If your child is currently in Primary 2 or 3, you have probably been hearing a lot of conflicting information about the Gifted Education Programme. Some parents are saying the GEP is being scrapped entirely. Others insist their child still needs to sit a test in August. The truth sits somewhere in between, and understanding what is actually happening in 2026 could make a significant difference to how you support your child over the next few months.

Singapore’s GEP, which has operated in its familiar form since 1984, is undergoing its most fundamental transformation in four decades. The two-stage screening-and-selection process that generations of Singaporean families prepared anxiously for is being replaced by a new, single-stage identification exercise, with the very first cohort sitting it in August 2026. At the same time, the nine dedicated GEP schools are being phased out in favour of 15 Advanced Module centres spread across the island, each designed to stretch high-ability learners without uprooting them from their home schools.

This guide breaks down exactly what the new selection format looks like, what the August 2026 identification exercise will test, how practice papers fit into a holistic preparation approach, and what parents of high-ability P3 students need to do right now. If you are looking for enrichment support closer to home, Skoolopedia’s enrichment directory can help you find suitable programmes near your MRT station.

What Is Changing About the GEP in 2026?

The announcement that Singapore’s Gifted Education Programme would be discontinued in its current form came during Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s National Day Rally in August 2024, and MOE confirmed the operational details in March 2026. In short, the GEP as most parents know it — a small, elite programme serving roughly 400 to 500 students across nine designated schools — is being replaced by a broader, more distributed model that aims to serve significantly more learners without requiring any school transfer.

Under the outgoing GEP, students who were identified at Primary 3 transferred to one of nine schools — including Raffles Girls’ Primary, Nanyang Primary, and Tao Nan — to follow an enriched curriculum from P4 to P6. The new approach flips this model entirely. Children remain at their neighbourhood primary schools and attend optional Advanced Modules at one of 15 designated centres after school hours or during holiday periods. MOE expects the number of eligible students to at least double under the new system, because identification now targets domain-specific strengths rather than requiring a student to excel across every tested area simultaneously.

The key dates to keep in mind are straightforward. The final intake of P4 students into the old GEP schools takes place in 2026, meaning the last GEP cohort will complete the programme in 2028. From 2027, all newly identified students enter the Advanced Modules system. The transitional year is 2026, which is why the first identification exercise under the new format is scheduled for August 2026, making it directly relevant to every family with a P3 child this year.

The New Single-Stage Identification Format Explained

The most immediately practical change for parents is the replacement of the old two-stage process with a single-stage identification exercise. Previously, all P3 students sat a broad Screening Exercise in August, and those who performed well were invited back for a two-day Selection Test in October covering English, Mathematics, and General Ability. That October test has been eliminated. In 2026, there is only one exercise, held in August, and it will serve as the sole standardised component of identification.

Importantly, this single-stage exercise is not the only factor considered. Schools have been given MOE-provided guidelines and checklists to gather additional school-based evidence, including teacher observations of a student’s attitude towards learning, classroom participation, and overall potential. This means a child’s daily behaviour in school now carries genuine weight in the identification process, not just their performance on a single test day.

The philosophical intent behind this redesign is also worth understanding, because it directly affects how you should prepare. The old process rewarded students who could perform across multiple domains simultaneously, which inevitably disadvantaged children who were exceptionally strong in one area but more average in another. A student with brilliant mathematical reasoning but middling English scores, for example, would have struggled under the old system. The new approach is designed to identify subject-specific aptitude, which means a child can be identified for Maths enrichment independently of their English ability, and vice versa.

What the 2026 Identification Exercise Actually Tests

The new August exercise assesses aptitude in English and Mathematics rather than mastery of the school syllabus. This is an important distinction. The test is not designed to reward students who have memorised more content or been drilled more intensively. It is designed to measure thinking ability, problem-solving capacity, and intellectual potential — the kind of reasoning that cannot easily be crammed for in the weeks before the exam.

For the English component, the exercise evaluates language aptitude through tasks that have historically included vocabulary in context, comprehension of challenging texts, cloze passages, and inferential reasoning. Parents who have spoken to children who sat the old GEP screening often describe the English questions as being pitched at a level well beyond what P3 students encounter in regular school, sometimes compared to lower secondary standard. The core skill being measured is not recall of vocabulary lists but the ability to derive meaning from complex language and draw inferences from nuanced text.

For the Mathematics component, the exercise focuses on problem-solving and mathematical reasoning rather than computation speed. Students can expect questions that require multi-step thinking, pattern recognition, and the application of logical reasoning to novel problems. The maths tested draws on concepts within the P3 syllabus, but the way questions are framed demands creative problem-solving rather than routine application of learned procedures. Some questions resemble the kinds of challenges found in Math Olympiad preparation, particularly those involving number patterns, spatial reasoning, and logical deduction.

One practical implication of this aptitude-focused design is that rushing through assessment books tied directly to the MOE P3 syllabus is unlikely to be the most effective preparation strategy. The questions are deliberately constructed to go beyond what standard school preparation covers, testing how a student thinks rather than what they have been taught.

