If you can't afford
International School, the only feasible strategy is to find out which schools had the most vacancies for Phase 3 for Primary 1 this year. This doesn't vary too much from year to year. You do this by joining the Kiasu Parents forum. (Kiasu means "pushy".) Look at the section at the top which gives you the registration history for every school in each district. (You could just about write a PhD thesis on the subject of registration phases.) Choose the schools LEAST popular with the locals. These will be in the so-called Heartland and will not be places popular with expats such as Clementi, East Coast or Central district. OR you can take pot luck, cling to the
condo districts with the other expats and have about 30% chance of getting a place. Having said that, it is also true that the government is making a concerted effort to convince the populace that "every school is a good school" and is providing resources to try to achieve this. Small comfort though if it means no school at all.