Secondary School Cut-Off Points (PSLE Score Ranges), 2025 S1 Posting
A secondary school's cut-off point is the PSLE score of the last student posted into it through a given Posting Group. The table below gives the score range for all 139 schools in the 2025 S1 Posting Exercise — the intake that started Secondary 1 in 2026 — split by open and affiliated intake, with a lower score being more competitive.
Compiled by Ancourage Academy and reviewed by Min Hui, Founder & Academic Director. Figures retrieved from MOE SchoolFinder on 2026-09-06; reference only, and not a prediction of this year's posting.
Already posted? Find the right Secondary 1 level
The Posting Group a child is posted through sets the level most subjects are taught at in Secondary 1. Ancourage Academy teaches each level separately in Bishan and Woodlands, so the column you are reading in the table below usually points to the right class — but under subject-based banding a strong subject can be taken one level higher from the start, so check your child's actual subject levels before enrolling.
Posting Group 3 (4-22)
All subjects start at G3, the most academically demanding level.
Posting Group 2 (21-25)
Most subjects at G2 — but a strong subject can be taken at G3 from Secondary 1.
Posting Group 1 (25-30)
Most subjects at G1 — but a strong subject can be taken at G2 from Secondary 1. A score of 26-30 also needs AL7 or better in English Language and Mathematics; a score of 25 can choose Posting Group 1 or 2.
Scores 21–22 and 25 sit in two Posting Groups at once, so those students choose between them.
Not sure which subjects to start with? See all Secondary tuition or book a trial class (usually $18).
How to read this table
Each cell is a lower–upper PSLE score range, and a lower score is more competitive. The upper number is the cut-off point: the score of the last student posted in — except where it carries an asterisk, which means the school still had places left, so the figure is the bottom of the Posting Group and the last student posted scored better than it. We list the open (non-affiliated) intake in its own columns and the affiliated intake separately, because the two are genuinely different routes into the same school rather than one blended figure. The Integrated Programme is shown apart from the Posting Groups, since it is a six-year route rather than a subject level.
139 schools. Figures retrieved 2026-09-06 from MOE SchoolFinder, which remains the authoritative source; each school name links to its SchoolFinder entry. Eight schools MOE lists are absent because they publish no S1 Posting range, admitting through Direct School Admission or a separate application instead: NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, School of Science and Technology, School of the Arts, Singapore Sports School, Assumption Pathway School, Crest Secondary School, Northlight School and Spectra Secondary School.
Starting Secondary 1 at one of these schools?
Ancourage Academy teaches G1, G2 and G3 Secondary 1 subjects separately in Bishan and Woodlands, so your child starts at the level they were posted into. Your first Academy trial is usually $18.
Book an Academy trialHow a PSLE score becomes a Posting Group
A PSLE score is the sum of four Achievement Levels, so it runs from 4 (strongest) to 32. MOE maps that score to one of three Posting Groups, which in turn sets the level most Secondary 1 subjects are taught at:
| PSLE score | Posting Group | Indicative S1 subject level |
|---|---|---|
| 4-20 | Posting Group 3 | G3 |
| 21-22 | Posting Group 2 or 3 | G2 or G3 |
| 23-24 | Posting Group 2 | G2 |
| 25 | Posting Group 1 or 2 | G1 or G2 |
| 26-30 (AL7 or better in English Language and Mathematics) | Posting Group 1 | G1 |
MOE phased out the Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) courses from the 2024 Secondary 1 cohort, posting students through Posting Groups 3, 2 and 1 respectively instead. So if you are comparing against an older list that says “Express cut-off”, Posting Group 3 is its successor — but the two are not interchangeable, because subject-based banding lets a student take individual subjects above the level their Posting Group indicates.
Common questions
- What is a secondary school cut-off point (COP)?
- A cut-off point, often shortened to COP, is the PSLE score of the last student posted into a school through a given Posting Group in the previous S1 Posting Exercise. It is the upper end of the range shown here, and a lower score is more competitive. The one exception is a range marked with an asterisk: there the school still had places left, so the figure is the bottom of the Posting Group and the last student posted actually scored better than it. Because a cut-off records who was posted last year, it moves each year with demand and cohort performance rather than being a threshold MOE sets in advance.
- Why does this table show a range instead of one number?
- MOE publishes the scores of the first and last student admitted, so a range describes the intake far better than a single figure. The lower number is the strongest score posted; the upper number is the cut-off, unless it carries an asterisk. A school showing a wide range took students across many scores, while a narrow range indicates a tightly clustered intake.
- Do affiliated pupils face an easier cut-off point?
- Usually yes, though "easier" means a numerically higher score, not a lower one. Where a secondary school has an affiliated primary school, MOE publishes a separate affiliated range alongside the open one, and it is normally the less competitive of the two — Catholic High, for example, admitted affiliated pupils in Posting Group 3 up to 12 while its open intake stopped at 8. That is why this table splits the two rather than averaging them. Which primary schools are affiliated to which is set out on our secondary school affiliation page.
- What do the asterisk, (D), (M) and (P) markers mean?
- An asterisk, as in 30*, means the school still had places left in that Posting Group after posting. The figure shown is the bottom of the group rather than a contested cut-off, and the last student actually posted scored better than it. (D) and (M) appear at Special Assistance Plan schools: they are the Higher Chinese grades — Distinction and Merit — of the first and last students admitted, since Higher Chinese carries posting priority at those schools. MOE also defines (P) for Pass; no school used it in this exercise.
- Which secondary schools have the lowest cut-off points?
- In the 2025 S1 Posting Exercise the most competitive entries are Integrated Programme routes: Raffles Institution admitted at 4–6 and several other IP schools sit in the same band. A lower PSLE score is more competitive, so these are the hardest places to secure. Use the table to compare any school against your child's score.
- Does meeting the cut-off point guarantee a place?
- No. Meeting last year's cut-off does not guarantee admission. Posting also depends on your child's citizenship, the order of the six choices submitted, the size of this year's cohort, and a computerised ballot where more students share a score than there are places. Treat these figures as a planning reference and confirm current information with MOE.
Still preparing for the PSLE? Work out a score with our PSLE score calculator, read the PSLE scoring system guide for how Achievement Levels work, or see PSLE tuition for Primary 5–6.
Choosing between schools? Compare the secondary school affiliation list to see which primary schools carry priority, read how to choose a secondary school, or check the key dates for this year's results and posting timeline.
Looking further ahead? The same figures for post-secondary admission are in our JC and Millennia Institute cut-off points table, which lists each junior college's L1R5 range from the most recent Joint Admissions Exercise.