Primary 1 is not part of AEIS: how international students enter Primary 1

Primary 1 is not part of AEIS. MOE's AEIS overview describes the exercise as the route for international students seeking admission to Primary 2 to 5 and Secondary 1 to 3. A child entering Primary 1 uses a different process, the Primary One (P1) Registration Exercise.

The registration period

MOE's press release of 29 April 2026 calls the exercise for admission to Primary 1 in January 2027 the 2026 Primary One Registration Exercise. Its registration period runs from Tuesday, 30 June 2026 to Friday, 30 October 2026.

Where international students come in

International students register in Phase 3 of the exercise. Phase 3 comes after places have been allocated to all Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident children in the earlier phases. MOE adds that admission at Phase 3 is not guaranteed, because there may be limited vacancies after places are allocated to citizens and permanent residents.

A form comes first

An international student who wants to take part in Phase 3 goes through two steps.

1. Submit an online "indication of interest" form between 9.00am on Tuesday, 19 May 2026 and 4.30pm on Monday, 25 May 2026. MOE says that families who do not do this by 25 May 2026 will not be able to register during Phase 3.
2. Wait for MOE's email. MOE says it will notify families who indicated interest, by October 2026, on whether their child can be offered a P1 place in a primary school. If a place is offered, the parent is told how to register with the designated school.

The form window closed on 25 May 2026, before the registration period opened on 30 June 2026.

How this relates to AEIS

Primary 2 is the lowest level MOE lists for AEIS. A child seeking a place at Primary 2 to 5 applies to take the AEIS Mathematics test, and a Primary applicant must first take a Cambridge English Qualifications test and meet the required score before applying. Our guide pages cover that route.

What we could not confirm

• The dates and the form window for the next P1 Registration Exercise, the one that follows the 2026 exercise. We found no announcement of them.
• How many Phase 3 places each school has. MOE says it publishes vacancy information for the exercise, but we did not read those tables.
• Whether the international-student route changes after MOE's review of the P1 Registration Framework. In April, MOE said it was reviewing the framework and would announce details when ready.