School Matters

Getting things ready

Hillgrove Secondary School vs Maris Stella High School

Compare recorded PSLE entry ranges, CCAs, DSA programmes and location, with intake years shown alongside the data.

At a glance

CompareHillgrove Secondary SchoolMaris Stella High School
School typeCo-Ed SchoolBoys' School
LevelSecondary (S1-S4)Secondary (S1-S4)
School tagsNot listedSAP · Autonomous
ZoneWestNorth
Address10 Bukit Batok Street 5225 Mount Vernon Road
Nearest MRTBukit Batok, Bukit GombakBartley
Listed CCAs1818
DSA listings1118

Differences to explore

CCA
The records share 1 CCA listing. Hillgrove Secondary School also lists Art and Crafts (Girls and Boys), Boys' Brigade (Boys), CONCERT BAND, Choir (Girls and Boys) and more, which do not appear in the other school's records. Maris Stella High School also lists Basketball (Boys), Bowling (Boys), Chinese Language, Drama and Debating (Boys), Chinese Orchestra (Boys) and more, which do not appear in the other school's records. Listings may be incomplete; confirm availability with each school.
DSA programme
The records share 1 DSA programme listing. Hillgrove Secondary School also lists Choir (Girls and Boys), Concert Band (Girls and Boys), English Drama (Girls and Boys), Floorball (Boys) and more, which do not appear in the other school's records. Maris Stella High School also lists Basketball (Boys), Bowling (Boys), Chinese Language (Boys), Chinese Language, Drama and Debating (Boys) and more, which do not appear in the other school's records. Listings may be incomplete; confirm availability with each school.
Programme tags
Hillgrove Secondary School: no IP or SAP tag listed; Maris Stella High School: SAP. Check the specific programme your child would enter.
The daily journey
Nearby MRT stations listed for Hillgrove Secondary School: Bukit Batok, Bukit Gombak; for Maris Stella High School: Bartley. Compare the full journey from home, including transfers and the walk to school.

Recorded entry ranges

CompareHillgrove Secondary SchoolMaris Stella High School
PG3 · Non-affiliated2026 · 13–182026 · 7M–12
PG3 · AffiliatedNot listed2026 · 4M–16
PG2 · Non-affiliated2026 · 21–24Not listed
PG1 · Non-affiliated2026 · 25–27Not listed

Each range belongs to the intake year and programme shown. Affiliated and non-affiliated ranges are separate. D, M and P are Higher Mother Tongue requirements. Past ranges do not guarantee admission.

Get to know each school

Hillgrove Secondary School

Hillgrove Secondary began in 2001 with 277 pupils, initially sharing Yusof Ishak Secondary’s premises. MOE records its move to 10 Bukit Batok Street 52 on 2 February 2002 and official opening on 5 March 2004. Flight and aerospace became its ALP in 2014, followed by the arts LLP in 2015. These milestones explain the two strands visible in the school’s current open-house materials. Historical enrolment and earlier principals’ descriptions are not used to infer the present pupil population or a uniform experience of school culture.

The ALP microsite describes a three-tier approach to STEM through flight and aerospace. Its April 2023 example involved all Secondary 2 pupils building and flying rubber-band-powered gliders; a separate group of 20 Secondary 1 and 2 pupils was selected for drone training. Earlier entries discuss autonomous-vehicle principles with mBot in 2021 and coding drones in 2019. These give tangible examples of applied learning, but they are dated records. Ask what the incoming cohort will actually build, how often lessons occur and how pupils enter additional training.

Maris Stella High School

Maris Stella plans to rebuild its Mount Vernon campuses from 2027 to 2029. Its secondary section will use the former Bedok North Secondary School site; the primary section uses a different site. The 2027 information page sets an 8am start for Sec 1–4 pupils, superseding the 7.30am routine in its general admission FAQ for that period. Return to Mount Vernon is tentatively in 2030. The secondary school remains all-boys: the move towards co-education is a primary-section change. Families should plan travel to the secondary holding campus.

