MOE gives details on new PSLE scoring system

With full subject-based banding (SBB) to kick in by 2024, students will now be given a suite of subjects matched to their ability when they enter Secondary 1.

The first batch of students - the current Primary 2 cohort - will enter this new system with the new Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scoring system, which will start from 2021.

In the new PSLE scoring system, each subject will be scored using eight bands known as Achievement Levels (AL), with AL1 being the best score and AL8 being the lowest score.

The total PSLE score will be a sum of the scores for the four subjects, and the range of possible scores will be from 4 to 32.

Come 2024, pupils will be posted to secondary schools across three scoring bands and given a suite of subjects that would correspond to their PSLE score.

DETAILS

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Responding to media queries, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has come up with more details on each scoring band.

Those who score between AL26 and AL30 will be offered the G1 suite of subjects, and those who score between AL4 and AL20 will be offered the highest G3 suite, said MOE.

Those who score AL25 can choose between G1 or G2 subjects, and those who score AL21 or AL22 can choose between G2 and G3.

G1 would generally correspond to the Normal (Technical) level and G3 to the Express stream.

Although the subjects that students take will predominantly belong to the suite they are assigned to, they can also take subjects at higher levels if they did well in their PSLE or their year-end examinations.

In case a student is unable to cope with the academic rigour, the school will advise parents accordingly and the decision to continue with that level or to drop to a lower one will be made by the parents and the student.

Said MOE: "Unlike the current approach where the course that a student is posted to in Sec 1 determines the bulk of his subject offerings throughout his secondary education, full SBB will allow students to progressively take subjects at more demanding levels over the course of their secondary school years, as they discover their strengths and interests, and take on a combination of subjects across different levels over time."