Foundation subjects are graded AL A, B and C, mapping to AL6, 7 and 8 in the PSLE score, and the papers are built to let a struggling student show what they know.
By Marcus Toh · 2026-06-06
Per MOE's scoring pages, Foundation subjects are graded in three bands: AL A at 75 to 100%, AL B at 30 to 74%, and AL C below 30%, which map to AL6, AL7 and AL8 respectively when the four subject PSLE score is added up. So a Foundation subject contributes to the same 4 to 32 score as everyone else's, explained in our AL system guide, and the student remains fully inside the S1 posting system.
| Subject | Foundation format | Standard equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| English | Four papers totalling 100 marks: writing at least 120 words from pictures, oral of 8 plus 12 marks | Four papers totalling 200 marks |
| Mathematics | 42 questions, 80 marks, 1 h 45 min total, same calculator rules (none in Paper 1, allowed in Paper 2) | 45 questions, 100 marks, 2 h 30 min |
| Science | One paper of 1 h 15 min on 29 September | One paper of 1 h 45 min |
Read the design intent: shorter papers, more scaffolded items, the same fundamental skills. Foundation English still has situational writing, comprehension and an oral with a conversation; Foundation Maths still awards 1 mark for correct method on 2 mark questions when the answer is wrong. The track tests the same abilities at a pace that lets a struggling learner show them, and the papers run on the same exam days as everyone else's.
Under Full Subject-Based Banding there are no streams to be posted into: the PSLE score maps to a Posting Group, and a student who took Foundation subjects starts those subjects at the matching G level with room to move up, subject by subject, as performance shows, the full mechanics are here.
I have sat in enough living rooms to know the word Foundation lands like a diagnosis, and I want to push back with what I have actually seen: the right level is the one where your child can succeed daily, and a P5 drowning in Standard Maths learns less each week than the same child working confidently through Foundation Maths. Struggle without progress is not rigour, it is discouragement on a schedule.
And the system has quietly removed the old penalty for choosing well. Foundation grades feed the same PSLE score, Full SBB means secondary school levels are set subject by subject with real upward movement, and an AL A is an achievement a child can feel. So make the level decision with the school on evidence, not on pride, and then let your child experience being good at Maths again. Confidence, once rebuilt, moves levels. Shame never does.
The school, in consultation with parents, based on the child's performance in the upper primary years, and the decision is per subject, so a child can take Foundation Maths while staying on Standard English, which is precisely the point of subject level banding.
Yes. The SEAB format gives Foundation English four papers like the Standard subject: writing at 25%, language use and comprehension at 40%, listening at 15% with 15 MCQs, and an oral at 20% with reading aloud and a stimulus based conversation.
The Secondary 1 HMT gate runs on Mother Tongue performance, AL1 or AL2 in Standard MT or Distinction or Merit in HMT, per the 2026 change, so a student's Foundation subjects in other areas do not by themselves close that door.