Look beyond cut-off points, PSLE scores when choosing secondary schools: Principals at ST Forum

(From left) Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School principal Goh Soon Hoe, Anderson Secondary School principal Tan Po Chin, National Junior College principal Lucy Toh, Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School principal Koh Caiyu and St Andrew’s School (Secondary) principal Mr Lee Han Hwa on a panel at the SPH Media Auditorium for the ST Post-PSLE forum on Oct 31.

Published Oct 31, 2026, 05:00 PM

Updated Oct 31, 2026, 05:00 PM

Five principals said parents should not choose secondary schools only by PSLE cut-off points or scores.

Principals said PSLE results may not show true ability, especially if tuition helped.

They advised families to use all six school choices wisely, attend open houses, and speak to students.

Explore the PSLE Companion microsite for more insights and tips.

SINGAPORE - Choosing the right secondary school after the PSLE should not be based solely on a school’s cut-off points or the child’s score, said five secondary school principals on Oct 31 .

Instead, parents should make practical considerations like travel time, and whether the school’s unique programmes and co-curricular activities (CCAs) cater to the child’s interests.

Speaking at The Straits Times Post-PSLE Forum on Oct 31, Goh Soon Hoe, principal of Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School, said: “If the PSLE result was attained through sheer force of tuition, then maybe that AL (aggregate level) score may not be a good representation of what a day-to-day life in secondary school education is all about.”

Goh was one of five principals on a panel who agreed that a child’s PSLE score is not always indicative of their true academic potential.

Hosted by Lavinia Tan, radio presenter from ONE FM 91.3, the event was attended by about 120 people at the SPH News Centre auditorium, and 70 who joined online.

Now into its fourth year, this series is intended to inform parents whose children sat for the PSLE in September, and are awaiting results in end November, before applying to secondary schools.

Lucy Toh, the principal of National Junior College (NJC), which offers the Integrated Programme (IP) - a six-year secondary school pathway - said relying on tuition for good grades is not sustainable in secondary school, where students take more subjects.

She added that parents gunning for IP schools like NJC, also need to consider if their children have the high levels of maturity and self-directedness required for this pathway, which allows students to skip national examinations at Sec 4.

“If your child is not yet operating at that level of maturity in Sec 1 , then IP could be a bit of a sharp shock to the system,” she said.

Responding to a question about whether it is advisable to apply to a school when a candidate is one point short of the PSLE cut-off points, Lee Han Hwa, principal of St Andrew’s School (Secondary) (SASS), said it is not.

“If I’ve been studying the school AL score at least over the past three years, by and large the score doesn’t really change,” he said.

Goh added that with the Education Ministry introducing choice order in 2021 as a tie-breaker for Sec 1 posting, such risk-taking could result in students wasting their first choice. They might also not get into their second choice schools, if other students listed it as their first choice.

Koh Caiyu, principal of Pasir Ris Crest Secondary, said families should optimise all six school choices during the Sec 1 posting exercise, instead of narrowly focussing on their top school pick.

“The last thing we want is that only the first choice is your go-to, and then the five choices you just close your eyes and anyhow indicate,” she said.

If a child thinks that’s the only school he wants to go to, Koh said it can be devastating if the results come out otherwise.

Anderson Secondary’s principal , Tan Po Chin, said families should attend school open houses and speak to current and former students to consider a range of schools that would be a good fit.

“That’s where you get the most authentic reflection of the school experience... the students’ experiences are the ones that really would reflect the best of what secondary school life is,” she said.

One parent asked how a child with good PSLE results might have his learning experience affected, when he enters a school where affiliated students are accepted with much lower scores.

For example, Lee said 60 to 65% of SASS’ Sec 1 students come from St Andrew’s School (Junior) - the school’s affiliated primary school. While affiliated students can enter with AL scores between 9 and 22, others need an AL score of below 10.

To this, Lee said boys develop at different paces, and some bloom when they are older. Regardless, teachers are well-versed in differentiated instruction to cater to students of different abilities.

Said Lee: “More importantly, we want students who are happy in the classroom, have good interactions with their teachers, and form strong relationships in school.”

Tan Po Chin added that diversity in the classroom allows students to gain different perspectives and hone life skills.

“There’s so much that we can learn from our peers, regardless of their academic score. It’s the way they look at the world, the way they learn... (it) goes beyond just the score you get on the paper," she said.

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Elisha Tushara is a correspondent at The Straits Times, specialising in Singapore’s education landscape.

