P1 registration from 2027: 60 places in Phase 2C, and a two-track ballot at 12 schools
If your child starts Primary 1 in 2028, you register in the 2027 exercise, and two rules change. Kiasu parents, read on.
What changes
1. More places in Phase 2C. Phase 2C is open to every child, with or without links to the school. Its reserved places go from 40 to 60 at all schools except smaller ones (fewer than 180 P1 places). Phase 2B stays at 20 reserved places. The extra places come out of the earlier phases.
2. A two-track Phase 2C at 12 schools. At these schools, Phase 2C places are split equally into two tracks:
- Phase 2C (≤2km) for children living within 2 km of the school
- Phase 2C (>2km) for children living further away
Within each track there is no distance priority: if a track has more Singapore Citizen applicants than places, there is a ballot. Places left over in one track go to citizen applicants in the other track. Citizens are still admitted before PRs.
Which schools use two tracks
Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), CHIJ (Katong) Primary, Methodist Girls’ School (Primary), Nanyang Primary School, Ngee Ann Primary School, Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School, Raffles Girls’ Primary School, Singapore Chinese Girls’ Primary School, St. Margaret’s School (Primary), Tanjong Katong Primary School and Tao Nan School.
These are schools where public housing makes up less than 40% of homes within 2 km. Each one is tagged on its page in our school finder.
A worked example (from MOE)
A two-track school has 60 Phase 2C places: 30 per track. There are 65 citizen applicants, 40 living within 2 km and 25 beyond.
| Track | Places | Citizen applicants | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond 2 km | 30 | 25 | All 25 get a place; 5 places move to the other track |
| Within 2 km | 30 + 5 = 35 | 40 | Ballot for 35 places |
What it means for you
- Living within 1 km no longer puts you ahead in Phase 2C at these 12 schools; within 2 km is one track, beyond 2 km is the other.
- At every other school, distance still decides who goes first when Phase 2C is oversubscribed, but there are now 60 reserved places.