Direct School Admission (DSA)

Information on Direct School Admission for secondary schools (DSA-Sec)

Introduced in 2004, the Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme provides students with the opportunity to seek admission to a secondary school, based on a diverse range of specific academic and non-academic achievements and talents that they can demonstrate beyond the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). Primary 6 students who do not participate in the DSA-Sec Exercise will continue to seek admission based on their PSLE results through the Secondary 1 (S1) Posting Exercise.

Students and their parents are encouraged to consider schools that would be a good fit for the student’s overall learning needs. This includes choosing schools based on the student’s aptitudes and strengths, bearing in mind the school’s academic and non-academic requirements, ethos and culture, and the programmes available to develop the area of talent. Those who are not sure or not ready to participate in the DSA-Sec scheme should enter a secondary school through the S1 Posting Exercise based on the PSLE AL scores instead.

Students successfully allocated to their DSA-Sec schools will NOT be allowed to participate in the S1 Posting Exercise to opt for secondary schools, and are expected to honour the commitment to the allocated DSA-Sec school for the entire duration of the programme to develop their talents. They will also NOT be allowed to transfer to another school after the release of the PSLE results.

P6 students and parents are advised to: 

1. Visit the MOE DSA website from May 2022 for information on the 2022 DSA-Sec application process and timeline (https://www.moe.gov.sg/secondary/dsa). 
2. Visit secondary schools’ websites from May 2022 for information on their DSA talent areas, selection timeline and criteria. 
3. Look out for the press release regarding the commencement of the DSA-Sec application in May 2022.