Parents registering their children for Primary 1 will see a major change from 2027, with most primary schools required to reserve at least 60 places for Phase 2C.
That is an increase from the current 40 places, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced on Thursday, 10 September.
The change applies from the 2027 Primary 1 registration exercise, meaning it is for children registering in 2027 for admission to Primary 1 the following year.
Smaller Schools Will Still Reserve 40 Places
Phase 2C is open to children regardless of whether they have an existing connection to the school.
By reserving more places for this phase, MOE said it wants to give children without such connections greater access to schools.
There is one exception. Schools with fewer than 180 Primary 1 places will continue reserving 40 places for Phase 2C instead of 60.
For context, 27 of the 179 schools taking part in the 2026 P1 registration exercise had fewer than 180 places. This does not necessarily mean the exact same 27 schools will fall under the exception in 2027, as school intakes can change.
Phase 2B will continue to have 20 reserved places.
Applicants who qualify under Phase 2B and the earlier registration phases will also continue to register before Phase 2C applicants.
The increase in reserved Phase 2C places can therefore mean fewer places are available in Phase 2A at some schools.
MOE gave the example of a school with 240 places. If 90 are taken up in Phase 1, the school would have 150 places left. After reserving 20 for Phase 2B and 60 for Phase 2C, 70 would be available for Phase 2A, compared with 90 under the existing system.
12 Schools Will Have Separate Phase 2C Tracks
There is another change for 12 primary schools located in neighbourhoods where public housing accounts for less than 40 per cent of homes within 2km.
At these schools, Phase 2C places will be divided equally into two tracks. Half will be for children living within 2km, while the other half will be for children living more than 2km away.
The 12 schools are:
- Anglo-Chinese School (Junior)
- Anglo-Chinese School (Primary)
- CHIJ (Katong) Primary
- Methodist Girls’ School (Primary)
- Nanyang Primary School
- Ngee Ann Primary School
- Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School
- Raffles Girls’ Primary School
- Singapore Chinese Girls’ Primary School
- St. Margaret’s School (Primary)
- Tanjong Katong Primary School
- Tao Nan School
For a school with 60 reserved Phase 2C places, this would generally mean 30 places in each track.
Living Within 1km Will Not Give Extra Priority in These Tracks
Under the new system at the 12 schools, the usual home-school distance priority will not apply within each track.
For example, among applicants in the within-2km track, a child living less than 1km away will not have priority over another child living between 1km and 2km away.
Singapore citizens will continue to have priority over permanent residents. If there are more Singapore citizen applicants than available places within either track, balloting will be conducted.
If one track has places left after its Singapore citizen applicants have been admitted, the unused places can be transferred to Singapore citizen applicants in the other track.
MOE said the changes are intended to make schools more accessible while encouraging a broader mix of students from different backgrounds.
Education Minister Desmond Lee said the ministry also has to balance that aim against factors parents value, including having schools close to home, allowing siblings to attend the same school and recognising alumni and community contributions.
MOE will periodically review which schools fall under the two-track system as the housing profiles of their surrounding neighbourhoods change.
