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What primary schools are near my home, what are my real chances of getting into each one, and what should I actually do about Phase 2C in 2027?

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What this page found, in four lines

Singapore’s primary school rules just changed. To see what this actually means for our chances, I checked it against five years of MOE’s own ballot results.

  • The 20 extra places are not a gift to everyone. Schools must now set aside at least 60 Phase 2C places, up from 40 places, but that doesn’t mean every school adds 20 places. Based on 2026’s numbers, 115 of the 179 schools get no extra places at all: 88 because they already had more than 60 places, and 27 because they have fewer than 180 Primary 1 places, so the minimum they must set aside stays at 40 places.
  • Better odds. Still a ballot. In 2025, families within 1km had to ballot at 57 schools (the twelve two-track schools are not included in this number). Most of those schools get some extra places in 2027, so the odds improve. But based on 2025’s numbers, the extra places only help families within 1km skip the ballot at 10 of the 57 schools.
  • A 1km address buys a spot in the queue, not a place in the school. Living within 1km never guaranteed a place, even before the rules changed. At 38 schools (the twelve two-track schools are not included in this number), families within 1km had to ballot every year for the last five years.
  • The twelve two-track schools take from one group and give to another. Live within 2km of one of these twelve schools? Half the places you used to compete for are now set aside for families living more than 2km away. Live more than 2km away? Around 490 places across the twelve schools are set aside for you, based on 2026’s numbers. Just five are co-ed, so a boy has seven of the twelve schools to choose from and a girl has ten. You can register at only one school.

Put your postal code in below and it works all of this out for your address specifically, then suggests four different ways to play it.

The Property Geek studying a bar chart through a magnifying glass, with his corgi beside him and a primary school in the background
Why I built this

My daughter is three. She registers in three years, which means the rules being written now will shape the rules of the near future.

For years the strategy was straightforward: buy within 1km. It was obvious. Nobody needed a spreadsheet.

Then on 10 September 2026 MOE made two changes. Phase 2C now sets aside at least 60 places instead of 40 places at most schools. And at twelve schools, Phase 2C is divided in two: half the places go to families within 2km, half to everyone else. Inside each group, how close you live no longer matters.

Living within 1km still helps, but it’s no longer enough on its own. The best plan now depends on your address as well, not just the 1km line.

The four routes, and how I get to them

Phase 2C fills in a fixed order: citizens within 1km, then citizens 1–2km, then citizens beyond 2km, then permanent residents in the same three groups. When a group has more families than places left, it goes to a ballot. So the useful question about a school is where the places ran out, and whether that was before or after your turn.

Enter your address in the checker below. For every school within 2km, it looks at the most recent year (2026), the last three years (2024 to 2026) and all five years back to 2022. It shows whether families at your distance got in without a ballot, went to a ballot, or were too far away to get a place. It also lists schools 2 to 3km away, based on whether families living more than 2km away got a place there. It then suggests four ways to choose a school.

  1. Play it safe. Schools within 3km where families at your distance got a place without a ballot every year from 2024 to 2026.
  2. Aim high nearby. The most popular schools near you where families at your distance got a place in 2026. It also lists schools where they got a place or a ballot in 2024 or 2025 but not 2026, and schools 2 to 3km away where families living more than 2km away got a place or a ballot in at least one of the last three years.
  3. The nearest of the twelve. The closest two-track school more than 2km away, measured in a straight line. It doesn’t always have the most places.
  4. The best of the twelve. The two-track school with the most places for families living more than 2km away, based on 2026’s numbers.

Based on 2026’s numbers, schools get anywhere from 0 to 20 extra Phase 2C places. A school that already had more than 60 Phase 2C places gets no extra places. Smaller schools, with fewer than 180 Primary 1 places, also get no extra places, because they stay at 40 reserved Phase 2C places. Every other school gets between 2 and 20 extra Phase 2C places.