Brother Chanel Soon founded Maris Stella in 1958 in borrowed classrooms at St Stephen’s, initially with both primary and secondary classes. It moved to Mount Vernon in 1967; the secondary section became a SAP school in 1979 and autonomous in 1996. The current FAQ welcomes pupils of all faiths. Some assembly activities introduce Catholic traditions to all students, while additional Catholic camps and masses are described as optional for non-Catholics. Families can discuss those arrangements directly instead of assuming either religious membership or complete absence of faith-related activities.

CCAs and programmes

Hillgrove Secondary School

  • Art and Crafts (Girls and Boys)
  • Badminton (Boys)
  • Boys' Brigade (Boys)
  • CONCERT BAND
  • Choir (Girls and Boys)
  • Digital Media (Girls and Boys)
  • English Drama (Girls and Boys)
  • Floorball (Boys)
  • Girls' Brigade (Girls)
  • Malay Dance (Girls and Boys)
  • Modern Dance (Girls and Boys)
  • National Cadet Corps (NCC) (Air) (Girls and Boys)
  • National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) (Girls and Boys)
  • Netball (Girls)
  • Robotics (Girls and Boys)
  • Scouts (Girls and Boys)
  • Singapore Youth Flying Club (Girls and Boys)
  • Volleyball (Girls)

Maris Stella High School

  • Badminton (Boys)
  • Basketball (Boys)
  • Bowling (Boys)
  • Chinese Language, Drama and Debating (Boys)
  • Chinese Orchestra (Boys)
  • Concert Band (Boys)
  • English Culture and Language (Boys)
  • Infocomm Technology (Media Production) (Boys)
  • National Cadet Corps (NCC) (Sea) (Boys)
  • National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) (Boys)
  • Outdoor Adventure (Boys)
  • Robotics (Boys)
  • Scouts (Boys)
  • Softball (Boys)
  • St John Brigade (Boys)
  • Table Tennis (Boys)
  • Taekwondo (Boys)
  • Wushu (Boys)

Listed DSA programmes at Hillgrove Secondary School

  • Badminton (Boys)
  • Choir (Girls and Boys)
  • Concert Band (Girls and Boys)
  • English Drama (Girls and Boys)
  • Floorball (Boys)
  • Malay Dance (Girls and Boys)
  • Modern Dance (Girls and Boys)
  • Netball (Girls)
  • Stem (Girls and Boys)
  • Visual Arts (Girls and Boys)
  • Volleyball (Girls)

Listed DSA programmes at Maris Stella High School

  • Badminton (Boys)
  • Basketball (Boys)
  • Bowling (Boys)
  • Chinese Language (Boys)
  • Chinese Language, Drama and Debating (Boys)
  • Chinese Orchestra (Boys)
  • Concert Band (Boys)
  • English Literary - Debate and Scrabble (Boys)
  • Leadership (Boys)
  • Media Arts / Film / Photography (Boys)
  • Robotics (Boys)
  • Scouts (Boys)
  • Softball (Boys)
  • Sport Climbing (Boys)
  • Stem (Boys)
  • Table Tennis (Boys)
  • Taekwondo (Boys)
  • Wushu (Boys)

Questions about these schools

How should I choose between Hillgrove Secondary School and Maris Stella High School?

Start with programmes, the CCAs your child wants and the actual journey from home. Visit both schools to assess the daily environment. Counts and past results alone do not establish which school fits your child.

How do their recorded PSLE entry ranges compare?

PG3 · Non-affiliated: Hillgrove Secondary School 2026 · 13–18; Maris Stella High School 2026 · 7M–12. PG3 · Affiliated: Hillgrove Secondary School Not listed; Maris Stella High School 2026 · 4M–16. PG2 · Non-affiliated: Hillgrove Secondary School 2026 · 21–24; Maris Stella High School Not listed. PG1 · Non-affiliated: Hillgrove Secondary School 2026 · 25–27; Maris Stella High School Not listed.

Do past admission records guarantee a place?

No. Ranges belong to the intake year and programme shown and can change. Keep affiliated and non-affiliated ranges separate and retain any D, M or P Higher Mother Tongue suffix.