# PSLE AL scores explained for parents — bands, totals, and what an estimate really means

Source: https://test-paper.info/guides/psle-al-bands-explained/
Updated: 2026-09-26

## How is the PSLE AL score calculated?

Since 2021, PSLE results have been reported in [Achievement Levels (ALs)](https://www.moe.gov.sg/psle-fsbb/psle/psle-scoring-system), not T-scores. Each of the four subjects gets an AL from 1 (best) to 8, based on raw mark bands set by MOE. The **PSLE Score is the sum of the four subject ALs** — 4 (best possible) to 32, and *lower is better*.

## What are the AL mark bands?

Per [MOE's published PSLE Scoring System](https://www.moe.gov.sg/psle-fsbb/psle/psle-scoring-system) (checked 2026-09-26):

| AL | Raw mark |
|---|---|
| AL1 | 90–100 |
| AL2 | 85–89 |
| AL3 | 80–84 |
| AL4 | 75–79 |
| AL5 | 65–74 |
| AL6 | 45–64 |
| AL7 | 20–44 |
| AL8 | below 20 |

## What do parents most often miss about the AL bands?

**The bands are not the same width.** AL1–AL4 are tight five-mark bands; AL5 spans ten marks and AL6 spans twenty. Practical consequence: near the top, *two or three marks* can move a whole AL — the difference between 84 and 85 is a band; the difference between 50 and 60 is nothing. This is why exam technique and careless-error hygiene matter disproportionately for a child sitting near a band edge in the 75–90 zone, while a child at AL6 gains more from repairing one whole weak topic than from polishing anything. The [PSLE AL calculator](/guides/psle-al-calculator/) shows, for your child's own marks, how far each subject is from its next band edge.

**One subject can't be averaged away.** Because the total is a sum, an AL6 in Maths sits in the total no matter how strong English and Science are. A 6-2-2-2 profile totals 12; a balanced 3-3-3-3 also totals 12. The child with the weak subject has the easier improvement path — which is exactly why finding the *specific* weak topics inside that subject matters ([here's how](/guides/which-topics-is-my-child-weak-in/)).

## How should you read a "readiness estimate" — ours or anyone's?

Any app, tutor, or mock result that maps practice performance to an AL is producing an **estimate on current form, not a prediction**. Honest framing sounds like "on current form: AL3–AL4 territory" — a range, dated, based on stated evidence (which topics, how recently re-tested). Treat with suspicion any tool that outputs a single confident number, doesn't tell you what evidence it used, or never changes as your child improves. The estimate's job is not to prophesy September; it's to tell you *where the next hour of practice moves the needle most* — usually the weakest re-testable topic, not the strongest one.

Test Paper's [P6 mocks](/learn/p6/) follow the PSLE format and produce exactly that kind of banded, evidence-dated estimate — and the weekly report shows whether repaired topics stayed repaired, which is the part that actually moves a band between now and the exam. Multi-step word problems are usually where a band edge is won or lost; see [PSLE problem-solving](/learn/p6/psle-problem-solving/) for the cross-topic skill that shows up across every P6 paper.