Express, NA and NT Cut-off Points: How They Map to PG3, PG2 and PG1
Many parents still search for "Express cut-off points". That label is gone: from the 2024 Secondary 1 intake, the Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) streams were replaced by three Posting Groups based on the PSLE score.
Old names and new groups
| Old name | New group | PSLE score |
|---|---|---|
| Express | PG3 | AL 4–20 (21–22 may choose) |
| Normal (Academic), NA | PG2 | AL 21–25 (21–22 and 25 may choose) |
| Normal (Technical), NT | PG1 | AL 25–30 |
Exactly: AL 4–20 go to PG3; 21–22 choose PG3 or PG2; 23–24 go to PG2; 25 chooses PG2 or PG1; 26–30 go to PG1.
So "a school's Express cut-off" today means its PG3 cut-off. Every school page and score page lists PG3, PG2 and PG1 separately.
More than a rename
Under the old system, the stream set the level for every subject. The new system is Full Subject-Based Banding (Full SBB):
- students are no longer split into stream classes; mixed form classes share subjects such as Character and Citizenship Education, PE, Art and Music;
- English, Mother Tongue, Maths, Science and Humanities are taken at G1, G2 or G3 (G3 hardest), and each subject can differ;
- a strong PSLE subject can start at a higher level: for example, a PG2 student with AL 5 or better in a subject can take it at G3;
- subjects can move up later based on results.
The PSLE score calculator shows the Secondary 1 level of each subject.
The exam changed too
Express students used to sit the O-Level and Normal students the N-Level. Now all students sit the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) in Secondary 4, each subject at the level they take it.
When reading cut-offs
- Older data: cut-offs before 2024 were published by stream. They roughly map to PG3, PG2 and PG1 but are not the same thing, so weight the last two years more.
- IP has its own intake, separate from PG3; see IP schools.
To see which schools fit a score, open schools by score; for six choices ranked by distance, get a personalised report.