Primary 1 registration: 89 schools oversubscribed, heading to ballot for Phase 2C

SINGAPORE: Parents applying to 89 primary schools will ballot for a place for their children in Phase 2C of the Primary 1 registration this year, according to data from the Ministry of Education on Thursday (Aug 12). 

This means about half of the 181 primary schools in Singapore will be conducting a ballot for this phase. Of all them, six have just 20 vacancies. 

They are: Ai Tong Primary, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School (Primary), Nanyang Primary, Rulang Primary, South View Primary and St Hilda’s Primary.

Of the six, South View Primary and St Hilda’s Primary are the most oversubscribed, with 130 applicants and 118 applicants vying for the 20 places respectively. 

Use our map to find out if balloting will be conducted at the school of your choice:

Phase 2C, which closed on Aug 5, is for children with no ties to the school, and is usually the most competitive phase.

In this phase, 20 places are set aside for students who do not have priority admission, and application is based on home-school distance. 

MOE is reviewing the Primary 1 registration framework to see whether the number of places set aside for students without priority admission can be increased, the Ministry said in March. 

Competition for places in popular schools has intensified in recent years, with more schools having to conduct balloting, said then-Education Minister Lawrence Wong at the time. 

“Such popular schools are not limited to a particular locality ... As a result, even with the 20 places set aside for Phase 2C, some children do not get to attend a school near their home,” he had said.

Two schools in Punggol - Valour Primary School and Oasis Primary School - will not head to the ballots despite being oversubscribed. 

The two schools only have places for Singaporean children that stay within 1km of them, said MOE on its website. 

No balloting will be conducted and unsuccessful applicants can register for a school with available vacancies in the Phase 2C supplementary phase. 

Some of the most difficult schools to get into for Phase 2C include Northland Primary, Nan Hua Primary, Princess Elizabeth Primary and Chongfu School. 

Northland Primary in Yishun saw 191 applicants for 28 places, while Nan Hua Primary School in Clementi had 141 parents applying for 21 places for their children. 

Princess Elizabeth Primary in Bukit Batok had 236 parents applying for 45 places, and Chongfu School, also in Yishun, had 126 applicants for 33 available places. 

Opera Estate Primary in Siglap had 112 available vacancies for Phase 2C, with 36 places available to permanent residents. There were 77 applicants in Phase 2C and all Singaporean children were admitted into the school, said MOE on its website. 

Balloting will be conducted for permanent resident children living outside of 2km of the school because it has reached its cap on the intake for them. Remaining vacancies in Phase 2C Supplementary will only be for Singaporean children.