Primary 1 registration changes could cut Phase 2A places at some popular schools by a fifth or more

If the new Primary 1 registration framework is applied to 2026 figures, one school would have four places for children in Phase 2A.

The number of spaces in Phase 2A of the Primary 1 registration exercise could change for some in-demand schools. (Illustration: CNA/Clara Ho)

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SINGAPORE: Parents who want their children to attend their alma mater could face more competition in the alumni affiliation phase of the Primary 1 registration exercise with the latest changes.

Under the new scheme , primary schools with 180 vacancies or more will set aside 60 places for Phase 2C, up from 40. Phase 2C, which is open to all children, is considered the most competitive phase.

This larger allocation in Phase 2C could reduce the number of places available in Phase 2A, which gives priority to children with existing ties to the school, including those whose parents are former pupils.

At some of the most in-demand schools, almost all the additional reserved spots in Phase 2C will come from Phase 2A.

CNA looked at how the changes in next year's Primary 1 registration might affect parents and schools.

Using the Ministry of Education's (MOE) figures from the 2026 exercise, the new framework could see Phase 2A spots at some popular schools drop by a fifth or more.

Phase 2A comes immediately after Phase 1 – for siblings of existing students – and before Phase 2B – for parent volunteers, clans and religious organisations, among others – and Phase 2C.

This year, 35 schools were oversubscribed in Phase 2A, meaning they received more applicants than places.

The following 26 schools had fewer than 60 spots in Phase 2C and the minimum 20 reserved spaces in Phase 2B, which means the shortfall in Phase 2C would likely come from Phase 2A:

Red Swastika School was the most oversubscribed in 2026, with 88 applicants for 24 places.

It had 40 reserved places in Phase 2C. Raising that to 60 would move 20 places out of Phase 2A, leaving four spaces for the same 88 applicants.

Other in-demand schools like Princess Elizabeth Primary School, Shuqun Primary School and Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School would see a drop of more than 25 per cent in their Phase 2A places.

At Princess Elizabeth Primary, 137 applicants competed for 47 Phase 2A places. Under the new framework, it would have 27 spots.

The squeeze could also affect some schools that had enough Phase 2A places in 2026 – 12 of them may become oversubscribed.

Methodist Girls’ School (Primary) had 93 applicants for 95 places in Phase 2A.

Its Phase 2C had 41 places, so reaching 60 may take 18 places from Phase 2A and one from Phase 2B. It leaves 77 for the same 93 applicants.

Fairfield Methodist School (Primary) had 91 applicants for 97 places. Its Phase 2C had 48 places, so 10 spaces could move from Phase 2A and two from Phase 2B, leaving 87.

Both schools had a few more spaces in Phase 2B above the reserved 20.

These changes are the latest in a series of moves to widen the Phase 2C exercise, which is open to all children.

Previously, priority in Phase 2C was distance-based, given first to Singaporeans living within 1km of the school. This usually made it the most competitive phase of the exercise.

From next year's admissions exercise, 12 schools in neighbourhoods where public housing makes up less than 40 per cent of homes within 2km will also split their Phase 2C places into two equal tracks – one for applicants living within 2km and another for those living beyond that – with no home-school distance priority within either track.

Before the 2022 exercise, the number of places reserved for pupils under Phase 2C was capped at 20. In adjusting the scheme then, the ministry merged Phases 2A1 and 2A2, and doubled the number of reserved places in Phase 2C to 40.

Phase 2A1 gave priority admission to children whose parents are members of the school alumni or advisory or management committee, while Phase 2A2 prioritised children who were in MOE Kindergartens attached to the primary school, had siblings who had studied in that primary school, or parents who attended or work at the school.

Phase 2A1 was rolled out in 1999 to encourage stronger alumni and community support for schools but, over time, more stakeholders like former students and alumni associations have contributed to schools.

For the changes to the 2022 exercise, MOE said at the time that reviewing the “fine differentiation of priority” between Phases 2A1 and 2A2 was timely, given that the increase in reserved places for Phase 2C would result in fewer places in the earlier phases.

Several schools that are often oversubscribed in Phases 2A and 2C are also oversubscribed in Phase 2B.

For example, both Red Swastika School and Princess Elizabeth Primary School have parent volunteer schemes or church or clan affiliations, and were oversubscribed in all three phases in the 2026 exercise.

Twenty places are reserved in Phase 2B. The cap was introduced from the 2014 exercise, together with 20 reserved places for Phase 2C, to ensure more spots were available to families without alumni connections.

“BIRTHRIGHT PRIVILEGES”

Assistant Professor of Sociology Jacqueline Ho from the Singapore Management University said the Primary 1 registration system is “quite anomalous” in the context of other admission systems in Singapore’s education system.

