Dunearn House Just Had An Exit Strategy Shift — It Now Sits Inside 2km Of Nanyang, RGPS And MGS

On 10 September 2026, the Ministry of Education announced that from the 2027 registration exercise, Phase 2C at 12 primary schools will run on two tracks. Thirty places go to children living within 2km of the school and 30 to children living beyond it, with no home-school distance priority inside either track. In late July, Dunearn House had sold 212 of its 380 homes on its launch weekend at an average of $3,140 psf. Four of the 12 schools sit within 2km of the site. None sits within 1km.

That position was a weakness in July. If you booked a family unit there, the new rule changes it. A Bukit Timah address at 1.4km from Raffles Girls' Primary entered a Phase 2C ballot behind every 1km address. From the 2027 exercise it enters level with them. The same rule reaches Katong, where The Continuum's 816 freehold homes fall within 2km of three of the 12: Tanjong Katong Primary inside 1km, Tao Nan and CHIJ (Katong) Primary in the 1 to 2km ring. OneMap already has an answer for The Continuum. Dunearn House has to be measured, because its building outline is not on OneMap yet.

What did MOE change on 10 September 2026?

Two things change from the 2027 Primary 1 registration exercise, which places children starting school in 2028. First, every school with at least 180 Primary 1 places reserves 60 places for Phase 2C, up from 40. Phase 2C is the phase for children with no prior link to the school. If your child has no sibling there, no alumni parent and no parent volunteer, this is your phase. Phase 2B stays at 20 reserved places, and Phases 2A and 2B keep their priority ahead of 2C.

Second, at 12 schools the 60 places split into two tracks of 30. One track is for children living within 2km, the other for children living beyond 2km. If either track has more citizen applicants than places, it ballots, and MOE has said there is no further home-school distance priority within a track, as reported by AsiaOne. Any shortfall on one side flows to the other. The 12 were chosen because public housing makes up less than 40 per cent of homes within 2km of each. MOE's reasoning, in its own words: "For schools located in neighbourhoods with significantly less public housing than the national average, applying the current home-school distance priority may not substantially broaden access for children from different socio-economic backgrounds."

Here are the 12, with this year's Phase 2C places and applicants, from MOE's 2026 vacancies and balloting data as recorded on day three of the phase. A school ballots when applicants exceed places.

Nine of the 12 had more applicants than places this year. Raffles Girls' Primary, with 137 places, and CHIJ (Katong) Primary, with 92, are the exceptions. At those two the new rule changes little, because nobody was balloted out.

Why did the 1km line decide Phase 2C at these schools?

When a school ballots in Phase 2C today, MOE places citizens living within 1km first, then citizens between 1km and 2km, then everyone else, in that order. At a school that ballots every year, if you live between 1km and 2km, your child only reaches the ballot after every 1km citizen has a place.

Nanyang Primary has balloted its Phase 2C places every year since 2019, on MOE's records: 63 applicants for 42 places in 2025, 79 for 40 in 2024, 89 for 41 in 2022, and 68 for 40 this year. Tao Nan has balloted every year since 2019 as well, with 81 applicants for 45 places in 2025. At either school, a family at 1.2km has been placed after every 1km citizen.

From the 2027 exercise, the within-2km track at Nanyang holds 30 places, and every citizen inside 2km ballots for them together. This year's 68 applicants are a rough guide. If most of them live inside 2km, which is where families targeting Nanyang tend to be, that is 68 children for 30 places, against 68 for 40 this year. The 1km family's odds get worse. The 1 to 2km family's odds go from last in line to the same as everyone else's. And the beyond-2km track offers 30 places to families who had none before.

That said, a level footing is still a ballot. At two applicants per place, most of the within-2km track misses out, and MOE has said it will track how this first round goes.

How far is Dunearn House from Nanyang, RGPS, MGS and Pei Hwa?

MOE measures home-school distance as the shortest straight line from any point on the school's boundary to the building outline of your address, and OneMap's School Query is the tool it points parents to. That dataset was last refreshed in June 2026, before Dunearn House's building plan existed, so the six Dunearn House postal codes return no record yet. The next refresh, in June 2027, will carry the building outlines.