Education and schools

（从左至右）艾哈迈德·易卜拉欣中学校长吴顺和、安德森中学校长陈宝进、国家初级学院校长杜露西、巴西立中学校长许彩玉和圣安德烈中学（中学部）校长李汉华先生于 10 月 31 日在新加坡报业控股媒体礼堂参加《海峡时报》小学离校考试后论坛的小组讨论。

发布于2026年10月31日下午5:00

更新于2026年10月31日下午5:00

五位校长表示，家长不应该仅仅根据小学离校考试（PSLE）的录取分数线或分数来选择中学。

校长们表示，小学离校考试成绩可能无法反映学生的真实能力，尤其是有补习班的情况下。

他们建议家长们明智地利用所有六个学校选择，参加开放日活动，并与学生交谈。

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新加坡——五位中学校长于10月31日表示，在小学离校考试（PSLE）后选择合适的中学不应仅仅依据学校的录取分数线或孩子的分数。

相反，家长应该考虑一些实际因素，例如通勤时间，以及学校独特的课程和课外活动是否符合孩子的兴趣。

10月31日，在《海峡时报》小学离校考试后论坛上，艾哈迈德·易卜拉欣中学的校长吴顺和表示：“如果小学离校考试成绩是通过补习取得的，那么综合水平（AL）分数可能无法很好地反映中学教育的日常情况。”

吴先生是五位校长组成的专家小组的成员之一，该小组一致认为，孩子的小学离校考试成绩并不总是能反映出他们真正的学术潜力。

本次活动由 ONE FM 91.3 电台主持人 Lavinia Tan 主持，约有 120 人在新加坡报业控股新闻中心礼堂参加，另有 70 人在线参与。

该系列活动已进入第四年，旨在为孩子在9月份参加小学离校考试（PSLE）并在11月底等待成绩的家长提供信息，以便他们在申请中学之前做好准备。

提供六年制中学课程（IP）的国民初级学院（NJC）校长露西·杜表示，在中学阶段，学生要学习更多科目，依靠课外辅导来取得好成绩是不可持续的。

她补充说，那些希望孩子进入像 NJC 这样的 IP 学校的家长，也需要考虑他们的孩子是否具备这条道路所需的成熟度和自律性，这条道路允许学生在中学四年级跳过全国性考试。

“如果你的孩子在中一的时候还没有达到那种成熟度，那么IP课程可能会给他们带来很大的冲击，”她说。

针对考生距离小学离校考试（PSLE）录取分数线仅差一分是否应该申请入学的问题，圣安德烈中学（SASS）校长李汉华表示，不建议这样做。

他说：“如果我至少在过去三年里研究过学校的AL成绩，总的来说，成绩并没有真正发生变化。”

吴先生补充说，由于教育部将于2021年引入志愿顺序作为中一录取名额分配的决胜因素，这种冒险行为可能会导致学生错失第一志愿。如果其他学生将第二志愿学校列为第一志愿，他们也可能进不了第二志愿学校。

巴西立中学（Pasir Ris Crest Secondary）校长许彩玉表示，家长在初一分校录取过程中应该考虑所有六所学校的选择，而不是只关注自己最想去的学校。

“我们最不希望看到的就是，你只会选择第一个选项，而剩下的五个选项你只是闭着眼睛随便选一个，”她说。

Koh表示，如果一个孩子认为那是他唯一想去的学校，但结果却并非如此，那可能会对他造成毁灭性的打击。

安德森中学的校长陈宝琴表示，家长们应该参加学校开放日活动，与在校生和毕业生交流，以便考虑哪些学校更适合孩子。

“在那里，你才能最真实地感受到学校生活……学生的经历才能真正反映出中学生活的美好一面，”她说。

一位家长问，如果一个孩子在小学离校考试（PSLE）中取得了优异的成绩，却进入了一所录取分数低得多的附属学校，那么他的学习经历会受到怎样的影响。

例如，李说，SASS中学一年级学生中有60%到65%来自圣安德烈学校（小学部）——该校的附属小学。附属小学的学生入学时AL成绩可以在9到22分之间，而其他学生则需要AL成绩低于10分。

对此，李表示，男孩的发育速度各不相同，有些男孩在年龄较大时才会展现出更强的潜能。无论如何，教师们都精通差异化教学，能够满足不同能力学生的需求。

李说：“更重要的是，我们希望学生在课堂上感到快乐，与老师有良好的互动，并在学校里建立牢固的人际关系。”

陈宝琴补充说，课堂上的多样性可以让学生获得不同的视角并磨练生活技能。

“无论同龄人的学业成绩如何，我们都能从他们身上学到很多东西。这体现在他们看待世界的方式、他们的学习方式……（这）远不止是试卷上的分数，”她说。

如需访问文章和人工智能工具，请订阅 ST PSLE 伴侣套餐（每月 29.90 新元，分 24 个月订阅）。购买 24 个月套餐即可获赠价值 180 新元的酷航代金券。

Elisha Tushara 是《海峡时报》的记者，专门报道新加坡的教育领域。

教育和学校