The Cost of Tuition in Singapore (2026): Rates by Level, Format & What Families Spend

Last updated August 2026. Figures are compiled from the Singapore Department of Statistics’ Household Expenditure Survey 2023 (the latest available), Ministry of Education parliamentary replies (Feb 2025 and Feb 2026), and Singapore tuition agencies’ published 2025–2026 rate guides. This is a reference resource — see Methodology & sources at the end. Journalists and site owners are welcome to cite it with a link to this page.

Key tuition-cost statistics at a glance (2026)

• Singapore families spent a record $1.8 billion on private tuition in 2023 — up from $1.4 billion in 2018 and $1.1 billion in 2013 (Department of Statistics, Household Expenditure Survey 2023).
• The average resident household spent $104.80 a month on private tuition in 2023 — a figure MOE reconfirmed in Parliament in February 2026.
• The gap by income is wide: the top-earning 20% of households spent $162.60 a month on tuition; the bottom 20% spent $36.30.
• Total household spending on education reached about $404 a month in 2023, with private tuition a major driver.
• Per-hour rates run from about $30/hour for a primary group class at a centre to $150/hour for a one-to-one A-Level lesson with an ex-MOE teacher.
• The government does not officially track how many students receive tuition — so the $1.8 billion spend is the clearest available gauge of the industry’s scale (MOE, parliamentary reply, February 2026).

How much does tuition cost in Singapore in 2026?

In 2026, private tuition in Singapore typically costs around $30 per hour for primary-level group classes at a centre and rises to $90–$150 per hour for a one-to-one A-Level lesson with an ex-MOE teacher. Across the country, families spent a record $1.8 billion on private tuition in 2023 — an average of $104.80 per household each month — according to the Department of Statistics. Below is the full breakdown by level, format and tutor type.

What Singapore families actually spend on tuition

The Department of Statistics’ Household Expenditure Survey put total household spending on private tuition at $1.8 billion in 2023, up from $1.4 billion in 2018 and $1.1 billion in 2013. Average monthly spend per household was $104.80, but the gap between income groups is wide:

National spending on tuition has climbed steadily: roughly $680 million in 2008, $1.1 billion in 2013, $1.4 billion in 2018 and $1.8 billion in 2023 — a 29% rise in five years and a 64% rise in a decade. Tuition sits within a wider education bill: households spent about $404 a month on education overall in 2023, with tuition and preschool the main drivers of the increase.

One thing the numbers can’t tell you is how many children actually attend tuition. In a February 2026 parliamentary reply, MOE confirmed it does not track the proportion of students receiving private tuition, by subject or otherwise. The Ministry also noted (February 2025) that the growth in tuition expenditure has been broadly in line with the growth in overall household incomes — so as a share of the household budget, tuition spending has stayed relatively steady even as the dollar figure hit a record.

Tuition rates in Singapore by format (2026)

There are three common formats, and they price differently. Large group classes at a tuition centre are the cheapest per hour; one-to-one private tuition is the most expensive; and small-group classes sit in between, trading some of the individual attention of private tuition for a lower price. Typical per-hour ranges:

Private 1-to-1 tuition rates by tutor type (2026)

For one-to-one home tuition, the biggest driver of price is who is teaching — a part-time tutor (often a university student), a full-time professional tutor, or a current/former MOE school teacher. Published 2026 hourly ranges:

Tuition centres that charge a monthly fee rather than an hourly rate tend to land between $400 and $480 a month for weekly two-hour classes at the more established brands, which works out broadly in line with the per-hour group figures above.

What tuition adds up to over a child’s school years

The per-hour and per-month figures above are easy to underestimate once they run across several years and subjects. The table below is an illustrative projection — not a survey figure — based on the $400–$480/month centre range for a weekly two-hour class per subject, to show how the commitment compounds:

Switch those subjects to one-to-one lessons with an experienced tutor and the same schedule can cost two to three times as much. This is why format — group, small-group or private — is usually the single biggest lever a family has over the total bill.

Group vs private: which is more expensive?