Until then, the distances below run from the same school boundaries to the six address points OneMap holds for 760 to 770 Dunearn Road.

MGS Primary is 1,037m from the nearest address point and 981m from the site boundary. A building's outer wall sits somewhere between its address point and the boundary, so the block nearest Blackmore Drive could land either side of 1,000m when the outline is filed. Nanyang is 1,959m on the farthest address point, which leaves about 40m of room on the 2km side, and an outline can only be nearer than its address point. So the reasonable reading today is four schools inside 2km and none inside 1km, with MGS the one to check in June 2027.

What does the two-track rule do to Dunearn House's exit?

In July we gave Dunearn House 6 out of 10, with Exit at 2 of 4. The argument was that Bukit Timah demand is mostly its own residents, upgraders and school-chasing families, and that those buyers pay for size. Against that, 176 of the 380 homes are 2-bedders of 678 sqft or less. The school-chasing family was the one buyer the project could not fully serve, because every school it wanted sat outside 1km.

That buyer now has a reason to look. In Phase 2C at Nanyang, Raffles Girls' Primary, MGS and Pei Hwa, a Dunearn House address will count the same as a Coronation Road address. Few condos have that combination. OneMap shows only three condos inside 2km of all four today: Eleven@Holland, Villa Azura, and Royalgreen across the road, where some blocks fall beyond 2km of Pei Hwa. Dunearn House becomes the fourth when its outline is filed, if the MGS and Nanyang lines hold.

URA records carry 228 developer sales lodged between 24 July and 22 August 2026.

A 3-bedroom bought at $2.9 million this summer completes in December 2030. The first Primary 1 registration anyone can file from that address is the 2031 exercise, for a child born in 2025 or 2026. The buyer most likely to want that unit from you in 2031 is a family with a five-year-old, no alumni link, and four two-track schools inside 2km. In July that family had little reason to pick this address over a 1km resale. Now the 1km resale offers it nothing extra in Phase 2C.

On our scorecard, that lifts Exit for the 3- and 4-bedrooms from 2 of 4 to 3 of 4. The 2-bedders stay where they were: a family registering for Primary 1 does not buy 527 sqft, and 103 of the 228 sales so far are 2-bedrooms.

Is The Continuum within 2km of Tao Nan, Tanjong Katong and CHIJ Katong?

Yes, and here the answer is official rather than measured. The Continuum's seven postal codes are already on OneMap, and every one of them returns the same three of the 12.

The Continuum is 816 freehold homes on two plots either side of Thiam Siew Avenue, built by Hoi Hup and Sunway on a 25,083 sqm site, with vacant possession expected on 17 November 2027. It launched in May 2023, selling 26.5 per cent of its units that first weekend at an average of $2,732 psf, and the developer is still selling three years on. URA records show 199 developer sales and two sub-sales in the 12 months to August 2026.

Tao Nan is the gain for The Continuum. Tao Nan balloted Phase 2C in each of the last seven years and had 57 applicants for 42 places this year, and a Continuum address sits between 1km and 2km of it. From 2027 it is level with the 1km homes along Marine Parade Road. CHIJ (Katong) Primary changes little either way: 82 applicants for 92 places in 2026, so nobody at 1 to 2km was being balloted out.

Tanjong Katong Primary runs the other way. The Continuum is inside 1km of it, and Tanjong Katong balloted this year with 94 applicants for 56 places. Under one track, a Continuum family was placed ahead of every 1 to 2km family. Under two tracks it ballots with them. So the condo gains an equal footing at Tao Nan and gives one up at Tanjong Katong. For a family whose first choice is Tao Nan, that is an improvement on July. For one whose first choice is Tanjong Katong, it is a step back in Phase 2C, though not in 2A or 2B.

OneMap shows more than 200 condos and apartment blocks inside 2km of all three schools, Amber Park and Tembusu Grand among them. In Katong the three-school position is the normal one. The rule improves it for all of them at once, which is different from Bukit Timah, where the four-school position belongs to three condos today and a fourth in 2027.

What changes for Emerald of Katong, River Green, Skye at Holland and seven other launches?

