Preschool fees in Singapore cover playgroup, nursery and kindergarten, and a full-day place lists at roughly $610 to $1,290 a month before subsidy at a government-supported centre, or $1,500 to $3,000-plus at a private or international one. After the ECDA Basic Subsidy of $300, a working-mother household can pay $310 or less at an Anchor Operator, and a lower-income family can land below $200 once the means-tested Additional Subsidy kicks in. This guide breaks down what each preschool stage actually costs in 2026, why the same care can cost five times more at one centre than another, and every subsidy that brings the published price down to what you really pay.
Preschool in Singapore covers children from about 2 months to 6 years, and the fee depends far more on the type of operator than on the programme name. The same nursery class can cost $310 a month at one centre and $2,200 at another. Three things decide your bill: the operator scheme (Anchor, Partner, or fully private), your citizenship, and the subsidies you qualify for.
Government-supported centres run under fee caps. From 1 January 2026, Anchor Operators must keep full-day childcare to $610 a month and full-day infant care to $1,235 (both excluding GST). Partner Operators cap full-day childcare at $650 and infant care at $1,290. Private centres set their own prices, usually $1,500 to $3,000-plus for full-day care.
Those are list prices. The amount that leaves your bank account is the fee minus subsidy. A working-mother household paying the $610 Anchor cap drops to $310 after the $300 Basic Subsidy, and lower-income families pay a fraction of that. The table below shows the gap between the published cap and the typical out-of-pocket cost.
| Stage / care type | Anchor Operator cap | Partner Operator cap | Private / international | Typical net after Basic Subsidy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infant care (2-18 months), full-day | $1,235 | $1,290 | $2,000-$3,000+ | $635-$690 (after $600) |
| Childcare incl. playgroup & nursery (18 months-6 yrs), full-day | $610 | $650 | $1,500-$3,000+ | $310-$350 (after $300) |
| Kindergarten programme (K1-K2), half-day | $150 (AOP) | Varies | $800-$2,500+ | $150 minus KiFAS |
| MOE Kindergarten (K1-K2), half-day | $160 (SC) | n/a | n/a | $160 minus KiFAS |
Centres quote a monthly fee, but parents comparing options often think in daily terms. A full-day place at an Anchor centre runs about 22 working days a month, so the $610 cap is roughly $28 a day before subsidy and about $14 a day after the $300 Basic Subsidy. The same maths puts a private $2,200 centre near $100 a day before subsidy, dropping to about $86 a day after the same $300. Per day is also the fairer way to compare half-day, flexi and full-day plans, since the headline monthly figure hides how many hours of care you are actually buying.
The daily lens matters most for infant care, where the cap is far higher because the law requires one staff member for every five babies. At the $1,235 Anchor infant-care cap, you are paying about $56 a day before subsidy and roughly $29 a day after the $600 Basic Subsidy. If you are deciding between returning to work and staying home, comparing the net daily fee against your hourly pay is the cleanest test. Once you know the net monthly figure, fold it into a savings target so the fee competes with your other goals instead of quietly crowding them out.
| Care type and centre | Monthly fee | Per day before subsidy | Per day after Basic Subsidy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Childcare, Anchor cap | $610 | ~$28 | ~$14 (after $300) |
| Childcare, Partner cap | $650 | ~$30 | ~$16 (after $300) |
| Childcare, private | $2,200 | ~$100 | ~$86 (after $300) |
| Infant care, Anchor cap | $1,235 | ~$56 | ~$29 (after $600) |
The labels confuse first-time parents because they overlap. In Singapore most playgroup, nursery and kindergarten classes sit inside the same licensed childcare centre, and the fee cap is the same across them. The names mark the child's age, not a different price tier.
ECDA funds two schemes to keep fees down, and a centre's scheme is the single biggest driver of price. Both schemes trade government grants for a binding fee cap, so you are not paying for better teachers at a private centre as much as paying for the absence of a cap.
Anchor Operators (AOP) get the most funding and the tightest cap. There are five: PCF Sparkletots, NTUC My First Skool, My World Preschool, Skool4Kidz, and E-Bridge Pre-School. From 2026 their full-day childcare cap is $610 and infant care is $1,235, both before GST. The 2026 caps are $30 lower than 2025, part of a multi-year push to bring affordability down.
Partner Operators (POP) get less funding and a slightly higher cap. From 1 January 2026 all POP centres must keep full-day childcare to $650 and full-day infant care to $1,290 for Singapore Citizen children, with half-day childcare at $490 and half-day infant care at $950.
Private and international preschools take no fee-cap funding, so they price freely. Expect $1,500 to $3,000-plus a month for full-day care, and international preschools can run higher still once you add registration, deposit, materials and enrichment. They still qualify for the ECDA Basic and Additional Subsidies as long as the centre is ECDA-licensed, but the larger base fee means a much larger out-of-pocket sum even after subsidy.
