Singapore School Route Passport
Follow the route from preschool and compulsory primary education through Full Subject-Based Banding, post-secondary study, and tertiary education.
Preschool
Selected stamp: Preschool. Choose another stamp to update the route card.
The Singapore education system is centrally administered through the Ministry of Education and related institutions, with nationally defined curricula, assessments, teacher-development arrangements, and post-secondary routes. Primary education provides the compulsory foundation, while secondary education now uses Full Subject-Based Banding to let students take different subjects at G1, G2 or G3 levels. Junior colleges, Millennia Institute, polytechnics, the Institute of Technical Education, autonomous universities, and government-funded special education schools extend the route beyond compulsory schooling. [MOE]
Governance and System Structure
MOE sets national education policy, school curricula, national examination arrangements, teacher staffing rules and many funding provisions. Government and government-aided schools form the main public-school network, while independent, specialized, privately funded and government-funded SPED schools serve additional groups and program types. Teacher education is closely linked to the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University.
- Primary education: a six-year compulsory course for Singapore Citizen children covered by the Compulsory Education Act.
- Secondary education: Full SBB has applied to Secondary 1 cohorts since 2024, with subjects offered at G1, G2 or G3 where applicable.
- Post-secondary education: JC, Millennia Institute, polytechnics and ITE provide academic and applied routes.
- Tertiary education: autonomous universities and other institutions provide degree and postgraduate study.
Compulsory education applies to Singapore Citizen children residing in Singapore who are of compulsory-school age. The statutory age range is above age 6 and below age 15, and the obligation is normally fulfilled through regular attendance at a national primary school. Government-funded SPED schools are included for eligible children with moderate-to-severe special educational needs. [MOE]
System Scale: Schools, Students, and Teachers
The latest complete cross-sector table in the Education Statistics Digest 2025 uses 2024 as its common reference year. MOE’s open datasets for primary, secondary and pre-university enrolment now extend through 2025, but post-secondary and staffing datasets do not all use the same latest reference year. The table therefore keeps the 2024 cross-sector values together rather than combining figures from incompatible reporting periods. [MOE Data] [MOE Data]
| Education Sector | Institutions | Enrolment | Teachers | Pupil-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary schools | 181 | 238,121 | 14,717 | 16.2 |
| Secondary schools | 145 | 207,639 | 13,049 | 16.5 |
| Junior colleges / pre-university sector | 17 | 27,223 | 3,408 | 7.8 |
| Millennia Institute | 1 | Reported within pre-university statistics | 288 | 6.5 |
| Polytechnics | 5 | 94,268 | — | — |
| ITE, full-time | 3 colleges | 32,615 | — | — |
| Government-funded SPED schools | Different reporting scope | 6,318 | 1,473 | 4.3 |
The teacher counts in this table cover school-sector education officers under the definitions used by MOE. Polytechnic and ITE staffing are not inserted because those institutions use separate statistical series. The figures should therefore be read by sector rather than summed into one school-teacher total.
Enrolment Across Major Education Sectors
Selected 2024 enrolment totals from the common MOE reporting year.
Source: Ministry of Education, Education Statistics Digest 2025.
| Sector | Students |
|---|---|
| Primary | 238,121 |
| Secondary | 207,639 |
| Pre-university | 27,223 |
| Polytechnics | 94,268 |
| ITE full-time | 32,615 |
| SPED | 6,318 |
Pupil-Teacher Ratios by School Sector
Students per teacher in selected MOE school sectors, 2024.
Source: Ministry of Education, Education Statistics Digest 2025.
| Sector | Pupils per Teacher |
|---|---|
| Primary | 16.2 |
| Secondary | 16.5 |
| Junior college / pre-university | 7.8 |
| SPED | 4.3 |
Early Childhood Education
Preschool education is not part of compulsory schooling. It prepares children for Primary 1 through language development, early numeracy, social-emotional development, physical activity and learning through play. Provision includes MOE Kindergartens and other licensed preschool operators. [MOE]
MOE Kindergartens operate within the wider preschool sector rather than replacing other operators. The transition into primary school is therefore common, but the provider used before Primary 1 can differ among families.
