In general, public education in Singapore operates on a 6-4-2 basis where students go through six years of primary education, four years of secondary education (Express stream) and two years of pre-university education in a junior college before embarking on a degree programme in the university.  Foreign students who wish to pursue education in a Singapore public school are allowed to join the primary schools from Primary 1 to 5 levels and the secondary schools from Secondary 1 to 3 levels.

At the end of Primary 6, students will sit for the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE). Based on the PSLE results, students will be offered to pursue secondary education under the 4-year Express or 5-year Normal stream.

Graduating secondary school students will sit sit for the GCE ‘O’ Level Examinations jointly held by the Singapore Ministry of Education and the University of Cambridge’s Local Examinations Syndicate.