SG School HolidaysPSLE 2026 Dates and Timetable (and What They Mean for the Holidays)
If you have a P6 child in 2026, the exam calendar and the school-holiday calendar are really one calendar, and they collide in a way worth planning around early. The September break ends, Term 4 starts, and within a day the PSLE machinery is running. This guide lays out the confirmed dates from the official SEAB 2026 PSLE examination timetable, then walks through what each stretch means for how you use the days off around it.
The PSLE 2026 dates at a glance
| Component | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Oral examinations | Wed 12 and Thu 13 Aug 2026 | 0800 to 1330 hours |
| Listening Comprehension | Tue 15 Sep 2026 | Second day of Term 4 |
| Written papers | Thu 24 Sep to Wed 30 Sep 2026 | Five paper days |
| Marking exercise (holiday for candidates) | Mon 12 to Wed 14 Oct 2026 | Candidates stay home |
| Results release | Tue 24 to Wed 25 Nov 2026 | Window, not a fixed day |
Those dates come from the SEAB timetable PDF and the SEAB important dates page. The timetable is stamped "Updated as at 13 February 2026," which is a reminder that SEAB does revise these documents, so treat the version you downloaded as current-until-checked and pull a fresh copy before you commit leave or travel around it.
The orals come first, in mid-August
The 2026 PSLE oral examinations run on Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 August, from 0800 to 1330 hours, per the SEAB timetable. These land in Term 3, well before any break, so there is no holiday to juggle here. What there is, is a two-morning window where your child sits reading aloud and conversation for two languages. It is arguably the gentlest part of the PSLE and the easiest to under-prepare for, precisely because it comes weeks ahead of everything else. A little reading aloud at the dinner table through July does more than a panic in the first week of August.
Then the September break, which is not really a break for P6
Here is where the two calendars meet. Per the MOE 2026 calendar, Term 3 ends on Friday 4 September, and the September school holidays run Saturday 5 September to Sunday 13 September, nine days. Term 4 then begins on Monday 14 September.
For most students that nine-day window is a genuine rest. For a P6 household it is the last quiet stretch before the exams: the Listening Comprehension paper is on Tuesday 15 September, the second day of the new term, immediately after the break. The written papers follow inside the same fortnight. So the September holidays are not a switch-off week if you are sitting the PSLE. Rest genuinely for the first few days, then keep a light revision rhythm going, an hour or so on the harder subjects, rather than either cramming the whole nine days or stopping cold and losing the thread. Our September school holidays guide has cheap, close-to-home outings that pair well with a morning revision block.
The PSLE study break, or prep holidays: which one people mean
Three different stretches get called the PSLE study break or the PSLE prep holidays. They fall on different dates, and the MOE calendar names none of them. It lists four school holidays for 2026, March, June, September and year-end, and no study break among them (MOE). So when someone says study break or prep holidays, they mean one of these three:
| What they mean | 2026 dates | What it actually is |
|---|---|---|
| The September holidays | Sat 5 to Sun 13 Sep | A real school holiday, and the last quiet stretch before the papers |
| The run-up inside Term 4 | Wed 16 to Wed 23 Sep | Term time. School is on unless your school says otherwise |
| The marking-exercise days | Mon 12 to Wed 14 Oct | Candidates stay home while the papers are marked |
The middle one is where the confusion sits. Listening Comprehension is on Tuesday 15 September and the first written paper is not until Thursday 24 September, so there is a stretch of eight days in between with no PSLE paper in it. Those are ordinary Term 4 school days on the national calendar. Individual schools do set their own arrangements for P6 in that window, and some grant study leave, but that is a school decision rather than an MOE holiday, so the letter from your school is the one that decides whether your child is at home or in class.
If you are booking leave around this, book it against the September holidays or the marking-exercise days. Those two are fixed and national. The eight days in the middle are not.
