The draw of neighbourhood schools

The schools’ proximity and good programmes in areas such as leadership, the arts and Stem are among reasons pupils apply for a spot before their PSLE

- Jane Ng

Neighbourhood secondary schools are attracting more students via the Direct School Admission (DSA) exercise, with schools saying they have been seeing rising interest and an increase in application numbers.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) says that the proportion of DSA applications for the non-integrated programme (IP) track has gone up. Students in the non-IP track take the O-level examinations after four years, while those in the IP track bypass the O levels and take the A-level exams after six years.

In 2020, 50 per cent of the DSA applications were for the non-IP track, with around 35 per cent for IP and around 10 per cent for specialised independent schools.

In 2024, DSA applications for the non-IP track increased to around 60 per cent, with around 30 per cent for IP and around 10 per cent for specialised independent schools.

DSA has become more popular with changes made over the years, so that it is more accessible to pupils.

For instance, schools have expanded their DSA selection processes to recognise diverse strengths, and take into account potential, interest, character, resilience and drive.

MOE has also increased the number of DSA places to allow secondary schools to admit up to 20 per cent of their non-IP Secondary 1 intake via DSA since 2018.

With the changes, the scheme is now more accessible to pupils who may be eyeing a school near their home, or one that has a talent area they are interested in.

Parents see DSA as another way to get their child into a preferred secondary school.

For the 2024 DSA exercise for secondary schools, a record number of 16,000 pupils submitted a total of about 42,500 applications, with 4,600 students receiving confirmed offers.