SINGAPORE – Registration for children entering Primary 1 in 2024 will start on July 4, 2023, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Tuesday.

From this year’s exercise onwards, parents can use the new online P1 Registration Portal for all five stages – Phases 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2C Supplementary – to register their child in their chosen school.

The portal, which will go live on July 4 and is accessible via MOE’s P1 Registration website, replaces the online application form (for Phase 1, 2A and 2B) and the P1 Internet System (for Phase 2C and 2C Supplementary) used in previous years.

To log in to the portal, parents will require a valid Singpass with 2-factor authentication (2FA), said the MOE. Parents are advised to set up their Singpass 2FA early and ensure that their Singpass account is valid before the registration exercise starts.

From this year, MOE will also publish data from the preceding year’s P1 Registration exercise to better support parents in their selection of primary schools.

Starting from May 23, parents may refer to str.sg/iJhP for last year’s data, which will include the number of vacancies, registration applicants, and balloting information in the respective phases for each school.

“If balloting was conducted for a specific phase, parents would see the category that balloting was conducted for, the number of vacancies available in the ballot, and the number of applicants who participated in the ballot,” said the MOE. “Parents can also view a list of schools within 2km of their residence and check whether these schools were oversubscribed in specific phases during last year’s exercise.”

This information is in addition to the number of available spots in each school for the 2023 registration exercise, which will be provided online from mid-June and updated along the way.

“However, such statistics should not be taken as final during the exercise due to its dynamic nature, as parents can withdraw and make changes throughout the registration period,” said the MOE.

Schools will also not be able to provide additional information beyond what is available on MOE’s website.

Parents who require assistance during registration may contact the school of their choice via e-mail or telephone on the respective registration days between 9am and 4.30pm. More information can be found at www.moe.gov.sg/primary/p1-registration

Registration will end on Oct 31.

For updates and information on the registration exercise process and requirements, parents of prospective P1 pupils will be able to download and register for MOE’s Parents Gateway app on their mobile devices using their Singpass account, starting from May 18.

In its statement, MOE encouraged parents to consider a wide stable of schools, and explore how their programmes and offerings can best meet their child’s learning needs, interests and strengths. Parents should also consider schools that are reasonably close to home to reduce their child’s commuting time, it said, as a longer home-school distance could mean more limited transport options for the child.

More information on each school’s offerings can be found at www.moe.gov.sg/schoolfinder.

Providing an update to infrastructure plans for a primary school, the MOE said St Margaret’s School (Primary) is currently at a holding site in Mattar Road while its permanent site in Wilkie Road undergoes upgrading.

Due to a delay in the upgrading project, the school will continue to operate from the current holding site for another year until December 2024.

Phases

Phase 1

  • For a child who has a sibling studying in the primary school

Phase 2A

  • For a child whose parent or sibling is a former student of the primary school, including those who have joined the alumni association of the primary school as a member
  • For a child whose parent is a member of the School Advisory/Management Committee 
  • For a child whose parent is a staff member of the primary school
  • For a child from the MOE Kindergarten under the purview of and located within the primary school

Phase 2B

  • For a child whose parent has joined the primary school as a parent volunteer not later than July 1 of the year before P1 registration and has given at least 40 hours of voluntary service to the school by June 30 of the year of P1 registration
  • For a child whose parent is a member endorsed by the church/clan directly connected with the primary school
  • For a child whose parent is endorsed as an active community leader

Phase 2C

  • For a child who is not yet registered in a primary school

Phase 2C supplementary

  • For a child who is not yet registered in a primary school after Phase 2C

Phase 3

  • International students

Text: Amelia Teng/The Straits Times