the wider collection of connected decisions, return to the eduKateSG Parents and Pathways hub.