The real 2027 odds are likely a bit lower than shown. Families who miss out at Phase 2A can register again at Phase 2C, so some of the extra places will go to them. MOE doesn’t publish how many, so the page doesn’t guess.

Percentages come from 2024 and 2025, the only years MOE published how many families were in the balloted group. For two-track schools, they come from 2026. Where there isn’t enough published data, the page says so instead of estimating.

Most in demand means the most registrations for each Primary 1 place in 2026, counting Phases 1, 2A, 2B and 2C. For example, 1.30 means 13 registrations for every 10 places.

Type in where you live. It reads five years of MOE ballot results against your address and shows you where you stand at every school within 2km, plus the twelve two-track schools. From 2027, half their Phase 2C places go to families living more than 2km away.

Addresses are looked up through OneMap, the Singapore Land Authority's map service.

Questions people ask about this

The corgi in glasses, chin on paw, with question marks above its head

Does living within 1km guarantee a place at Phase 2C?

No. A 1km address puts you at the front of the Phase 2C queue, but it does not guarantee a place. Across 2022 to 2026, there were 38 schools (not counting the twelve two-track schools) where citizens living within 1km had to ballot every year. 2025 is the latest year MOE published how many of those families balloted and how many places they competed for. Based on 2025’s numbers, the extra places would help families within 1km skip the ballot at only 6 of the 38 schools. At the other 32 schools, families within 1km would still have to ballot.

What actually changes at Phase 2C in the 2027 registration exercise?

Two things. The number of places reserved for Phase 2C rises from 40 to 60 at schools with an intake of 180 or more, while smaller schools stay at 40. And at twelve schools, Phase 2C splits into two tracks of equal size, one for families within 2km and one for families beyond, and within each half, distance no longer decides who gets in. A school must now reserve at least 60 Phase 2C places, up from 40, but not every school gets 20 more. Based on 2026’s numbers, 115 of the 179 primary schools get no extra Phase 2C places: 88 already had more than 60, and 27 have fewer than 180 Primary 1 places, so the minimum they must set aside stays at 40 places.

What does the two-track scheme mean if I live nowhere near those twelve schools?

It sets aside places for you that didn’t exist before. Based on 2026’s numbers, around 490 Phase 2C places across the twelve schools are set aside for families living more than 2km away, anywhere in Singapore. Just five are co-ed, so a boy has seven of the twelve schools to choose from and a girl has ten. You can register at only one school. Citizens come before permanent residents, and how far away you live doesn’t matter. Nobody knows yet how many families will apply for these places. So instead of one percentage, the page shows how your chance changes depending on how many apply. If you live within 2km of one of the twelve, it works differently. Families within 1km no longer get priority over families 1 to 2km away. From 2027, both compete equally for the places set aside for families within 2km. Living 1 to 2km away is better at seven of the twelve schools: ACS (Junior), Methodist Girls’, Nanyang, Pei Hwa, Singapore Chinese Girls’, Tanjong Katong and Tao Nan. In 2026, every Phase 2C place at these seven went to children living within 1km, so nobody 1 to 2km away got a Phase 2C place there. From 2027, both distances have the same chance. At the other five (ACS (Primary), CHIJ (Katong), Ngee Ann, Raffles Girls’ and St Margaret’s), children 1 to 2km away already got a place or a ballot. Now they share the within-2km places with everyone closer, so it could be harder, unless the beyond-2km places aren’t all taken.

Before you act on any of this. This was built to gather the data in one place and lay it out in a way that actually makes sense to use. It is a starting point, not an answer. Do your own checks, and weigh the things that are not in here — the commute, an older sibling already in a school, whether the place suits your child at all. Distances are measured in a straight line to the school’s address, so anything sitting close to the 1km or 2km line is worth confirming for yourself. Every 2027 figure assumes families apply in the same numbers they did last year, which they will not. The numbers and the analysis here are refreshed every year once MOE publishes the new registration results, so check back when next year’s registration closes.