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.
NEW-LOOK PHASE 2A
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.
Widening access
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.
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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.
Source: CNA/hw(mi)