PSLE AL Score Calculator
Sum your PSLE Achievement Levels (AL1–AL8), see your posting group under Full SBB, and check indicative cut-off points for 139 secondary schools. Free.
PSLE AL Score Calculator
Select the Achievement Level for each PSLE subject to total your score (4–32), see the posting group it qualifies for under Full Subject-Based Banding, and check it against indicative cut-off points from the 2025 S1 posting exercise (2026 Secondary 1 intake). Everything runs in your browser.
Indicative cut-off checker — 2025 S1 posting (2026 intake)
Search the table or filter by track. Rows your score indicatively meets are highlighted (IP and O-Level admission both run through Posting Group 3 scores).
| School | Track | Indicative COP | Notes |
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COP = PSLE score of the last student posted at the 2025 S1 posting exercise, per MOE SchoolFinder data as compiled by published COP trackers. Every figure is indicative. "HCL merit at COP" means the last student admitted at that score also carried a Higher Chinese merit/distinction tie-break. An O-Level COP of 22 generally means the school admitted PG3-eligible applicants across the full choice range. Specialised schools (NUS High, SST, SOTA, Singapore Sports School, Crest, Spectra, NorthLight, Assumption Pathway) admit through their own selection and are not listed. PG2/PG1 ranges for each school are in MOE SchoolFinder.
How to use the PSLE AL Score Calculator
Pick the AL for each of the 4 subjects
Choose the Achievement Level (AL1–AL8) your child scored — or expects to score — in English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and Science. If a subject was taken at Foundation level, pick Foundation A, B or C instead: for S1 posting these count as AL6, AL7 and AL8 respectively.
Read the total PSLE score and posting group
The total is the simple sum of the four ALs, from 4 (best) to 32. The calculator shows which posting group the score qualifies for — including the choice bands at 21–22 (PG3 or PG2) and 25 (PG2 or PG1) — and the initial subject level (G3/G2/G1) it maps to.
Search and filter the indicative COP table
Type a school name, filter by track (Integrated Programme or O-Level), or tick "SAP only". Schools whose indicative 2025-posting cut-off your score meets are highlighted, and the counter shows how many of the listed schools are indicatively within range.
Shortlist with a buffer, then verify on SchoolFinder
COPs shift a few points each year and tie-breakers can edge out students who meet the COP. MOE advises including at least 2–3 choices whose previous COPs are comfortably more lenient than your score, ordering all six choices by genuine preference — then verify everything on MOE SchoolFinder before submitting.
How PSLE AL scoring and S1 posting work
From raw marks to Achievement Levels
Since 2021, every PSLE subject has been scored in eight Achievement Levels instead of the old T-score. The bands are fixed against raw marks: AL1 for 90 and above, AL2 for 85–89, AL3 for 80–84, AL4 for 75–79, AL5 for 65–74, AL6 for 45–64, AL7 for 20–44 and AL8 for anything below 20. The design is deliberate — the top bands are narrow because slightly less than half of each cohort is expected to land in AL1–AL4, while the middle and lower bands are wide because finer distinctions there carry little meaning. Crucially, an AL reflects the child's own attainment, not a ranking against how the rest of the cohort performed that year. Foundation-level subjects are graded A (75–100), B (30–74) and C (below 30); for posting purposes these map to AL6, AL7 and AL8, reflecting the lighter curriculum load while still signalling readiness for secondary school subjects.
From score to posting group
The PSLE score is the plain sum of the four subject ALs — English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and Science — so it runs from 4 (four AL1s, the best possible) to 32. Under Full Subject-Based Banding, which replaced the Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) streams from the 2024 Secondary 1 intake, this score determines the posting group: 4–20 qualifies for Posting Group 3, 23–24 for Posting Group 2, and 26–30 for Posting Group 1 provided English and Maths are both AL7 or better. Two bands offer a choice: at 21–22 the family picks PG3 or PG2, and at 25 it picks PG2 or PG1, before submitting school choices. Posting groups matter for admission and set the initial subject levels — G3, G2 or G1 — but they are not the old streams: from Secondary 1 onwards, students take individual subjects at more demanding levels where their PSLE performance supports it, and can adjust levels as they progress.
