In secondary school, students have the opportunity to take up a third language. The options offered to your child depend on his/her PSLE results.  

Take time to think through whether to take up the offer. A Third Language is examinable and will mean extra lessons after school. Many students end up dropping out after the first semester because of the heavy secondary school workload. It’s a decision best made carefully, with open discussion between child and parents.


There are 3 categories offered:

Category 1

  • Malay Special Programme (MSP)
  • Chinese Special Programme (CSP)

- Students must get a PSLE Score of 24 or better.

- Students must not have taken the language at PSLE.

- Successful applicants will attend lessons either in their secondary schools or at the Zonal Centre nearest to their secondary school.  Refer to MOE website for the list of schools available. 


Category 2

  • Arabic
  • Bahasa Indonesia

- Students must get a PSLE Score of 24 or better.

- Students must not have taken Malay or Higher Malay at PSLE.

- You or your child must be a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident

- Available at MOE Language Centre (Bishan) (Only students from Victoria School who study Bahasa Indonesia as a Third Language will do so at their own school.)


Category 3

Foreign Language Programme 

  • French
  • Japanese
  • German
  • Spanish

- Students must get a PSLE Score of 8 or better

- For Japanese, students must have taken Chinese / Higher Chinese in PSLE

- You or your child must be a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident

- Available at MOE Language Centre (Bishan) for French, Japanese and German

- Available at MOE Language Centre (Newton) for French, Japanese and Spanish



On the S1 option form, there will be three blanks for Third Language choices. Students may select only one language from each eligible category and indicate their choices in order of preference. If the number of applicants for the third language exceeds available vacancies, selection will be based on each applicant's PSLE results. Results will be made known to the students through their posted secondary school.

For more information, refer to MOE website, MOE Language Centre