The Primary 1 system “directly ties the child’s opportunities to their birthright privileges ”, she added.

Each phase has its own policy goal – Phase 2A retains school culture, Phase 2B recognises volunteer contributions and Phase 2C preserves open access, she said.

But Singapore should question whether these goals are for the Primary 1 registration process to accomplish, she added.

For example, parents can be engaged through parent support groups for those whose children are already in the school and alumni engagement is not necessarily the only way to preserve school culture, she said.

Even if these goals are attached to the Primary 1 registration process, the question is whether the scheme is achieving them, said Asst Prof Ho.

Some alumni send their children to their alma mater because it is safer and more convenient to avoid balloting in the riskier Phase 2C, she added.

“⁠For some parents, it may be about getting ahead in the system rather than preserving school culture,” she said.

The changes implemented by MOE over the years are moving towards opening up access to schools, added Asst Prof Ho.

But making more radical moves may be challenging because society is still used to the idea that if you are an alumnus of a school, your children are entitled to a place, she said.

Alumni still play a valuable role in school culture, especially in well-established schools, said Associate Professor of Policy, Curriculum and Leadership Jason Tan from the National Institute of Education.

“For example, if you’re a brand new school, the emphasis may be on building up a cohesive school culture and identity,” he said.

School culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, traditions and unwritten rules that shape how people interact, behave and make decisions within the school, said Assoc Prof Tan, highlighting that school culture develops over time.

Traditions, including events like speech day or Founder’s Day, also contribute to school culture, he added.

He agreed that alumni affiliation is only part of what makes up school culture, he said, adding that the relationships between teachers, staff, students, parents, alumni and the wider community all contribute to it.

“One way of thinking about this is what is the relative value of having this sort of continuity, alumni having their children in the school? That can definitely play a part in school culture,” he said.

“But what is the balance between that and having what MOE seems to be pushing for – a greater diversity in socioeconomic status mix?”

Associate Professor of Sociology Vincent Chua from the National University of Singapore said: “Why is it that children of alumni get to go in first? That in itself is a question that has no answer to it, other than the fact that they are children of alumni.”

Aside from improving social mixing, the latest policy changes are meant to attenuate alumni privileges because it has become a source of contention, he added.

“It’s not fair that just because you are a child of a person who’s gone to the school before, you get to go in before other people,” he added.

Should more schools be oversubscribed in Phase 2A, including already popular ones, parents may change how they view their odds of getting their children into a school of their choice, he added.

If they know their chances of getting in are lower, they may consider other schools , said Assoc Prof Chua.

The incremental changes over the years signal that more changes are on the horizon, he said.

For example, some primary schools are affiliated to secondary schools, which are in turn affiliated to junior colleges. Describing this as a 12-year golden pipeline, Assoc Prof Chua said some parents think that if they can get their children into the “right” primary school, it could pave the way for the next 12 years.

With an affiliated secondary school or junior college, these children may have an “easier time” at the national examinations.

“We are not talking about getting a place, we are talking about trajectories. Parents are gunning for the trajectories, they are not just gunning for a place,” he said.

As for the parent volunteer scheme and affiliation with a clan or church, these are legacy schemes, said Assoc Prof Chua.

“The issue arises when not everybody is able to have the luxury of time and resources to volunteer. So volunteerism tends to be focused on maybe a certain socioeconomic status group,” he said.

Earlier in October, Education Minister Desmond Lee addressed questions from Members of Parliament calling for more time for families to adjust to the new rules.

They pointed out that some families may have already made significant decisions on where to live, childcare and schooling based on the existing registration rules.

For the 12 schools that will introduce two tracks in Phase 2C, an average of about 15 per cent of successful Phase 2C applicants in the 2026 Primary 1 registration exercise live in public housing.

In comparison, applicants living in public housing make up 80 per cent of successful Phase 2C applicants for all other primary schools, MOE confirmed.

The new two-track Phase 2C pathway for the 12 schools will create more potential for increasing diversity, said Asst Prof Ho.

Based on the current rules, it is “virtually impossible” for children who do not live within 2km of these schools to get a spot.

To boost the awareness and proportion of parents applying from outside the 2km limit, information about the new scheme could be disseminated through preschools to educate parents on what their options are, she added.

