SINGAPORE: The proportion of Primary 6 students who made it to secondary school held steady at last year's record 98.4 per cent, and was up slightly from 2015's 98.3 per cent.



Of the 38,942 students who took the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) this year, 38,312 qualified for secondary school, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Friday (Nov 24).



A total of 66.2 per cent were eligible for the Express stream, down slightly from 66.4 per cent last year. Another 21.4 per cent qualified for the Normal (Academic) course and 10.7 per cent for the Normal (Technical) course.



For the 630 students who did not qualify for the above courses, those who attempted the PSLE for the first time may try again in the coming year or apply to Assumption Pathway School or NorthLight School, the ministry said.



Those who have attempted the PSLE more than once will be preferentially offered a place in the two schools, it added.



Students eligible for secondary school may submit their school options via the Secondary One Internet System from 11am on Nov 24 to 3pm on Nov 30. They may also submit the form at their primary schools.



The posting results will be released on Dec 21 and students are to report to the secondary schools they are posted to at 8.30am the next day, MOE said.



PRIVATE PSLE CANDIDATES

All three madrasahs, or Islamic religious schools, who had students taking the PSLE this year met the minimum PSLE benchmark, the ministry said. A total of 264 madrasah students sat for the exam.



Only one student from San Yu Adventist School took the PSLE this year, and based on his results, the school did not meet the benchmark. However, as the school had met the benchmark twice in the current three-year assessment period, it can resume enrolling Primary 1 students in 2019.

Fourteen of the 42 home-schooled children from this year’s cohort did not meet the benchmark, and will have to retake the exam next year, MOE said.