PSLE scoring revamp: T-score replaced by eight wider grade bands in 2021
By Amelia Tang The Straits Times July 13, 2016
Eight scoring bands known as Achievement levels (ALs) will replace the current Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) T-score system, the Education Ministry announced on Wednesday (July 13) as it revealed details on its revamp of the national examination and Secondary 1 posting.
The changes take effect in 2021, which means they will involve those who started Primary 1 this year.
This is how it will work: Pupils will be placed into eight ALs for each subject.
Those who get 90 marks and above for a subject will earn an AL1; 85 to 89 earns an AL2, a score of 80 to 84 is AL3 and so on.
The bands get wider at the bottom - AL5 is a score of 65 to 74, for instance.
The ALs are then added to form the PSLE score, which will be used for Secondary 1 posting.
Four AL1s in all four PSLE subjects - English, Mother Tongue, mathematics and science - will translate to a score of 4.
The lowest score a pupil can get is 32.
The changes also mean that a pupil's score will also no longer depend on how they do relative to each other, as it is now.
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