The Continuum's position is the normal one for the recent Katong launches. Emerald of Katong, Sim Lian's 846 homes on Jalan Tembusu, sold 835 units over its launch weekend in November 2024. On OneMap it sits 183m from Tanjong Katong Primary, 1,364m from Tao Nan and 1,372m from CHIJ (Katong) Primary. Tembusu Grand, the 638-unit CDL and MCL Land condo that opened for sale in April 2023, is at 266m, 1,461m and 1,460m. Both gain the Tao Nan footing and give up the Tanjong Katong priority in Phase 2C, exactly as The Continuum does. Grand Dunman, the 1,008-unit SingHaiyi and CSC Land condo on Dunman Road that launched in July 2023, is the exception. Six of its nine blocks are inside 1km of Tanjong Katong Primary and lose the priority there. The other three sit at 1 to 2km and gain it. Tao Nan and CHIJ (Katong) Primary are beyond 2km, so nothing else on the list moves for it.

The River Valley launches had no two-track school inside 1km, so the rule only adds for them. River Green, Wing Tai's 524 homes on River Valley Green that sold 460 units over its launch weekend in August 2025, sits 1,697m from ACS (Junior) and 1,699m from St Margaret's, both official OneMap bands. Promenade Peak, Allgreen's 596 units on Zion Promenade that launched the same month, carries the same two bands, with St Margaret's at 1,926m. Zyon Grand, CDL's 706 units at Kim Seng Road that launched in October 2025, reaches St Margaret's at 1,962m only. ACS (Junior) measures 2,079m from it. River Modern, GuocoLand's 455 homes also on River Valley Green, launched in March 2026 and has no OneMap outline yet. Its 1,669m to St Margaret's and 1,763m to ACS (Junior) are measured to the address points. From 2027 a family at any of the four enters the within-2km ballot at St Margaret's on the same terms as a Sophia Road address, and at ACS (Junior) for all but Zyon Grand.

Skye at Holland, Nava Grove and Pinetree Hill each have a two-track school at 1 to 2km and none inside 1km, so they gain and give nothing up. Skye at Holland is the 666-unit UOL, SingLand, CapitaLand Development and Kheng Leong condo on Holland Village Way that sold 658 units on its launch day in October 2025. It sits 1,794m from Nanyang, its only two-track school inside 2km. Nava Grove, 552 units on Pine Grove launched in November 2024, is 1,656m from MGS and 1,931m from Pei Hwa. Pinetree Hill, the 520-unit UOL and SingLand condo beside it that launched in July 2023, is 1,553m and 1,864m. Until now each of them balloted for Phase 2C behind every 1km address at those schools. From 2027 they ballot with them, and a Skye at Holland family aiming at Nanyang competes for the same 30 places as a Watten House family 871m from the school.

Which condos gain, and which give up an edge?

More condos sit between 1km and 2km of these schools than inside 1km. OneMap lists 43 condos within 1km of Nanyang Primary and 74 between 1km and 2km. At Raffles Girls' Primary it is 34 against 42, at MGS 17 against 55, at Tao Nan 98 against 113, at CHIJ (Katong) Primary 100 against 114, and at Tanjong Katong Primary 91 against 197. Pei Hwa is the one school where the inner group is larger, 34 against 23. At every other school on the list, more condos gain a footing in Phase 2C than lose one.

Around Dunearn House, Fourth Avenue Residences sits within 1km of Raffles Girls' Primary and gives up that Phase 2C head start, while staying level with Dunearn House at Nanyang and MGS. Mayfair Modern, Mayfair Gardens and The Linq @ Beauty World are within 1km of both MGS and Pei Hwa, and lose the 2C head start at both. Sixth Avenue Residences, at 1 to 2km from Nanyang, Raffles Girls' Primary and MGS, gains at all three. Leedon Green, within 1km of Nanyang on its nearest block, gives up the head start there too.

None of that touches Phases 2A and 2B. A 1km address at Nanyang still goes first when 2B ballots, and Nanyang's 2B balloted with 53 applicants for 20 places in 2025 and 52 for 20 this year. If your family has the alumni or volunteer link, the 1km premium still buys priority. If it does not, at these 12 schools it now buys less than it did before 10 September.