The written papers: five days, back to school
The written examinations run Thursday 24 September to Wednesday 30 September 2026, which per the MOE calendar falls in the first two weeks back after the September break. Here is the day-by-day from the SEAB timetable:
| Date | Subject | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 24 Sep | English Language Paper 1 | 0815 to 0925 |
| Thu 24 Sep | English Language Paper 2 | 1030 to 1220 |
| Fri 25 Sep | Mathematics Paper 1 | 0815 to 0925 |
| Fri 25 Sep | Mathematics Paper 2 | 1030 to 1150 |
| Mon 28 Sep | Mother Tongue Paper 1 | 0815 to 0905 |
| Mon 28 Sep | Mother Tongue Paper 2 | 1015 to 1155 |
| Tue 29 Sep | Science | 0815 to 1000 (Booklet A and B, 1h 45m) |
| Wed 30 Sep | Higher Mother Tongue | See timetable |
Times per the SEAB timetable dated 13 February 2026, confirm against the latest PDF before planning.
The two heaviest subjects, English and Mathematics, sit back to back on the Thursday and Friday of the first week, each with a Paper 1 and a Paper 2 on the same morning. There is a weekend after that, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, which falls exactly halfway and is the natural point to rest and reset: two subjects done, three to go. Mother Tongue is on the Monday, Science on the Tuesday, and the final papers, Higher Mother Tongue Language (Higher Chinese, Higher Malay, Higher Tamil), on Wednesday 30 September. Only children taking Higher Mother Tongue sit that last day; for everyone else the PSLE ends on the Tuesday.
After the papers: the marking-exercise holiday
Once the written papers finish, candidates return to school for post-PSLE programmes and activities, but with the revision done it is a low-pressure period. The 2026 PSLE marking exercise runs Monday 12 to Wednesday 14 October, and during it PSLE candidates stay home while papers are marked. That is the actual stay-home window: a few days with nothing left to revise. It is a good window for the things that got shelved during the exam build-up, and, for a working parent, a sensible place to spend a day or two of leave if you want to be around for it. The free Leave Optimizer can show you how to stretch a couple of days into a longer block.
The results, and the wait
The 2026 PSLE results are scheduled for release between Tuesday 24 November and Wednesday 25 November. That is a window rather than a fixed day, and SEAB confirms the exact date and collection arrangements closer to the time, so check the SEAB important dates page as November approaches rather than pinning your plans to a single date now. The gap between the last paper on 30 September and results in late November is nearly two months, worth saying plainly to a child who has just finished: the hard part is over, and what remains is the wait.
For the full year of school terms and holidays around all of this, see the 2026 calendar.
Frequently asked questions
When exactly is the PSLE in 2026? The oral examinations are on 12 and 13 August, Listening Comprehension is on 15 September, and the written papers run 24 to 30 September 2026, per the SEAB timetable. That PDF is dated "Updated as at 13 February 2026," so download a fresh copy before planning around it.
Why does the PSLE start right after the September holidays? Because Term 4 begins on Monday 14 September and the Listening Comprehension paper is the next day, per the MOE 2026 calendar. The written papers follow within the same fortnight, so the September break is the last quiet stretch before the exams for P6 families.
When do the PSLE prep holidays begin? There is no MOE holiday by that name. The nearest fixed break is the September school holidays, Saturday 5 to Sunday 13 September 2026, and the MOE 2026 calendar lists no study break after it. Between Listening Comprehension on 15 September and the first written paper on 24 September, school is on unless your own school grants P6 study leave, so the letter from your school decides.
Do PSLE candidates go to school during the marking exercise? No. The 2026 marking exercise runs 12 to 14 October and is a holiday for candidates, who stay home while papers are marked.
When will the 2026 PSLE results be released? Between 24 and 25 November 2026, per the SEAB important dates page. It is a window, and SEAB confirms the exact day and collection details nearer the time.
Which is the hardest day of the written papers? There is no official ranking, but the timetable puts English on 24 September and Mathematics on 25 September, each with two papers in one morning, back to back. The weekend that follows is the natural point to rest and reset before Mother Tongue, Science, and Higher Mother Tongue in the second week.
The dates above are drawn straight from SEAB and MOE, but both bodies do update their documents, so confirm against the official SEAB timetable and the MOE 2026 calendar before you book leave or travel around the exam window.