Primary Education and PSLE
Primary education is a six-year course. English Language, Mother Tongue Language and Mathematics form part of the common curriculum, with Science introduced from Primary 3. Students also study areas such as Art, Music, Social Studies, Character and Citizenship Education and Physical Education. In Primary 5 and Primary 6, English, Mathematics, Mother Tongue Language and Science can be offered at Standard or Foundation level according to the applicable subject-based arrangements. [MOE]
At the end of Primary 6, students sit the Primary School Leaving Examination. Each examinable subject receives an Achievement Level, and the four subject AL scores are added to form the overall PSLE Score. A lower total represents stronger examination performance. The score is used with school choices and applicable priority rules in Secondary 1 posting.
Secondary Education and Full Subject-Based Banding
Full Subject-Based Banding has been fully implemented for Secondary 1 entrants since 2024. The former Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) stream labels are being phased out for these cohorts. Students can instead take different subjects at G1, G2 or G3 levels according to their strengths, interests and learning needs. Mixed form classes bring together students with different subject-level combinations. [MOE]
Posting Groups are used for entry into secondary school; they do not lock a student into one subject level for every subject. The standard PSLE score ranges used for posting are shown below, including the two boundary ranges where students can choose between adjacent groups.
| PSLE Score | Posting Arrangement | Starting Subject Level |
|---|---|---|
| 4–20 | Posting Group 3 | Mainly G3 |
| 21–22 | Choice of Posting Group 2 or 3 | Depends on selected group, with subject flexibility |
| 23–24 | Posting Group 2 | Mainly G2 |
| 25 | Choice of Posting Group 1 or 2 | Depends on selected group, with subject flexibility |
| 26–30 | Posting Group 1, subject to applicable eligibility conditions | Mainly G1 |
The student’s actual school options also depend on school cut-off points after posting. Within secondary school, teachers can recommend changes in subject level as students progress. [MOE]
National Examinations and the 2027 SEC Change
PSLE remains the national examination at the end of primary education. In 2026, legacy secondary cohorts continue to use the relevant GCE N-Level and O-Level arrangements. This changes for the first graduating Full SBB cohort in 2027.
From 2027, the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate examination will replace the separate N-Level and O-Level examinations for graduating Full SBB students. Candidates will sit subjects at their respective G1, G2 or G3 levels under one examination certificate. The examinations will continue to be jointly examined and awarded by the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board, MOE and Cambridge International Education. [MOE]
The A-Level examination remains the main national pre-university examination for students in the A-Level route. Selected schools and institutions also use other qualifications, including the International Baccalaureate.
Post-Secondary Education: ITE, Polytechnics, JC and Millennia Institute
Singapore’s post-secondary system offers several routes rather than one common program. In 2024, full-time polytechnic enrolment stood at 94,268 and full-time ITE enrolment at 32,615. The pre-university sector recorded 27,223 students in the common MOE statistical table. [MOE]
Applied and Technical Routes
- ITE: Higher Nitec and other applied programs linked closely to occupations and industry skills.
- Polytechnics: full-time diploma programs with applied learning, projects, laboratories, internships and industry links.
Pre-University Route
- Junior colleges: normally two years and oriented mainly toward A-Level or, in selected institutions, IB study.
- Millennia Institute: a three-year pre-university route leading to the A-Level examination.
Admissions Changes From 2028
The first SEC results will be used for post-secondary applications in January 2028. MOE will introduce a new Post-Secondary Admissions Exercise in 2028 for JC, Millennia Institute, polytechnic and ITE admissions, replacing several existing centralized exercises. Direct admission routes such as DSA-JC, Poly EAE and ITE EAE will continue. [MOE]
JC admission criteria will also change from the 2028 exercise. The main aggregate will move from L1R5 to L1R4, reducing the number of subjects used from six to five. Millennia Institute will continue to use L1R4, with updated subject requirements. [MOE]
Special Educational Needs and SPED Capacity
Students with special educational needs can receive support in mainstream schools or attend government-funded SPED schools according to the type and level of support required. The 2024 statistical table recorded 6,318 SPED students, 1,473 teachers and a pupil-teacher ratio of 4.3.
