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Singapore's Most Selective Secondary Schools — 2026
2026 Admission Guide · PSLE Achievement Level System · by Arie per 21 July 2026
Singapore's Most Selective Secondary Schools
The 15 hardest schools to enter at Secondary 1 — the five Top Elite and nine Elite
schools ranked by 2026 PSLE cut-off point (COP), plus the specialised STEM school
(NUS High) that admits solely by talent selection.
PSLE scores run from 4 (best) to 32 — the lower the COP, the harder the school is to get into.
Where they are
School locations geocoded from OneMap (Singapore Land Authority). District boundaries are approximate (drawn around district centres) and shown for orientation only. Note the cluster along the Bukit Timah corridor (D10/D11/D21) and in Bishan (D20).
Specialised (DSA-only, no COP)
Top Elite (COP ≤ 6)
Elite (COP 7–8)
1 NUS High School (Clementi)
2 Hwa Chong Institution
3 Methodist Girls' School
4 Nanyang Girls' High
5 Raffles Girls' School
6 Raffles Institution
7 ACS (Independent)
8 Catholic High School
9 CHIJ St Nicholas Girls'
10 Singapore Chinese Girls'
11 St Joseph's Institution
12 Dunman High School
13 National Junior College
14 Temasek Junior College
15 Victoria School
Specialised
Talent Admission Only — No Cut-Off Point
100% of intake via DSA selection
NUS High skips the S1 posting exercise entirely. Entry is by selection tests, camps and interviews —
applicants must still score within the G3 band (4–22) at PSLE. Its peer profile matches RI/HCI in math & science.
1
NUS High School of Math & Science
Clementi (D5) · 6-yr NUS High Diploma → university
DSA only · selection tests + campCo-EdTop-elite equivalent
Tier 1
Top Elite
COP ≤ 6 · all Integrated Programme (skip O-levels)
The "Big Five." A near-perfect PSLE score is required — and at Hwa Chong and Nanyang Girls',
even a 6 needs Higher Chinese at Merit to clear the tie-break.
2
Hwa Chong Institution
Bukit Timah · IP · SAP
COP 6 (M)BoysHCL Merit req.
3
Methodist Girls' School
Bukit Timah · IP
COP 6GirlsAffil. G3: 17
4
Nanyang Girls' High School
Bukit Timah · IP · SAP
COP 6 (M)GirlsAffil. 8 (M)
5
Raffles Girls' School
Toa Payoh · IP
COP 6Girls
6
Raffles Institution
Bishan · IP
COP 6Boys
Tier 2
Elite
COP 7–8 · all Integrated Programme
Single-digit scores still required. Affiliation helps substantially at the mission schools
(e.g. SJI drops from 7 to 12 for boys from SJI Junior / St Michael's).