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如果新的小学一年级注册框架应用于 2026 年的数据，那么一所学校将有四个名额供第二阶段 A 的儿童入学。

小学一年级入学登记第二阶段A部分热门学校的学位名额可能会有所变化。（插图：CNA/Clara Ho）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

新加坡：随着最新政策的调整，希望子女就读母校的家长在小学一年级注册的校友资格认定阶段可能会面临更大的竞争。

根据新方案，拥有 180 个或以上空缺学位的公立小学将为 2C 阶段预留 60 个学位，高于之前的 40 个。2C 阶段面向所有儿童开放，被认为是竞争最激烈的阶段。

第二阶段 C 的较大分配可能会减少第二阶段 A 的可用名额，第二阶段 A 优先考虑与学校有联系的孩子，包括父母是该校校友的孩子。

在一些最热门的学校，第二阶段C期新增的预留名额几乎全部来自第二阶段A期。

CNA 探讨了明年小学一年级入学登记制度的变化可能会对家长和学校产生哪些影响。

根据教育部 2026 年的招生数据，新的招生框架可能会导致一些热门学校的第二阶段 A 类名额减少五分之一甚至更多。

第二阶段 A 紧随第一阶段之后——面向现有学生的兄弟姐妹——在第二阶段 B 之前——面向家长志愿者、氏族和宗教组织等——以及第二阶段 C。

今年，第二阶段A期共有35所学校申请人数超过招生名额，这意味着申请人数超过了招生名额。

以下 26 所学校在第二阶段 C 的名额少于 60 个，在第二阶段 B 的预留名额少于 20 个，这意味着第二阶段 C 的名额缺口很可能来自第二阶段 A：

红卍字学校是 2026 年最热门的学校，24 个名额有 88 名申请者。

第二阶段 C 有 40 个预留名额。如果将名额增加到 60 个，则第二阶段 A 将减少 20 个名额，只剩下 4 个名额供 88 位申请者选择。

其他热门学校，如伊丽莎白公主小学、树群小学和培华长老会小学，其第二阶段A期学位将下降超过25%。

在伊丽莎白公主小学，137名申请者竞争47个第二阶段A类名额。根据新的招生框架，该校将只有27个名额。

招生名额紧张也可能影响到一些在 2026 年拥有足够第二阶段 A 学位的学校——其中 12 所学校可能会出现超额招生的情况。

卫理公会女子小学 (小学) 2A 期招生 95 个名额，共有 93 名申请者。

第二阶段C有41个名额，因此要达到60个名额，可能需要从第二阶段A中抽取18个名额，从第二阶段B中抽取1个名额。这样就剩下77个名额，供93名申请者竞争。

费尔菲尔德卫理公会小学有 91 名申请者，而招生名额为 97 个。其 2C 期招生名额有 48 个，因此 10 个名额可以从 2A 期转移，2 个名额可以从 2B 期转移，剩下 87 个名额。

两所学校在第二阶段B期都比预留的20个名额多出了一些名额。

这些变化是为扩大第二阶段C活动范围而采取的一系列举措中的最新举措，该活动面向所有儿童开放。

此前，第二阶段C的优先顺序是按距离远近划分，优先考虑居住在学校1公里以内的新加坡公民。这通常使之成为竞争最激烈的阶段。

从明年的招生工作开始，在公屋占比低于 40% 的社区（方圆 2 公里内）的 12 所学校，也将把第二阶段 C 名额分成两个相等的通道——一个通道面向居住在 2 公里内的申请人，另一个通道面向居住在 2 公里以外的申请人——两个通道内均不考虑家庭与学校之间的距离。

在 2022 年的招生计划实施之前，第二阶段 C 类阶段预留给学生的名额上限为 20 个。当时，教育部调整了招生计划，将第二阶段 A1 和 A2 合并，并将第二阶段 C 类阶段的预留名额增加了一倍，达到 40 个。

第二阶段A1优先录取父母是学校校友或顾问委员会或管理委员会成员的子女，而第二阶段A2优先录取在教育部附属小学幼儿园就读、有兄弟姐妹在该小学就读或父母在该校就读或工作的子女。

第二阶段A1于1999年推出，旨在鼓励校友和社区对学校给予更强有力的支持，但随着时间的推移，更多利益相关者，如前学生和校友会，都为学校做出了贡献。

对于 2022 年演习的变更，教育部当时表示，鉴于 2C 阶段预留名额的增加将导致早期阶段名额减少，因此审查 2A1 阶段和 2A2 阶段之间“优先顺序的细微差别”是及时的。

一些在第二阶段 A 和第二阶段 C 经常供不应求的学校，在第二阶段 B 也供不应求。

例如，红卐字学校和伊丽莎白公主小学都有家长志愿者计划或教会或氏族背景，并且在 2026 年的招生工作中，所有三个阶段都超额招生。

第二阶段B期预留了20个名额。这一名额上限是从2014年开始实施的，同时第二阶段C期也预留了20个名额，以确保更多没有校友关系的家庭也能获得名额。

“与生俱来的特权”