The 15 Advanced Module Centres: Who They Are and Where

One of the most visible and welcomed aspects of the new system is the geographic redistribution of gifted education provision. The original nine GEP schools were concentrated in central and southern Singapore, meaning families in newer towns such as Punggol, Tengah, and Jurong West faced long daily commutes if their child was selected. MOE has explicitly addressed this by selecting the 15 Advanced Module centres with public transport accessibility as a primary criterion.

The confirmed list of host schools, announced by MOE in March 2026, covers all major regions of the island:

• Ahmad Ibrahim Primary
• Clementi Primary
• Geylang Methodist School (Primary)
• Innova Primary
• Jurong West Primary
• Kheng Cheng School
• Palm View Primary
• Pioneer Primary
• Punggol View Primary
• Queenstown Primary
• St Gabriel’s Primary
• Tampines Primary
• Teck Ghee Primary
• Yew Tee Primary
• Yu Neng Primary School

Each centre will offer two types of Advanced Modules. The first consists of weekly two-hour after-school sessions during term time, covering English, Mathematics, or Science. The second type comprises interdisciplinary holiday programmes focused on real-world inquiry, creativity, and advanced research skills. Specially trained teachers with expertise in high-ability learner pedagogy will rotate between centres to ensure consistent quality across all 15 locations. Crucially, these educators will not be drawn from the staff of the host school itself, which means the quality of instruction remains consistent regardless of where a student attends.

Participation in the modules is entirely voluntary. MOE has also built in flexibility so that students can exit and re-enter the programme based on their needs and development. If your family is weighing up convenience and transport logistics as you plan your child’s learning journey, the Skoolopedia enrichment directory organised by MRT station is a useful resource for finding quality programmes that complement Advanced Module attendance.

Multiple Entry Points: Not Just a One-Shot P3 Test

Perhaps the most meaningful change for families who feel their child develops at their own pace is the introduction of multiple entry points. Under the old GEP model, missing the P3 identification exercise effectively closed the door for good. Gifted education was essentially a one-shot opportunity, which placed enormous pressure on eight- and nine-year-olds and their families, and systematically disadvantaged late bloomers whose abilities emerged more gradually.

The new system allows students to be identified and join Advanced Modules at the end of each semester at Primary 4 and Primary 5, not only at Primary 3. Beyond the standardised exercise, teachers can nominate students based on classroom observations, project work, and portfolios at any of these stages. This means a child who is not flagged at P3 still has meaningful pathways into advanced enrichment as their abilities develop. The system also enables domain-specific identification at later stages, so a student who demonstrates exceptional science inquiry skills in P5 can still access Science enrichment, even without having been identified for English or Maths enrichment at P3.

This structural change also reshapes what good preparation looks like. Rather than hothousing a child to peak at exactly age nine, the most valuable investment is in the kind of sustained intellectual development that will serve them across multiple identification windows, and indeed across their entire primary school journey.

The Role of Practice Papers in Aptitude-Based Preparation

Parents searching for GEP practice papers will notice that official MOE papers for the identification exercise have never been publicly released, and that tradition continues under the new format. This is partly by design: because the exercise assesses aptitude and reasoning rather than syllabus knowledge, the most authentic preparation cannot come from a downloadable past-year paper that tells a child exactly what question types to expect.

That said, practice papers still play a meaningful role when used intelligently. Familiarity with the format of challenging English comprehension passages, higher-order maths problem-sums, and reasoning-based questions can help a student manage exam conditions more comfortably and avoid spending unnecessary time adjusting to unfamiliar question structures. The goal is not to memorise solutions but to develop a recognisable toolkit for approaching novel problems. Practising with P3 papers from top schools can reinforce the mathematical concepts that underpin the harder aptitude questions, even if the question style will differ.

When selecting practice materials, look for the following qualities:

• Rich comprehension passages: Choose texts that require inference, not just literal retrieval. Fiction, science writing, and non-narrative prose all build the range of reading ability tested in the English component.
• Multi-step maths problems: Problems that require more than one operation and cannot be solved by applying a single formula develop the flexible thinking the Maths component rewards.
• Pattern and logic questions: Number patterns, spatial reasoning puzzles, and logic grids develop the General Ability thinking that has always underpinned GEP-style assessments and remains relevant under the new aptitude framework.
• Timed practice: Building the stamina to sustain focused effort across an extended exercise is a practical skill. Even if the new single-stage format is shorter than the old two-day selection test, consistent timed practice under realistic conditions builds concentration and reduces test-day anxiety.

If you are considering enrolling your child in a structured enrichment programme as part of their preparation, you can browse enrichment centres near your nearest MRT station on Skoolopedia to find programmes that develop the reasoning and problem-solving skills the new identification exercise prioritises.

