Direct School Admission

What is DSA-Sec?

DSA-Sec aims to promote holistic education and provides Primary 6 (P6) students an opportunity to seek admission to a secondary school based on a diverse range of talents and achievements that may not be demonstrated at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). P6 students can apply for DSA-Sec based on a wide-range of talents, including:

Sports and games
Visual, literary and performing arts
Debate and public speaking
Science, mathematics and engineering
Languages and humanities
Uniformed groups
Leadership (for example, prefects)

Each participating secondary school offers distinctive programmes and sets its own selection process and criteria to admit students with talents that can be further developed by these programmes.

Should my child apply for DSA-Sec?

Your child may consider applying for DSA-Sec if they are able to identify a secondary school that offers a talent development programme in their area of strength. If not, they may continue to participate in the S1 Posting Exercise in November and be admitted to a secondary school based on their PSLE score.

If your child is successfully allocated to a school through DSA-Sec, he/she will not participate in the Secondary 1 (S1) Posting. As he/she has committed to the school, he/she will also not be able to seek a transfer to another school after the release of the PSLE results.

Which school should my child apply to?

Finding a good fit will help your child enjoy learning at an appropriate pace, and enable him/her to benefit from the school’s overall programmes. When selecting a DSA-Sec school, consider the following:

Schools with talent areas that match your child’s strengths and interests
Pace of learning
Range of programmes offered by the school

For more details, please refer to https://www.moe.gov.sg/secondary/dsa