Reading cut-off points the right way
A school's cut-off point is often misread as an entry requirement set by the school. It is nothing of the sort — the COP is simply the PSLE score of the last student posted into that school at the previous year's exercise, and MOE publishes each school's indicative score range (first and last student admitted) in SchoolFinder. Because it is an outcome of one year's results, choices and vacancies, a COP can move a few points in either direction the following year. Meeting it is also no guarantee: when applicants tie at the cut-off, places are resolved by citizenship (Singapore Citizens, then PRs, then international students), then by where the school sat in the applicant's order of six choices, then by computerised ballot. The practical advice from MOE is to order all six choices by genuine preference and to include at least two or three schools whose previous COPs sit comfortably below the child's score as buffers.
HCL, SAP schools and affiliation
Two admission wrinkles are worth knowing. First, Higher Chinese Language: a student with a PSLE score of 14 or better who earned a Distinction, Merit or Pass in HCL receives a posting advantage at the eleven Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools, and among tied applicants the stronger HCL grade is placed first — which is why several SAP schools' published COPs carry a merit or distinction marker. Second, affiliation: schools with affiliated primaries give posting priority to affiliated applicants who rank them first, so the affiliated COP is often dramatically more lenient than the open one — at some schools the gap exceeds ten points. This calculator lists the open (non-affiliated) O-Level COP and flags schools where an affiliated cut-off differs, but the definitive per-school figures, including PG2 and PG1 ranges, live in MOE SchoolFinder and should always be checked before the option form is submitted.
10 Facts About PSLE Scoring and S1 Posting
Each standard PSLE subject is scored in 8 Achievement Levels by raw mark: AL1 is 90 and above, AL2 is 85–89, AL3 is 80–84, AL4 is 75–79, AL5 is 65–74, AL6 is 45–64, AL7 is 20–44, and AL8 is below 20.
The upper AL bands are deliberately narrow (5 marks each) while the middle bands are wide, because slightly less than half of the cohort is expected to score AL1–AL4 — finer distinctions at the lower marks are less meaningful.
Your PSLE score is simply the sum of the four subject ALs, ranging from 4 (the best possible) to 32. Unlike the old T-score, it does not compare a child against how the rest of the cohort did on the day.
Foundation-level subjects are graded A (75–100), B (30–74) and C (below 30). For S1 posting they are mapped to standard-level equivalents of AL6, AL7 and AL8 respectively.
Posting groups by PSLE score: 4–20 goes to Posting Group 3, 21–22 lets the family choose PG3 or PG2, 23–24 goes to PG2, 25 lets the family choose PG2 or PG1, and 26–30 goes to PG1 provided English and Maths are both AL7 or better.
A school's cut-off point (COP) is not set in advance by MOE — it is the PSLE score of the last student posted into that school at the previous year's S1 posting, so it moves every year with cohort results and demand.
Meeting the COP does not guarantee a place. When applicants tie on PSLE score, vacancies are resolved in this order: citizenship (Singapore Citizens, then PRs, then international students), then order of school choices, then computerised balloting.
Students with Distinction, Merit or Pass in Higher Chinese and a PSLE score of 14 or better get a posting advantage at SAP schools; among tied applicants, the better HCL grade is allocated a place first.
A total of 37,926 Primary 6 students sat the 2025 PSLE, and 98.5% were posted to a secondary school — the S1 posting results for the 2026 intake were released on 19 December 2025.
At the 2025 posting, Integrated Programme COPs ran from 6 (Raffles, Hwa Chong, Nanyang Girls', MGS) to 9, and affiliation matters enormously on the O-Level track — some schools' affiliated COPs are 10+ points more lenient than their open COPs.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Each of the four subjects — English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and Science — is scored an Achievement Level from AL1 (90 marks and above) to AL8 (below 20). The PSLE score is the sum of the four ALs, so it ranges from 4 (best) to 32. Foundation subjects graded A, B or C count as AL6, AL7 and AL8 for posting.
