Primary 6 pupils will not need to achieve perfect scores to get into top secondary schools when the new PSLE scoring system takes effect this year, based on entry scores for 139 secondary schools released on Tuesday (April 27) by the Education Ministry.
SINGAPORE – Primary 6 pupils will not need to achieve perfect scores to get into top secondary schools when the new PSLE scoring system takes effect this year, based on entry scores for 139 secondary schools released on Tuesday (April 27) by the Education Ministry.
The indicative cut-off scores are based on the new Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scoring system, which will be used for the first time by this year’s Primary 6 cohort to gain entry into secondary schools next year.
Under the new scoring system, first announced in 2016, each standard-level PSLE subject will be scored using eight bands known as Achievement Levels (AL). Each pupil will be given AL scores from 1 to 8 for each subject, instead of grades like A* to E.
A pupil’s total PSLE score will be the sum of the AL of each of the four subjects, with the best possible total score being 4.
The entry scores released on Tuesday show that top schools such as Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) have entry scores ranging from 4 to 6, while entry scores for other popular schools such as Anderson Secondary School range from 4 to 10, and 6 to 11 for Crescent Girls’ School.
The new AL system of broader bands are meant to be less stressful than the old T-score system, as pupils do not have to chase the last mark in a bid to outperform their peers.
The MOE, in a virtual briefing, said it generated the scores based on the 2020 cohort’s PSLE results and school choice patterns. It simulated each pupil’s individual subject score in AL terms and added the scores for each subject to form the total PSLE score.
The ministry then simulated each pupil’s posting outcome based on the new posting system.
If two pupils with the same score vie for the last spot in a school, tie-breakers will come into play. The first tie-breaker will be based on citizenship. Singaporeans will get priority over Singapore permanent residents and international pupils.
The next tie-breaker is the pupil’s list of school choices, where a pupil who puts the school higher on the list of choices will get priority.
If the tie still cannot be broken, computerised balloting will be used.
The newly released indicative PSLE score ranges reflect the score of the first and last pupils who would be posted to each school under the AL scoring system.
The PSLE score of the last pupil posted to a school in the previous year is referred to as the school’s cut-off point (COP).
Under the simulation this year, the cut-off point ranged from 6 to 30.
Like the old T-score system, the score ranges are likely to vary from year to year depending on a cohort’s PSLE results. However, the MOE said the indicative PSLE score ranges have remained largely stable in recent years and fluctuations would typically be by 1 AL.
