99 schools to hold ballot for Phase 2C of Primary 1 registration

Parents hoping to clinch a spot for their children at 99 popular primary schools in Phase 2C of the Primary 1 registration exercise will have to face a ballot.

The schools include Princess Elizabeth Primary, where 226 children are vying for 38 places; Temasek Primary, with 106 children trying for 28 vacancies; and West Spring Primary, where there are 45 places and 126 children registered.

Another two schools - Jurong West Primary and Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Primary) - were oversubscribed in Phase 2C but will not require balloting, according to the figures on the Ministry of Education (MOE) website that were updated late on Wednesday night.

Jurong West Primary has places only for Singapore citizen children, while Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Primary) will admit Singapore citizen children residing within 1km of the school.

For the other oversubscribed schools, results of the ballot will be out next Monday.

Those whose applications are unsuccessful can register in Phase 2C Supplementary - starting Aug 19 - for a place in a school with vacancies.

Last year, 87 schools were oversubscribed in Phase 2C, with 81 then going to a ballot.

Phase 2C is the fifth of seven phases in the registration exercise and is for children with no ties to the schools.

It is considered the most competitive as it sees the most number of schools needing a ballot compared with earlier stages.

From this year, MOE has introduced a cap on the intake of permanent resident children in selected primary schools, which applies in Phase 2C and 2C Supplementary.

The cap is between 25 per cent and 30 per cent of a school's planned Primary 1 intake.

For this year, the cap will be applied in 10 schools: Bukit Timah Primary, Bukit View Primary, Changkat Primary, Greendale Primary, Marymount Convent, North Spring Primary, Opera Estate Primary, Pioneer Primary, Tanjong Katong Primary and Xingnan Primary.

Of these 10 schools, Bukit Timah Primary and Opera Estate Primary were oversubscribed in Phase 2C.

All Singapore citizen children have been admitted to both schools, with balloting conducted for PR children residing near the school.

With this, the two schools have reached the PR cap.

Tanjong Katong Primary was also oversubscribed but has not reached the PR intake limit.

The other seven schools were not oversubscribed in this phase.

Going forward, the ministry will review and publish yearly the list of schools that will have to reflect a cap on their intake of PR children.