MOE announced a further expansion in 2026 to meet demand for students with autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disability. Singapore currently has 26 government and community-funded SPED schools. Planned additional campuses and schools are expected to bring the total to 30 and raise SPED capacity from about 9,000 to 12,000 places over the period extending into the early 2030s. [MOE]
Teacher Preparation and Professional Learning
Initial teacher education is centered on the National Institute of Education. Its TE²¹ model organizes teacher preparation around professional values, knowledge, classroom practice, learner development and the design of learning environments. MOE teachers also use in-service professional learning through the Academy of Singapore Teachers, subject academies, language centers and MOE professional-development programs. [NIE]
Official staffing datasets use defined categories. In the 2024 school-sector table, primary schools reported 14,717 teachers and secondary schools 13,049. A separate SingStat teacher series uses its own classification rules and includes officers in mixed-level schools according to the level they teach or are trained in. These definitions should be kept separate when comparing teacher totals. [SingStat]
Educational Technology and Student Learning Space
The Singapore Student Learning Space is MOE’s national digital learning platform. It gives students and teachers access to curriculum-aligned resources, digital activities and teacher-created learning experiences. Schools use the platform alongside face-to-face instruction rather than as a separate online school system. [SLS]
Digital learning policy is also moving toward AI literacy rather than treating technology only as content delivery. In PISA 2025, students were asked about the use and evaluation of AI-generated material, digital-device policies and learning in digital environments. Singapore’s performance in the new computational problem-solving assessment was 563 points, compared with an OECD average of 500. [OECD PISA]
PISA 2025: Mathematics, Reading, and Science
PISA 2025 is now the latest international assessment cycle. Singapore remained one of the two highest-performing education systems across mathematics, reading and science. Mean scores were 563 in mathematics, 535 in reading and 560 in science. OECD averages were 463, 461 and 482 respectively. Singapore ranked first in reading and second in mathematics and science. All Singapore data met PISA’s technical quality standards. [OECD PISA]
Singapore’s PISA Performance Across Four Cycles
Mean mathematics, reading and science scores from 2015 to 2025.
Source: OECD PISA.
| 2015 | 564 | 535 | 556 |
| 2018 | 569 | 549 | 551 |
| 2022 | 575 | 543 | 561 |
| 2025 | 563 | 535 | 560 |
Unit: PISA score points. Only actual PISA assessment cycles are shown.
Between 2022 and 2025, Singapore’s mathematics mean fell by 12 points and reading by 8 points. Science changed by about −2 points, a difference that OECD did not identify as statistically clear. Over the longer 2015–2025 period, mathematics was broadly stable despite the recent decline, reading returned to its 2015 mean, and science remained slightly above its 2015 level. [OECD]
PISA 2025 Proficiency Distribution
Share reaching at least Level 2 and share reaching Level 5 or 6.
Source: OECD PISA 2025.
| Domain | Singapore: Level 2+ | OECD: Level 2+ | Singapore: Level 5/6 | OECD: Level 5/6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 89% | 65% | 37% | 8% |
| Reading | 86% | 69% | 22% | 6% |
| Science | 90% | 74% | 26% | 7% |
Baseline proficiency remained high across all three subjects. The share reaching Level 2 or above exceeded the OECD average by 24 percentage points in mathematics, 17 points in reading and 16 points in science. Top-performing shares were also several times the OECD averages. At the same time, OECD reports that the share below Level 2 increased from 2015 to 2025 by four percentage points in mathematics and three points in reading, while the change in science was not statistically clear.
Progression Through the Education System
MOE cohort indicators show high continuation beyond primary education. For the Primary 1 cohort that began in 2018, 99.5% had progressed to secondary education by 2023 and 98.4% had progressed to post-secondary education by 2024. For the Primary 1 cohort that began in 2015, 84.6% had progressed to tertiary education by 2024. These are cohort-continuation measures rather than graduation rates for a single calendar year. [MOE]
The route is becoming less dependent on a single secondary-school course label. Full SBB separates subject difficulty from overall student identity, the SEC examination will consolidate secondary credentials from 2027, and the 2028 admissions changes will allow students to apply across several post-secondary routes through a common exercise.
Compare with other countries
- Singapore vs New Zealand
- Japan vs Singapore
- Finland vs Singapore
- Netherlands vs Singapore
- Singapore vs Denmark
- Singapore vs Indonesia
- Singapore vs Switzerland
- Singapore vs Australia
- Singapore vs United Kingdom
- Singapore vs China
- Singapore vs Sweden
- Singapore vs US
- Singapore vs Canada
- Singapore vs South Korea
- Estonia vs Singapore
- Turkey vs Singapore
- France vs Singapore
- Germany vs Singapore