新加坡管理大学社会学助理教授何嘉玲表示，在新加坡教育体系的其他入学制度中，小学一年级注册制度“相当不寻常”。

她补充说，小学一年级制度“将孩子的机会与其与生俱来的权利直接联系起来”。

她说，每个阶段都有自己的政策目标——2A 阶段保留学校文化，2B 阶段表彰志愿者贡献，2C 阶段保持开放获取。

她补充说，新加坡应该质疑这些目标是否应该通过小学一年级注册流程来实现。

她表示，例如，可以通过家长支持小组让孩子已经在学校就读的家长参与进来，校友参与并不一定是保留学校文化的唯一途径。

何助理教授表示，即使这些目标与小学一年级注册流程相关，问题在于该计划是否实现了这些目标。

她补充说，一些校友将子女送回母校就读，因为这样更安全、更方便，可以避免在风险较高的第二阶段C投票中投票。

“对一些家长来说，这可能关乎在体制内获得成功，而不是维护学校文化，”她说。

何助理教授补充说，教育部多年来实施的改革正朝着开放学校入学途径的方向发展。

但她表示，采取更激进的措施可能具有挑战性，因为社会仍然习惯于这样一种观念：如果你是某所学校的校友，你的孩子就有权获得该校的入学资格。

国立教育学院政策、课程与领导力副教授 Jason Tan 表示，校友在学校文化中仍然发挥着重要作用，尤其是在历史悠久的学校中。

“例如，如果你是一所新学校，重点可能在于建立凝聚力强的学校文化和认同感，”他说。

陈副教授指出，学校文化指的是学校内人们互动、行为和决策方式所形成的共同价值观、信仰、传统和不成文的规则，并强调学校文化是随着时间的推移而发展的。

他还补充说，传统活动，例如演讲日或建校纪念日等，也对学校文化有所贡献。

他表示，他同意校友关系只是构成学校文化的一部分，并补充说，教师、员工、学生、家长、校友和更广泛的社区之间的关系都对学校文化有所贡献。

他说：“思考这个问题的一种方式是，这种传承——校友子女就读于本校——的相对价值是什么？这肯定会对学校文化产生影响。”

“但是，如何在实现教育部似乎正在推动的目标——更多样化的社会经济地位构成——之间取得平衡呢？”

新加坡国立大学社会学副教授蔡文森表示：“为什么校友子女可以优先入学？这个问题本身没有答案，唯一的解释就是他们是校友子女。”

他补充说，除了改善社交互动外，最新的政策变化旨在削弱校友特权，因为这已成为争议的根源。

他补充说：“仅仅因为你是以前在这所学校就读的人的孩子，你就可以比其他人先入学，这不公平。”

他补充说，如果第二阶段A期中更多学校（包括一些原本就很受欢迎的学校）出现超额报名的情况，家长们可能会改变他们对孩子能否进入理想学校的看法。

蔡副教授表示，如果他们知道自己被录取的机会较低，他们可能会考虑其他学校。

他表示，多年来的渐进式变化预示着未来将有更多变化。

例如，一些小学隶属于中学，中学又隶属于初级学院。蔡副教授将此描述为一条长达12年的“黄金管道”，并指出一些家长认为，如果能让孩子进入“合适的”小学，就能为接下来的12年铺平道路。

如果这些孩子就读于附属中学或初级学院，他们在全国统考中可能会“更容易一些”。

他说：“我们讨论的不是获得一个入学名额，而是未来的发展轨迹。家长们追求的是孩子未来的发展轨迹，而不仅仅是获得一个入学名额。”

蔡副教授表示，至于家长志愿者计划和与宗族或教会的联系，这些都是传承计划。

他说：“问题在于，并非每个人都有时间和资源去做志愿者。因此，志愿服务往往集中在某些特定的社会经济地位群体中。”

10月初，教育部长李智陞回应了国会议员的质询，这些议员呼吁给予家庭更多时间来适应新规。

他们指出，一些家庭可能已经根据现有的登记规则，对居住地、子女保育和教育等问题做出了重大决定。

在第二阶段C期将开设两条通道的12所学校中，2026年小学一年级入学登记中，第二阶段C期成功申请者中平均约有15%居住在公共房屋。

教育部证实，相比之下，居住在公共房屋的申请人占其他所有小学第二阶段C期录取申请人的80%。

何助理教授表示，这12所学校新的双轨制第二阶段C段课程将为增加多样性创造更多潜力。

根据现行规定，居住在距离这些学校 2 公里以外的儿童“几乎不可能”获得入学名额。

她补充说，为了提高人们对这项新计划的认识，并增加居住在2公里范围以外的家长申请的比例，可以通过幼儿园向家长宣传这项新计划，让他们了解自己的选择。

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