- It depends entirely on the target school. Any score of 4–20 qualifies for Posting Group 3 (the most demanding G3 subject load), which covers the majority of O-Level track places. Integrated Programme schools admitted at 6–9 in the 2025 posting, and the most competitive non-IP schools at 8–11. Rather than chasing a number, compare the score against the indicative COPs of schools that actually fit the child.
- The COP is the PSLE score of the last student admitted into a school at the previous year's S1 posting exercise. MOE publishes each school's indicative PSLE score range (first and last student posted) in SchoolFinder. Because it is an outcome of last year's results and choices — not a pre-set entry bar — it can shift a few points every year.
- No. If more applicants tie at the cut-off score than there are vacancies, tie-breakers apply in sequence: citizenship status (Singapore Citizens first, then PRs, then international students), then the order in which the school was listed among the six choices, then computerised balloting. Some students who meet the COP are balloted out — which is why MOE recommends building buffer choices into the list.
- From the 2024 intake, under Full Subject-Based Banding, the Express, N(A) and N(T) streams were replaced by Posting Groups 3, 2 and 1. Posting groups are used only for S1 posting and to set the initial subject levels — G3, G2 or G1. From Secondary 1, students can take individual subjects at more demanding levels if they did well in them at PSLE, and can adjust levels as they progress.
- These are choice bands. A student scoring 21–22 is eligible for both PG3 and PG2 and must pick one posting group before submitting school choices; a student scoring 25 chooses between PG2 and PG1. The choice affects which schools and initial subject levels are available, so compare the indicative COP ranges for both groups in SchoolFinder before deciding.
- Foundation subjects are graded A (75–100 marks), B (30–74) and C (below 30). For S1 posting, A maps to AL6, B to AL7 and C to AL8, and that mapped value is added into the total exactly like a standard-subject AL. The mapping reflects the different curriculum load and signals readiness for secondary-level subjects.
- Students with a PSLE score of 14 or better who scored Distinction, Merit or Pass in HCL get a posting advantage when opting for SAP schools. Among applicants with the same PSLE score, those with better HCL grades are allocated places first — which is why several SAP schools' published COPs carry a Distinction/Merit marker. HCL does not change the PSLE score itself.
- Schools with affiliated primary schools reserve posting priority for affiliated applicants who list the school as their first choice, so the affiliated COP is usually much more lenient than the open (non-affiliated) COP — sometimes by 10 points or more. This table lists the open COP and flags where an affiliated COP differs; check SchoolFinder for the exact affiliated figures.
- No. The Achievement Levels you select, the computed score and every table search run entirely in your browser — nothing is transmitted to any server or stored anywhere. Closing the page clears everything instantly.
Important — please read.
Indicative figures only — not admission advice. The cut-off points shown were compiled from the published outcomes of the 2025 S1 posting exercise (2026 Secondary 1 intake). Actual cut-offs are an outcome of each year's cohort results, school choices and vacancies, and can shift by several points; meeting a COP does not guarantee a place, as tie-breakers (citizenship, choice order, ballot) still apply.
No affiliation. RECATOOLS is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or representing the Ministry of Education (MOE), SEAB, or any school or government agency. Names are used for identification only.
Verify before acting. Always confirm posting-group eligibility, indicative PSLE score ranges (including affiliated, PG2 and PG1 ranges) and option-form procedures with MOE SchoolFinder and official MOE channels before submitting school choices.
Scope limits: the table covers Integrated Programme and O-Level (PG3) open cut-offs from posting; it does not model DSA admissions, specialised/independent-school selection, third-language programmes or mother-tongue exemption cases.
No warranty; limitation of liability. Provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. To the maximum extent permitted by law, RECATOOLS accepts no liability for any loss arising from use of this checker.
Privacy. All calculation and searching runs locally in your browser; no scores or personal data are transmitted or stored.
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