Schools & P1 registration

Buying a home near a primary school

Many of my clients move so their child can register for Primary 1 as a near-school resident. Here is how P1 registration works, what MOE requires before you can use a new home's address, and a page for every primary school in Singapore: its P1 balloting since 2019, CCAs and contact details.

Find a school

Not sure which school? Tell me where you'd like to live and your budget. I'll check the schools within 1 km and 2 km, their recent balloting, and when you'd need to move in. WhatsApp me

On my YouTube channel

MOE just killed the 1 km school premium. Is your property still worth it?

My take on MOE's P1 changes and what they mean if you own, or are about to buy, a home near a popular primary school.

Who registers when

Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident children register online from June to August, in the phase they qualify for. You can register in only one phase at a time and for one school. If you don't get a place, you try again in the next phase you qualify for.

Phase	For a child who…	Good to know
Phase 1	has a brother or sister studying at the school.	Everyone eligible gets a place.
Phase 2A	has a parent or sibling who studied at the school; or a parent on the school's advisory or management committee, or on its staff; or is in the MOE Kindergarten at the school.	Can be balloted at popular schools.
Phase 2B	has a parent who has volunteered at the school (joined by 1 July the year before, at least 40 hours by 30 June); or a parent endorsed by a church or clan connected with the school; or a parent endorsed as an active grassroots leader.	20 places reserved. Grassroots leaders can only apply to schools within 2 km of home, and the 30-month stay applies.
Phase 2C	is not yet registered in a primary school. Open to everyone.	40 places reserved (60 from 2027). In this phase, where you live decides your priority.
Phase 2C Supplementary	still has no place after Phase 2C.	For schools with places left. A child still without a place is posted to a school with vacancies.

International students register later, in Phase 3. A cap on Permanent Resident intake applies in Phases 2C and 2C Supplementary at a few schools.

Balloting

When a school has more applicants than places

Balloting can happen in any phase from 2A onwards. Places then go in this order, and the ballot only happens within the first group that can't all be admitted:

Singapore Citizens living within 1 km of the school
Singapore Citizens living 1 to 2 km away
Singapore Citizens living more than 2 km away
Permanent Residents within 1 km, then 1 to 2 km, then more than 2 km

So at a school where the ballot is "among citizens within 1 km", nobody further away got a place in that phase.

How places are shared

Reserved places

At the start of registration, MOE sets aside 20 places for Phase 2B and 40 for Phase 2C in every school. Of any places left after Phase 2A, one third go to Phase 2B and two thirds to Phase 2C. Places left after Phase 2B go to Phase 2C.

How distance is measured

From any point on the school's boundary to the building outline of your home, on OneMap. The category can change from year to year (new building plans, school boundary changes), so check onemap.gov.sg/school in your child's registration year.

From the 2027 exercise

What changes for children starting P1 in 2028

60 places reserved for Phase 2C

Up from 40, at every school with a P1 intake of 180 or more. The extra places come from the earlier phases. Phase 2B keeps its 20.

A Two-Track Scheme at 12 schools

At schools where public housing is less than 40% of homes within 2 km, Phase 2C places are split equally between children living within 2 km and those living further away, with no distance priority within each track. Citizens still come before Permanent Residents.

The 12 schools: Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), CHIJ (Katong) Primary, Methodist Girls' School (Primary), Nanyang Primary, Ngee Ann Primary, Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary, Raffles Girls' Primary, Singapore Chinese Girls' Primary, St. Margaret's School (Primary), Tanjong Katong Primary and Tao Nan School. MOE will review the list from time to time.

For these 12 schools, buying within 1 km no longer puts you ahead of someone at 1.9 km in Phase 2C. Worth knowing before paying a premium for a home right next to one of them.

Using a new home's address

Rules for a new launch or a resale home

The address used is normally the parents' NRIC address. MOE also accepts a home you've bought but not yet moved into.

A new launch (not yet completed)

The vacant possession date in your sale and purchase agreement must be within two years of your child starting P1. The probable completion date isn't accepted.
You undertake to move in within that time, and send the school a copy of the sale and purchase agreement (or HDB's Agreement for Lease) during the phase.
If the address gets your child priority, you must live there for at least 30 months from the day you move in.

A completed home (resale)

You can register while buying: send the exercised option to purchase and the buyer's stamp duty certificate (or, for an HDB flat, the resale application status).
You undertake to live there from the start of your child's P1 term.
You must then live there for at least 30 months from the start of P1.

Which registration year can use a new launch address?

P1 registration	Child born	Starts P1	Vacant possession by
2027	2 Jan 2021 – 1 Jan 2022	January 2028	31 Dec 2029
2028	2 Jan 2022 – 1 Jan 2023	January 2029	31 Dec 2030
2029	2 Jan 2023 – 1 Jan 2024	January 2030	31 Dec 2031
2030	2 Jan 2024 – 1 Jan 2025	January 2031	31 Dec 2032

Worked out from MOE's example for the 2026 exercise (children born 2 Jan 2020 – 1 Jan 2021, vacant possession no later than 31 December 2028).

Before you buy for a school

Check the distance category of the exact block on OneMap, not just the condo's name: in a large estate, some blocks can fall in a different band.
Look at who balloted recently. If a school balloted among citizens within 1 km, living 1 to 2 km away won't help in Phase 2C.
Line up the dates. For a new launch, the vacant possession date decides which child can use it. For a resale, you need to have moved in by the start of P1.
Plan for the 30 months. Selling or renting out the home and moving away within that time can lead MOE to transfer your child.
Have a second choice within 1 km of the same home, in case the ballot doesn't go your way.

MOE takes a serious view of addresses used only for P1 registration, and it is an offence to give false information. Rules as at October 2026 from moe.gov.sg; they can change, so check them in your registration year. This page is general information, not advice on your child's eligibility.

Find your school's P1 data What can I afford?