School and exam pressure

Singapore’s education system is the thing most often blamed for youth stress here, and the thing least likely to change because of a conversation at home. What can change is how quickly a young person who is struggling reaches someone who can help.

What the data says

One in four adults aged 18 to 29 in Singapore reports poor mental health. That is 25.5 per cent, against a national average of 15.4, and it is the highest of any age group. Among young women in that band it reaches 31.7 per cent.

Among 15 to 35 year olds, about one in three report severe or extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety or stress.

One encouraging number sits alongside those: 88.7 per cent of 18 to 29 year olds said they were willing to seek help from people they know, the highest of any age group. The reluctance is not where it used to be.

Support inside school

• School counsellors. Schools have one or two, depending on need; about a third have had two since 2020. On average each supports around 70 students a year, and roughly 1.5 per cent of students approach their counsellor in a given year. A student can ask to see one directly. A student can ask to see one without going through a parent.
• Teacher-counsellors. Around 800 across schools as of February 2024, handling less complex cases alongside a reduced teaching load.
• Peer support leaders. In place across regular schools, trained to notice distress and route it to an adult.
• Mental Health Education is one of six content strands within Character and Citizenship Education, covering emotional regulation, the difference between stress and distress, and help-seeking.

One and a half per cent of students a year is a small number set against one in three reporting severe symptoms. The gap between those two figures is the thing worth acting on at home.

Support outside school

• CHAT @ IMH, for ages 16 to 30, offers confidential mental health checks without a referral. It is at *SCAPE, 2 Orchard Link, and reachable on 6493 6500.
• REACH, the Response, Early Intervention and Assessment in Community Mental Health teams, works with schools and families. Referral is usually through the school. It received around 1,500 referrals a year from schools over the period to 2023.
• National mindline 1771, launched 18 June 2025, is staffed around the clock. Phone 1771, WhatsApp 6669 1771, or mindline.sg.
• Tinkle Friend on 1800 274 4788 is for children aged 13 and under, on weekday afternoons.
• Limitless provides free counselling to young people, and TOUCH runs youth services on 1800 377 2252.
• Samaritans of Singapore on 1767, and CareText on WhatsApp 9151 1767, both 24 hours.

What changed, and what did not

Streaming into Express, Normal Academic and Normal Technical ended for new cohorts with the 2024 Secondary 1 intake. Full Subject-Based Banding replaced it: PSLE results now set an initial posting group, G1, G2 or G3, which determines the level a student starts each subject at, and students move up or down subject by subject from there.

Both systems are running in parallel in 2026. Students who entered secondary school in 2023 or earlier are finishing under the old O and N level system. The O and N levels are being replaced by the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate, with the first results issued in 2027.

The banding is more flexible than streaming was. The sorting has not gone away, and neither has the PSLE. Before you reassure your child, find out which system they are actually in. The comfort that fits one does not fit the other.

National Service

The move into full-time National Service is its own pressure point, and the numbers are not small. Nine per cent of pre-enlistees are identified with mental health issues, and 11 per cent of full-time national servicemen asked for mental health support in 2024. Both figures are rising.

Support includes a 24-hour confidential SAF counselling hotline on 1800 278 0022, commander interviews within 48 hours of enlistment and monthly during basic training, and unit paracounsellors.

If you are the parent

The signs worth acting on are: two weeks or more of low mood or unusual irritability, withdrawal from friends and things they used to like, changes in sleep or appetite, a sharp drop in grades, marks on the skin, or worrying posts online.

Open calmly and without a verdict. “I have noticed something seems to be weighing on you” gets further than “what is wrong with you lately”. Then, if it persists past a fortnight or is disrupting daily life, go to the school counsellor, a GP, CHAT if they are 16 or over, or 1771.

Suicide has been the leading cause of death among residents aged 10 to 29 for six consecutive years, most recently in 2024. If your child is talking about not wanting to be here, take it at face value, stay with them, and call 995 if there is immediate danger.