Two centres next door to each other can charge a Singapore Citizen working-mother household $310 (Anchor, after the $300 Basic Subsidy) or $1,500-plus (private, after the same subsidy) for full-day childcare. The curriculum gap rarely justifies a $1,200 monthly difference for most families, which is why Anchor and Partner centres have long waitlists. If you are weighing a stretch on fees, it helps to size the decision the way you would any recurring commitment in your monthly budget.
Every Singapore Citizen child at an ECDA-licensed infant care or childcare centre gets a Basic Subsidy, and means-tested families get an Additional Subsidy on top. These apply at private centres too, not only subsidised ones, provided the centre holds an ECDA licence.
Basic Subsidy for a working applicant (mother or single father working at least 56 hours a month) is $600 a month for full-day infant care and $300 for full-day childcare. Non-working families get a smaller flat $150. The subsidy is paid straight to the centre, so you pay only the net fee.
Standalone kindergartens (the half-day K1-K2 programmes) sit outside the childcare fee-cap system, so prices range from about $150 a month at an Anchor or MOE Kindergarten to $2,500-plus at a private international one.
MOE Kindergartens charge $160 a month for Singapore Citizens and $320 for Permanent Residents in 2026. If your child needs after-programme care, MOE Kindergarten Care (KCare) costs up to $425 a month before subsidy, with a $150 basic subsidy for every Singapore Citizen child and means-tested help on top.
The Kindergarten Fee Assistance Scheme (KiFAS) cuts kindergarten fees for Singapore Citizen children at Anchor Operator or MOE Kindergartens. Eligibility is the same income test: gross monthly household income of $12,000 or below, or per capita income of $3,000 or below for households of 5 or more. The subsidy is means-tested, so lower-income families pay almost nothing.
| Gross monthly household income | Per capita income (5+ household) | Max KiFAS subsidy | Min co-payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| $3,000 and below | $750 and below | $163 | $1 |
| $3,001 - $4,500 | $751 - $1,125 | $152 | $12 |
| $4,501 - $6,000 | $1,126 - $1,500 | $109 | $55 |
| $6,001 - $7,500 | $1,501 - $1,875 | $89 | $75 |
| $7,501 - $9,000 | $1,876 - $2,250 | $69 | $95 |
| $9,001 - $10,500 | $2,251 - $2,625 | $49 | $115 |
| $10,501 - $12,000 | $2,626 - $3,000 | $19 | $145 |
| Above $12,000 | Above $3,000 | Not eligible | Full fee |
Families with gross household income of $1,900 and below (or per capita income of $650 and below) can claim the KiFAS Start-Up Grant, a yearly grant of up to $240 to cover registration, deposit, uniforms, insurance and materials when enrolling at a kindergarten. Households on HDB's Public Rental Scheme or on ComCare assistance automatically qualify for the maximum KiFAS.
Every subsidy on this page is reserved for Singapore Citizen children. The ECDA Basic and Additional Subsidies, KiFAS and the CDA all require the child to hold citizenship, so Permanent Resident and foreigner families pay the published fee in full. That single fact changes the affordability picture more than the choice of operator does.
The fee caps themselves are written around the Singapore Citizen fee. At an Anchor or Partner centre, the cap is the SC rate; centres are free to charge PR and foreigner children a higher base fee, and many do, because they receive less government funding for non-citizen places. MOE Kindergarten is the clearest example: a Singapore Citizen pays $160 a month, a Permanent Resident pays $320, and the programme does not enrol foreigners at all.
The practical upshot for a PR family: a $610 childcare cap that a citizen brings down to $310 after the Basic Subsidy stays at $610 (or higher) for you, because there is no $300 to subtract. That gap, about $3,600 a year per child, is worth factoring into any decision about timing citizenship applications or choosing between a capped and a private centre.
| Support | Singapore Citizen | Permanent Resident | Foreigner |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECDA Basic Subsidy | Yes ($300 childcare / $600 infant care) | No | No |
| ECDA Additional Subsidy | Yes (means-tested) | No | No |
| KiFAS (kindergarten) | Yes (AOP / MOE K only) | No | No |
| Baby Bonus CDA against fees | Yes | No | No |
| MOE Kindergarten fee | $160/month | $320/month | Not enrolled |
Before you treat preschool as pure cash outflow, check the Child Development Account. Every Singapore Citizen child has one under the Baby Bonus scheme, and it can pay childcare, infant care and kindergarten fees at Baby Bonus Approved Institutions, which include ECDA-licensed centres.
The government seeds the CDA with a First Step grant of $5,000 for children born on or after 14 February 2023 (third and subsequent children get a further $5,000 under the Large Families Scheme), then matches your own deposits dollar-for-dollar up to a cap by birth order: $4,000 for the first child, $7,000 for the second, $9,000 each for the third and fourth, and $15,000 for the fifth and beyond. That matched money is real cash you can spend on fees.