Not as clear-cut as it looks. Headline per-hour rates are lower for group classes, but once you account for a private tutor’s travel time (often built into the rate) and the fact that a strong small-group class can deliver much of the individual attention of one-to-one teaching at a fraction of the price, the real cost-per-outcome narrows. The practical question for most families isn’t “what’s cheapest per hour” but “what class size gives my child enough individual attention to actually improve.”

That trade-off is why small-group formats have grown. At Arche Academy in Hougang, classes are capped at five students so each child still gets individual attention, at group-class pricing rather than private-tuition pricing. You can compare our PSLE, O-Level and A-Level classes, or book a trial to sit in.

How to keep tuition costs down without hurting results

Tuition spending is one of the more controllable lines in a family budget once you know where the money actually goes. Five practical ways to spend less without sacrificing outcomes:

• Target weak subjects, not every subject. Enrolling a child in tuition for subjects they are already coping with is the most common source of wasted spend. Fix the one or two subjects that are actually pulling the average down.
• Choose small-group over one-to-one where you can. For most students who need reinforcement rather than intensive remediation, a capped small-group class delivers enough individual attention at roughly half to a third of one-to-one pricing.
• Start earlier at lower rates. Per-hour rates rise sharply with level and with exam-season demand. Building the foundation in Sec 3 (or P5) costs far less than crisis one-to-one lessons in the final months before the exam.
• Don’t over-schedule. Multiple weekly sessions across every subject adds cost and often crowds out the independent practice that actually moves grades.
• Ask about trials and monthly terms. A trial class before committing, and month-to-month rather than long lock-ins, protect you from paying for a poor fit.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does tuition cost in Singapore in 2026?

Group classes at a tuition centre start around $30/hour at primary level and rise to about $55+/hour at JC level. One-to-one home tuition ranges from roughly $30/hour for a part-time primary tutor to $150/hour for an ex-MOE teacher at A-Level. Centres that bill monthly typically charge $400–$480 for a weekly two-hour class.

How much do Singapore families spend on tuition on average?

The average resident household spent $104.80 a month on private tuition in 2023, according to the Department of Statistics’ Household Expenditure Survey. Nationally, families spent $1.8 billion on tuition that year — a record, and up from $1.4 billion in 2018.

Is small-group tuition cheaper than private tuition?

Yes. Small-group classes at a centre are typically priced like group tuition (from about $30–$55/hour depending on level), well below one-to-one home rates of $50–$150/hour. A capped small-group class is the middle option: more individual attention than a large class, at a fraction of one-to-one pricing.

How much does PSLE tuition cost?

PSLE-level tuition at a centre typically runs about $200–$500 a month per subject for small-group classes, depending on the centre and class size. One-to-one PSLE tuition at home usually costs $30–$90/hour depending on the tutor’s experience.

How much does O-Level and A-Level tuition cost?

Secondary/O-Level group classes run about $40/hour and up at a centre, with one-to-one rates of $35–$100/hour. JC/A-Level is the most expensive band: $55+/hour for group classes and $50–$150/hour one-to-one, with ex-MOE teachers at the top of the range. You can see how a capped small-group model prices against this on our O-Level and A-Level class pages.

Methodology & sources

National spending figures are from the Singapore Department of Statistics’ Household Expenditure Survey 2023, first reported in January 2025, and were reconfirmed in Ministry of Education parliamentary replies in February 2025 and February 2026. The February 2026 reply also confirms that MOE does not track the proportion of students receiving private tuition. Per-hour rate ranges are compiled from the publicly published 2025–2026 rate guides of Singapore tuition agencies (including TutorCity and SmileTutor) and reflect typical advertised ranges, not fixed prices — actual fees vary by subject, tutor demand and exam-season timing. Where sources differed, we show the combined range. The multi-year projection is illustrative, derived from the monthly centre-fee range in this article, and is not a survey statistic. This resource is maintained by Arche Academy; figures will be refreshed as new survey and rate data is published. Journalists and site owners are welcome to cite it with a link to this page.