For parents who are worried if your child will get into the school of your preference due their ineligibility for registration in the earlier phases, you may be wondering - how does Balloting registration work for primary schools?
Balloting registration only applies from Phase 2A (1) of the Primary One Registration Exercise onwards. For more information on the respective phases, do refer to our previous post on the 5 factors affecting your child's Primary School Admission or the MOE website.
Balloting is only held when the demand of the primary school Vacancies is higher than the supply of places available.
Similar to the normal application exercise, the child’s nationality is an important consideration when it comes to balloting. Children who are registered Singapore Citizens (SCs) will have priority over Singapore Permanent Residents (PRs) during the balloting. SCs will be given the spots if there is a greater number of applications compared to the number of vacancies available.
The second point of consideration in balloting is the proximity between the child’s registered place of residence and the school.
In the case of balloting for those who registered under Phase 2A (1) to Phase 2C Supplementary, here are some examples to illustrate the above:
Scenario 1: Number of Singapore Citizens’ applications exceeds vacancies available in school
School has 40 vacancies available but there are 59 applications based on the information below.
For scenario 1, there are more Singapore Citizens applications as compared to the vacancies available. In this case, those who stay less than 1km and between 1 to 2km will be given the vacancies first, and the remaining 28 SC applicants who reside more than 2km away will have to go through balloting. The Permanent Residents will not be given a chance in the balloting in this case.
Scenario 2: Number of Singapore Citizens’ applications do not exceed the vacancies available in school
School has 40 vacancies available but there are 46 applications based on the information below.
For scenario 2, there are lesser Singapore Citizens applications compared to the vacancies available. In this case, all Singapore Citizens will be granted admission. For the Permanent Residents, only the 6 applicants who stay less than 1km away will be given the opportunity for balloting.
As for applicants who registered under Phase 3, it will be subjected to the availability from the earlier phases.
MOE has posted some FAQs for parents to refer to with regards to balloting and the other questions revolving around the Primary One Registration Exercise. Also, do refer to the MOE website for the most updated information on the balloting exercise for the year.
