School Matters

Getting things ready

Naval Base Secondary School vs Riverside Secondary School

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

At a glance

CompareNaval Base Secondary SchoolRiverside Secondary School
School typeCo-Ed SchoolCo-Ed School
LevelSecondary (S1-S4)Secondary (S1-S4)
School tagsNot listedNot listed
ZoneNorthNorth
Address901 Yishun Ring Road3 Woodlands Street 81
Nearest MRTKhatibWoodlands
Listed CCAs1422
DSA listings77

Differences to explore

CCA
The records share 8 CCA listings. Naval Base Secondary School also lists Basketball (Girls), Football (Girls and Boys), Girl Guides (Girls), National Cadet Corps (NCC) (Land) (Boys) and more, which do not appear in the other school's records. Riverside Secondary School also lists Audio Visual Aid (Girls and Boys), Badminton (Girls and Boys), Basketball (Girls and Boys), Boys' Brigade (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 2 DSA programme listings. Naval Base Secondary School also lists Indian Dance (Girls and Boys), Leadership (Girls and Boys), Modern Dance (Girls and Boys), Table Tennis (Girls and Boys) and more, which do not appear in the other school's records. Riverside Secondary School also lists Environmental Science (Girls and Boys), Leadership and Character (Girls and Boys), Media (Girls and Boys), Robotics (Girls and Boys) and more, which do not appear in the other school's records. Listings may be incomplete; confirm availability with each school.
The daily journey
Nearby MRT stations listed for Naval Base Secondary School: Khatib; for Riverside Secondary School: Woodlands. Compare the full journey from home, including transfers and the walk to school.

Recorded entry ranges

CompareNaval Base Secondary SchoolRiverside Secondary School
PG3 · Non-affiliated2026 · 13–192026 · 8–14
PG2 · Non-affiliated2026 · 21–242026 · 21–23
PG1 · Non-affiliated2026 · 25–272026 · 25–27

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

Naval Base Secondary School

Naval Base Secondary traces its beginnings to 1957, when the British Navy provided land at Bah Tan Road for children of naval-base employees. It was initially a full school; the primary section moved to Canberra School in 1968 and it adopted its secondary-school name. It moved to Yishun Ring Road in July 1988. After a temporary holding site during upgrading, it returned in December 2009 to a campus designed as a garden and giant art gallery. The current art curriculum gives that historical emphasis a practical teaching context.

Lower-secondary pupils have the General Art Programme. Upper-secondary pupils taking art receive the two-year Enhanced Art Programme during curriculum time, with art offered at G1, G2 or G3. The school describes artist mentorship, talks, two art studios, ceramics space and an in-house gallery. Its wider learning framework separates broad experiences from interest-based development and selected advanced opportunities, while also identifying pupils who need structured intervention. EAP access should be read as provision for upper-secondary art students, rather than an extra specialist subject automatically taken by the entire cohort.

Riverside Secondary School

Riverside Secondary’s own history says it began in 1987 at Fuchun Secondary’s premises before moving to 3 Woodlands Street 81 that December. It became single-session in 1999 and returned to its upgraded campus in 2004 after a holding-site period. Its history records a 2020 Full Subject-Based Banding pilot and Tamil Language Elective Programme provision. Older heritage material describes an Arts for Life LLP; the present programme page instead identifies Digital Citizenship. Historical programme names should therefore be kept separate from current provision.

The ALP, Global Citizenship Education through Critical Social Inquiry, uses UN Sustainable Development Goals to explore global issues and affected communities. Its page gives a dated 2025 Riverside Model United Nations example focused on technology, sustainability and inclusion, with stakeholder perspectives and proposed resolutions. VIA separately asks pupils to understand community needs, plan, act and reflect. These descriptions show an inquiry-and-service approach; they do not establish that every pupil attends the same forum or takes the same community role.

CCAs and programmes

Naval Base Secondary School

  • Art and Crafts (Girls and Boys)
  • Basketball (Girls)
  • Choir (Girls and Boys)
  • Concert Band (Girls and Boys)
  • English Drama (Girls and Boys)
  • Football (Girls and Boys)
  • Girl Guides (Girls)
  • Infocomm Technology (Media Production) (Girls and Boys)
  • Modern Dance (Girls and Boys)
  • National Cadet Corps (NCC) (Land) (Boys)
  • National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) (Girls and Boys)
  • Netball (Girls)
  • St John Brigade (Girls and Boys)
  • Table Tennis (Girls and Boys)

Riverside Secondary School

  • Art and Crafts (Girls and Boys)
  • Audio Visual Aid (Girls and Boys)
  • Badminton (Girls and Boys)
  • Basketball (Girls and Boys)
  • Boys' Brigade (Boys)
  • Chinese Dance (Girls and Boys)
  • Choir (Girls and Boys)
  • Concert Band (Girls and Boys)
  • English Drama (Girls and Boys)
  • Environmental Science (Girls and Boys)
  • Football (Boys)
  • Girls' Brigade (Girls)
  • Indian Dance (Girls and Boys)
  • Infocomm Technology (Media Production) (Girls and Boys)
  • Malay Dance (Girls and Boys)
  • Modern Dance (Girls and Boys)
  • National Cadet Corps (NCC) (Sea) (Boys)
  • National Civil Defence Cadet Corps (NCDCC) (Girls and Boys)
  • National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) (Girls and Boys)
  • Netball (Girls)
  • Robotics (Girls and Boys)
  • Softball (Girls)

Listed DSA programmes at Naval Base Secondary School

  • Choir (Girls and Boys)
  • Concert Band (Girls and Boys)
  • Indian Dance (Girls and Boys)
  • Leadership (Girls and Boys)
  • Modern Dance (Girls and Boys)
  • Table Tennis (Girls and Boys)
  • Visual Arts (Girls and Boys)

Listed DSA programmes at Riverside Secondary School

  • Choir (Girls and Boys)
  • Concert Band (Girls and Boys)
  • Environmental Science (Girls and Boys)
  • Leadership and Character (Girls and Boys)
  • Media (Girls and Boys)
  • Robotics (Girls and Boys)
  • Tamil Language (Girls and Boys)

Questions about these schools

How should I choose between Naval Base Secondary School and Riverside Secondary 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: Naval Base Secondary School 2026 · 13–19; Riverside Secondary School 2026 · 8–14. PG2 · Non-affiliated: Naval Base Secondary School 2026 · 21–24; Riverside Secondary School 2026 · 21–23. PG1 · Non-affiliated: Naval Base Secondary School 2026 · 25–27; Riverside Secondary School 2026 · 25–27.

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.