The marking exercise runs from 12 to 14 October 2026, with results tentatively out by 25 November. Here's the full timeline, and why the wait is worth spending calmly.
By Marcus Toh · Published
The written papers ran from Thursday, 24 September to Wednesday, 30 September 2026, covering English, Mathematics, the Mother Tongue languages and Science, alongside their Foundation levels. Markers at SEAB are now working through every script during the official marking exercise, which runs from Monday, 12 October to Wednesday, 14 October 2026.
| Stage | Date(s) in 2026 | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Oral Examination | 12 to 13 August | English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil Language, plus their Foundation levels and other Mother Tongue languages |
| Listening Comprehension | 15 September | Chinese, Malay, Tamil and other Mother Tongue languages, and English Language |
| Written Examination | 24 to 30 September | English, Mathematics, Mother Tongue Language papers, Science and Higher Mother Tongue Language |
| Marking Exercise | 12 to 14 October | SEAB markers score every paper submitted across all subjects |
| Results Release (tentative) | 24 to 25 November | Results issued to schools and candidates, alongside DSA-Sec allocation outcomes where applicable |
If your child applied through Direct School Admission for Secondary Schools (DSA-Sec), MOE confirms the school allocation result arrives together with the PSLE result itself. Families who did not go through DSA-Sec instead move into the S1 posting process once results are out, choosing secondary schools based on the score.
There is no PSLE specific homework left for this stretch, since the exam itself is over and the marking happens entirely inside SEAB. Many families use the quiet weeks to start planning ahead for Secondary 1, including browsing secondary tuition centres, rather than waiting for the results to decide.
The hardest part of the PSLE is already over, and the wait is not a second exam. I know that is hard to believe when the house still feels like it is holding its breath, because the written papers ran from 24 September to 30 September, English, Mathematics, Mother Tongue and Science all behind them, and the result does not land until 24 November, so the instinct is to fill that gap with something, anything, that feels like effort.
But there is genuinely nothing left to do, and I mean that as relief rather than helplessness. The marking exercise runs inside SEAB from 12 October to 14 October, sealed off from every anxious conversation at the dinner table, and in three years of tutoring the families who come through this stretch best are the ones who stop treating it as preparation and start treating it as rest.
So use the quiet for the things the exam crowded out, let them sleep in, let them read something nobody is going to mark, and if you want to look ahead to Secondary 1 then look calmly rather than urgently. And decide now, while no number is attached to anyone yet, how your family will talk on results day, because your child already did their part in September. The rest is yours to keep gentle.
The GIRO deduction for PSLE exam fees was scheduled for Tuesday, 19 May 2026, according to MOE's official academic calendar, well before the papers themselves were sat.
Term 4 for primary and secondary schools runs from Monday, 14 September to Friday, 20 November 2026, so P6 students are still inside a normal school term, not a special break, while SEAB carries out the marking exercise.
MOE's calendar lists the marking exercise itself under national exam dates rather than school holidays, and the published calendar does not set out any extra day off for other primary levels during that window. The next listed holiday for primary schools is Children's Day on Friday, 2 October 2026, which falls just before the marking exercise begins.