Practical Preparation Tips for the New Format

Because the new identification exercise prioritises aptitude over curriculum mastery, the most effective preparation is also the most sustainable. Rather than an intensive push in the month before August, the approaches that genuinely develop the skills being assessed are ones that can be woven into everyday family life from early primary school onwards.

1. Build a wide reading habit from P1 onwards. The English component rewards vocabulary breadth and inferential reading ability. These skills do not appear overnight. Encouraging your child to read across a variety of genres — including non-fiction, science writing, and challenging fiction — builds the language aptitude that supports strong performance in comprehension tasks far more reliably than vocabulary drill books. The difficulty level of vocabulary encountered in high-ability English exercises is often described as equivalent to lower secondary school, so exposure to rich, varied texts is essential.

2. Encourage mathematical curiosity, not just computation accuracy. A child who enjoys puzzles, number games, and asking “why” about mathematical patterns is building the mindset that the Maths component rewards. Supplement school maths with open-ended problem-solving activities, brain teasers, and where appropriate, Math Olympiad materials. These develop the multi-step reasoning and creative problem-solving that distinguish aptitude-based maths questions from standard school assessments.

3. Practice under timed conditions. A P3 child who has rarely sat through extended assessments may find the sustained concentration required challenging, regardless of their ability. Regular timed practice sessions help build the focus and time management skills that matter on the day. This is especially relevant in 2026, given that many lower primary students have had limited experience with formal examinations since mid-year exams were removed for younger cohorts.

4. Keep anxiety in check. The new holistic framework was specifically designed to reduce the high-stakes pressure associated with the old identification process. Approaching August 2026 as one of several possible identification windows, rather than as a make-or-break moment, is both factually accurate and psychologically healthier for your child. A student who sits the exercise feeling curious rather than terrified is far more likely to demonstrate their genuine abilities.

5. Engage with your child’s school. Under the new system, teacher observations and school-based evidence formally contribute to identification. This means a child’s in-class participation, intellectual curiosity, and engagement with learning all matter. Staying in contact with your child’s teachers and understanding how they experience your child’s strengths in the classroom gives you a clearer picture of where your child genuinely excels. For families exploring student care options that support after-school learning, the Skoolopedia student care directory lists centres by MRT station for easy planning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the GEP completely gone after 2026?

The GEP in its current form will cease admitting new Primary 4 students from 2027. The last cohort already enrolled in the GEP will complete Primary 6 in 2028. From 2027 onwards, newly identified high-ability students enter the Advanced Modules system instead. Gifted education has not been removed — its structure, delivery model, and reach have all changed significantly.

Will my child need to transfer schools if identified?

No. This is one of the most significant changes in the new model. Under the refreshed approach, children remain enrolled at their own primary schools and attend Advanced Module sessions at one of the 15 designated centres after school or during holidays. There is no school transfer requirement.

Are official GEP practice papers available for download?

MOE has never published official GEP identification exercise papers, and this has not changed under the new format. Parents can access practice papers from top primary schools for English and Mathematics, as well as commercially produced reasoning and aptitude workbooks, to build the underlying skills the exercise assesses. The focus should be on developing thinking ability rather than reproducing specific question formats.

What if my child is not identified at P3?

Under the new system, a P3 result is not final. Students can be identified and join Advanced Modules at the end of each semester at Primary 4 and Primary 5. Teachers can also nominate students through school-based observation and portfolio evidence at these later stages, meaning late bloomers have genuine opportunities to access enrichment as their abilities develop.

How do the Advanced Modules differ from the old GEP curriculum?

The old GEP replaced a student’s entire primary school curriculum with a deeper, broader programme delivered at one of nine designated schools. The Advanced Modules are supplementary, delivered after school or during holidays, and are explicitly described by MOE as not linked to the national curriculum. Their focus is on developing deep curiosity, creative problem-solving, and advanced subject-specific thinking — not on gaining an advantage in national examinations such as the PSLE.

Planning Your Child’s Learning Journey

The 2026 identification exercise marks the beginning of a genuinely new era for gifted education in Singapore. For parents of Primary 3 children, the most useful way to approach the coming months is to focus on the qualities the new system is designed to identify: intellectual curiosity, reasoning ability, a love of reading, and the capacity to approach unfamiliar problems thoughtfully. These are not qualities that emerge from last-minute test cramming. They grow from a rich, stimulating, and low-pressure learning environment built up over years.

Whether or not your child is identified in August, the broader changes to Singapore’s gifted education landscape mean there are now more pathways, more access points, and more geographic spread in the provision of advanced learning. The 15 Advanced Module centres, the multiple identification windows, and the school-based holistic approach all point toward a system that is designed to find and nurture ability wherever it emerges, not just where it happens to show up at age nine on a single test day.

If you have a P2 or P3 child and are planning enrichment activities to support their development, Skoolopedia is here to help. You can use the enrichment centre directory to find programmes near your home or commute route, explore the student care centre listings for after-school support, and browse preschool options near MRT stations if you are planning ahead for younger siblings. Every child’s learning journey is different, and having the right resources in place makes all the difference.