MOE is discontinuing the Gifted Education Programme in its current form and replacing it with school-based provisions and after-school advanced modules.
By Marcus Toh · 2026-07-12
On 3 March 2026, at the Committee of Supply debate, MOE said it will discontinue the Gifted Education Programme in its current form. In its place comes a broader approach to supporting students with academic strengths and talents. The stated aim is to reach more children rather than a small fixed group.
The headline shift is on reach. MOE will broaden access to school-based programmes so that around 10% of the cohort can benefit, up from around 7% today. That is a meaningful widening of the door, and it is the number most parents will care about.
Rather than a single programme, the refreshed model widens support on two fronts at once. Inside a child's own school, expanded school-based provisions now reach a wider slice of the cohort, so more children get stretched without having to go anywhere, and for those who are ready to push further in a particular subject there are centre-based advanced modules that run after school at the designated centres.
Under the new structure, 15 primary schools across Singapore serve as designated centres to conduct these modules. Because they run after school, a child no longer has to transfer out of their own primary school to take part. Two of the named centres are Palm View Primary and Yew Tee Primary.
MOE picked the centres for island-wide spread and public-transport access, so most families should find one within a reasonable ride. Here are the 15 schools and the MRT station each sits nearest to, as mapped by CNA.
| Designated centre | Nearest MRT |
|---|---|
| Ahmad Ibrahim Primary | Yishun |
| Innova Primary | Woodlands South |
| Yew Tee Primary | Yew Tee |
| Punggol View Primary | Punggol |
| Teck Ghee Primary | Ang Mo Kio |
| Palm View Primary | Buangkok |
| Pioneer Primary | Tengah Park |
| Jurong West Primary | Pioneer |
| Kheng Cheng | Braddell |
| St. Gabriel's Primary | Lorong Chuan |
| Tampines Primary | Tampines |
| Clementi Primary | Clementi |
| Queenstown Primary | Queenstown |
| Geylang Methodist (Primary) | Aljunied |
| Yu Neng Primary | Bedok Reservoir |
Identification also changes. Primary 3 students in 2026 are the first batch to go through the refreshed process, described by MOE as a standardised one-stage identification exercise. That first exercise takes place in August 2026, with the new provisions and modules kicking in from 2027.
| Feature | Current GEP | From 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Who benefits | Around 7% of the cohort | Around 10% of the cohort |
| Where learning happens | Transfer to one of the GEP primary schools | Stay in your own school, plus after-school modules at 15 designated centres |
| Identification | Two-stage screening and selection | Standardised one-stage exercise for Primary 3 |
| First batch | Existing cohort | Primary 3 in 2026, identified in August 2026 |
For a long time the word gifted carried more weight than any nine-year-old should have to hold. So the change I keep coming back to here is quiet but real, your child can now stretch in advanced modules without leaving the school and the friends they already know.
Widening the reach from 7% to 10% matters too, because it treats being strong at something as a door more children can walk through, rather than a label kept for a chosen few. That feels a lot closer to how ability actually shows up in a classroom.
So what I would tell P2 and P3 parents is simple. Do not read the August 2026 exercise as the verdict on your child. One test on one morning sees only a sliver of who they are, and the part that matters most is still the everyday curiosity you nurture at home, long after any result is filed away.