Which P1 registration phase can my child register in?

Who is this for?

Parents of a child born 2 January 2021 to 1 January 2022, who register in the 2027 exercise for P1 in 2028. That birth range follows MOE’s usual pattern; MOE confirms it when it announces the exercise. The 2026 exercise was for children born 2 January 2020 to 1 January 2021. Its citizen and PR phases ran from 30 Jun to 18 Aug 2026; Phase 3 for international students runs to 30 Oct 2026.

What are the steps?

1. Check which exercise your child is in from the birth date. The checker works this out on your device and never sends the date anywhere.
2. List your ties to each school you are considering. These include a sibling there now, a parent or sibling who studied there, committee or staff roles and the school’s MOE Kindergarten. Parent volunteering and a church, clan or community endorsement count too.
3. Run the P1 phase checker once for each school. Your phase can differ from school to school.
4. Look up your official home-school distance on MOE SchoolFinder: within 1km, 1 to 2km, or beyond 2km.
5. Watch for MOE’s announcement of the 2027 dates, usually in April, and confirm every phase date and criterion on MOE’s P1 registration page.
6. Gather your documents early with the P1 registration document checklist.

How do the phases work?

The order never changes. Singapore citizens and PRs register in Phase 1, 2A, 2B, 2C and then 2C Supplementary. International students come last, in Phase 3, subject to the places left.

Phase 2B needs a parent volunteer who joined at least 1 year before and did at least 40 hours by 30 Jun. A parent endorsed by the church or clan connected with the school, or as an active community leader, also qualifies. Whatever is left after Phase 2A goes one-third to Phase 2B and two-thirds to Phase 2C.

Open the P1 registration phase checker and answer five questions for the school you want. It shows your phase, why, and how distance would affect a ballot.

Not a citizen or PR, or one of you is from overseas? Read school places for international students and one parent from overseas. Weighing a madrasah? See madrasah or MOE primary: the facts.

What happens if there is a ballot?

If applications in your phase are more than the places, MOE holds a ballot. This can happen in any phase from 2A to 2C Supplementary. Distance decides who is drawn first:

First

Singapore citizens within 1km

Second

Singapore citizens 1 to 2km away

Third

Singapore citizens beyond 2km

Then

PRs, in the same distance order

PR children register in the phase they qualify for, but citizens get priority within each phase and in ballots. MOE holds no ballot in Phase 1. In phases 2C and 2C Supplementary, some schools also cap PR places at about 25% to 30% of their P1 intake. For 2026 these were Bukit Timah Primary School, Cantonment Primary School and Opera Estate Primary School.

To see which schools balloted, MOE’s latest published per-school figures are for the 2025 exercise, in its vacancies and balloting data. As of 10 October 2026 MOE has not added the 2026 figures there.

What changes for the 2027 exercise?

MOE has announced three points for the 2027 exercise, for P1 in 2028:

• 60 places are reserved for Phase 2C, up from 40, except in schools with a P1 intake under 180.
• At 12 schools with less than 40% public housing within 2km, Phase 2C places are split equally into a within-2km track and a beyond-2km track. There is no distance priority inside each track, and Singapore citizens are admitted first.
• Vacancies left after Phase 2A still go one-third to Phase 2B and two-thirds to Phase 2C.

MOE has not announced the 2027 dates yet. It usually does so in April.

When did each phase run in 2026?

The 2026 timetable, for P1 in 2027, shows the rhythm to plan around. MOE’s key dates page, re-read on 12 October 2026, gives these per-phase dates:

Phase 1

30 Jun – 2 Jul 2026 (results 8 Jul)

Phase 2A

9 – 10 Jul 2026 (results 17 Jul)

Phase 2B

20 – 21 Jul 2026 (results 27 Jul)

Phase 2C

28 – 30 Jul 2026 (results 11 Aug)

Phase 2C Supplementary

17 – 18 Aug (results 27 Aug)

Phase 3

After all citizen and PR phases (Oct 2026)

MOE now shows per-phase dates only inside its interactive phase checker, which we could not read on 10 October 2026. Please confirm every date on MOE’s P1 registration page before you plan leave around it.

What can the checker not decide?

It covers the common criteria only. MOE’s eligibility rules and the P1 Registration Portal decide your phase. The Phase 2A and 2B criteria match MOE’s overview of the revised framework, which we read on 10 October 2026 and which lists no change to them from the 2027 exercise.

Next, shortlist schools near home with the School finder guide, then print the P1 registration document checklist and the P1 transition plan checklist for the months after a place is confirmed.