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Tuesday (Nov 25) was a big day for Primary Six students across Singapore, as thousands collected their PSLE results.<\/p>\n
While most students were relieved to move on to secondary school, parents felt the nerves just as keenly \u2014 the sleepless nights, the anticipation, and the pressure of their children’s futures.<\/p>\n
This year, 37,926 Primary 6 students sat for the exam, and 98.5 per cent of them qualified for secondary school, according to a joint press release from the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB)<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n But for many families, the results weren’t just numbers \u2014 they reflected months of worry and emotional ups and downs.<\/p>\n Social media showed just how real the pressure is for parents. Influencer and social worker @runnerkao posted on Instagram on Nov 25 about his wife’s “PSLE nerves” \u2014 unable to sleep before results day and breaking down afterward.<\/p>\n Influencers Alex Lee and Bonita Ma, who run @familee.sg, also shared a video of their eldest son, Daken Lee, collecting his PSLE results. Daken was “disappointed by” his score, prompting his father to carefully consider his next steps.<\/p>\n Lawyer Walter Silvester, 49, told Stomp he stayed calm before his daughter’s results, but the relief “was really for her” when she saw her score, as she could look forward to her next steps without “unnecessary worry”.<\/p>\n For content creator Ana Zeya, 39, the days leading up to results were filled with anxiety. Her daughter had struggled during preliminary examinations, and the tension in the household was palpable. “When she shaved off 7 points, we were elated,” she said.<\/p>\n Investor relations professional Roger Ng, in his mid-40s, said the stress only peaked when he saw his son tense up. “My first instinct wasn’t about the number \u2014 it was relief that he could see his hard work reflected,” he said.<\/p>\n In Singapore, there’s no bigger milestone for a 12-year-old than PSLE.<\/p>\n First introduced in 1960, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has modified the PSLE over the years<\/a><\/span> to address concerns about the competitive nature of the education system and reduce student stress.<\/p>\n In 2012, the practice of naming top PSLE scorers was discontinued<\/a><\/span>. One year later, reporting each cohort’s highest and lowest aggregate scores in the result slips was also scrapped.<\/p>\n The recent change was the revamp of the PSLE scoring system.<\/p>\n Since 2021, students have been scored by Achievement Levels (AL), which reflect their performance relative to curriculum learning objectives<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Scores now range from 4 to 32, with 4 being the best.<\/p>\nParents feel their children’s anxiety\u2026and their relief<\/h3>\n
A history of PSLE reforms<\/h3>\n