The practical move is to deposit up to the matching cap early, collect the government match, then draw the combined balance down against monthly fees. It does not lower the fee, but it stretches government money against a bill you would pay anyway. The mechanics of timing the deposits sit in our guide to maximising the CDA, and the Baby Bonus payout schedule shows when the cash gift lands.
The headline fee is not the whole bill. Budget for these one-off and recurring extras, which can add $100 to $500 a month at private centres and a few hundred dollars a year even at subsidised ones:
Preschool is a multi-year commitment, often four to five years from infant care to K2. A $300 net monthly fee is about $3,600 a year, or $18,000 over five years, and a private $1,500 net fee is $90,000-plus over the same stretch. Treating it as a fixed line in a long-running plan rather than a month-to-month decision changes how much centre you can comfortably afford alongside other goals like a home or your own retirement saving.
Fee is the easiest number to compare, so it is tempting to make it the whole decision. A few non-price factors swing the real value enough to matter, and one of them, the waitlist, can decide whether you ever get the capped fee at all.
The capped Anchor and Partner centres are popular precisely because they are cheap, so their queues are long. A place near home can carry a six-to-twelve-month wait, and registration often opens well before your child is due to start. Joining the waitlist early is the single most useful thing a budget-conscious parent can do, because missing the capped slot can push you into a private centre at three to five times the fee. Treating the choice as part of broader money management rather than a one-off decision keeps the fee in proportion to your income.
The savings here are large and mostly procedural. None of it requires earning less or choosing a worse centre.
Full-day childcare lists at $610 (Anchor Operator) to $650 (Partner Operator) before subsidy at government-supported centres, and $1,500 to $3,000-plus at private and international ones. After the $300 Basic Subsidy, a working-mother household typically pays $310-$350 at a capped centre, and lower-income families pay less once the Additional Subsidy applies.
Both get ECDA funding in exchange for a fee cap. Anchor Operators (PCF Sparkletots, My First Skool, My World, Skool4Kidz, E-Bridge) have the lower 2026 caps of $610 childcare and $1,235 infant care. Partner Operators cap at $650 childcare and $1,290 infant care. Private centres have no cap.
Full-day infant care is capped at $1,235 a month at Anchor Operators and $1,290 at Partner Operators in 2026, before GST. It is the most expensive stage because of the higher staffing ratio for babies. The Basic Subsidy for working mothers is $600, with up to $710 more in means-tested Additional Subsidy.
MOE Kindergarten charges $160 a month for Singapore Citizens and $320 for Permanent Residents. Optional after-care (KCare) is up to $425 a month before subsidy. KiFAS can reduce the fee further for lower-income citizen families, down to a $1 minimum co-payment for the lowest income band.
Working-mother households with gross monthly household income of $12,000 or below, or per capita income of $3,000 or below for households of 5 or more, qualify on a sliding scale. From 2027 the ceiling rises to $15,000 household income, widening eligibility to more than 60,000 families.
Yes. The Child Development Account can pay childcare, infant care and kindergarten fees at Baby Bonus Approved Institutions, which include ECDA-licensed centres. The government matches your deposits dollar-for-dollar up to a cap by birth order, so it is worth depositing to the cap before drawing it down against fees.
The ECDA Basic and Additional Subsidies apply at any ECDA-licensed centre, including private ones, for Singapore Citizen children. KiFAS, though, only applies at Anchor Operator or MOE Kindergartens, not private kindergartens. Because private base fees are much higher, the out-of-pocket cost stays high even after subsidy.
No. The ECDA Basic and Additional Subsidies, KiFAS and the Baby Bonus CDA all require Singapore Citizenship, so PR and foreigner families pay the published fee in full. The fee caps at Anchor and Partner centres are the citizen rate; centres may charge non-citizen children more. MOE Kindergarten charges Permanent Residents $320 a month against $160 for citizens and does not enrol foreigners.
Preschool is the umbrella term for centre-based care from about 2 months to 6 years, covering infant care, playgroup, nursery and kindergarten. Kindergarten is the final two years (K1 and K2) for 5 to 6 year-olds before Primary 1. Kindergarten can be a standalone half-day programme or rolled into a full-day childcare programme at the same centre.
Spread over about 22 working days a month, the $610 Anchor childcare cap is roughly $28 a day before subsidy and about $14 a day after the $300 Basic Subsidy. A private centre at $2,200 a month works out near $100 a day. Infant care at the $1,235 cap is about $56 a day before subsidy and $29 after the $600 Basic Subsidy.
For a Singapore Citizen working-mother household, a full-day place at an Anchor Operator is usually the cheapest, dropping from the $610 cap to about $310 after the Basic Subsidy and lower still with the Additional Subsidy. MOE Kindergarten at $160 a month is cheaper for the half-day K1 to K2 years, and KiFAS can cut that to a $1 minimum co-payment for the lowest-income citizen families.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.