OneMap refreshes its school distances each June. Check your own address on onemap.gov.sg/school in the year you register.

Which new launches between 1km and 2km gain from the 2027 change?

The launches that gain are the ones with a two-track school between 1km and 2km and none inside 1km. Until now, if your Primary 1 plan ran through Phase 2C at Nanyang or Tao Nan, you paid for the 1km address because it went first in the ballot. From the 2027 exercise that head start is gone in Phase 2C. The buyer who paid for it now has 15 recent launches to choose from at the same schools, each entering the within-2km track level with the 1km homes. That is the group below, counting Dunearn House and The Serra Residences, which previews in October. Where OneMap already holds the building outline, the band is its answer for the nearest block. Dunearn House, River Modern and Union Square Residences have no outline yet, so their distances run from the school boundary to the address points, and OneMap settles them at a later June refresh. Launch dates come from developer announcements and press reports.

The Serra Residences, Far East Organization's 133 freehold homes at 7 Bassein Road, previews from 2 October. That address already has an outline on OneMap at 1 to 2km from both ACS (Primary) and ACS (Junior). From 2027 a Serra family enters Phase 2C at either school on the same terms as a home at 300m. Thirteen more launches have one of the 12 inside 1km. Those keep the 2A and 2B priority there, go into the Phase 2C ballot with everyone else inside 2km, and pick up the same gain at their 1 to 2km schools.

Amberwood at Holland, Sim Lian's 212 homes on Holland Link, opened for preview on 11 September and launches on 26 September. Its nearest block measures 637m from MGS, 1,561m from Pei Hwa and 1,926m from Raffles Girls' Primary, and Nanyang is beyond 2km at 2,129m. So an Amberwood address keeps the MGS 1km priority for Phases 2A and 2B, gives up the MGS priority in Phase 2C, and at Pei Hwa counts the same as a 1km address from 2027. Raffles Girls' Primary is the line to check when OneMap files the outline. Three of the 12 blocks measure 2,003m, so the answer could differ from one block to the next.

Watten House is inside 1km of both Nanyang and Raffles Girls' Primary. 32 Gilstead is inside 1km of both ACS schools and reaches SCGS and St Margaret's in the 1 to 2km ring. It and Straits at Joo Chiat are the two launches on the list with four of the 12 inside 2km on OneMap's record, and Dunearn House is the third on the measured distances.

Aurea, Bagnall Haus and Vela Bay were checked and sit beyond 2km of all 12. If you are weighing any launch on this list for a Primary 1 plan, the band that counts is OneMap's answer in the year you register. For the five without an outline, that answer is at least one June away.

Should you buy Dunearn House or The Continuum for the schools?

For a family whose Primary 1 route is Phase 2C, Dunearn House's 3- and 4-bedrooms now do something they could not do in July. The 872 sqft 3-bedroom at a $2.689 million median and the 1,001 sqft premium at $3.268 million put you inside 2km of Nanyang, Raffles Girls' Primary, MGS and Pei Hwa on equal footing with the 1km resales. Only three other condos in the area hold that position. Buy it for own use, as a 3- or 4-bedroom, and check the MGS line on OneMap in June 2027. If your family has a 2A or 2B link, the 1km resale still earns its premium and this address does not replace it.

The Continuum is a freehold, family-sized Katong condo with vacant possession in November 2027, and that is the reason to buy it. The school position is shared by more than 200 condos around it, so it should not carry a premium of its own. The new rule adds a level shot at Tao Nan from the 2028 exercise and takes away the 1km head start at Tanjong Katong Primary in Phase 2C. Weigh those against each other according to which school you want.

OneMap files Dunearn House's outlines in June 2027 and settles the MGS line. The first two-track Phase 2C results follow in August 2027 and show whether 30 places inside 2km ballot harder than 40 did. MOE has said it will track those results. We will update both the Dunearn House review and our read of the second Dunearn Road parcel when they do. If you would rather not wait for the next piece, that is what our Telegram group is for.

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