• From the age of 13 onwards, your son or ward will receive various National Service (NS) notices at his mailing address registered with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA). These will inform him of what he needs to do.

• If your son or ward fails to comply with his NS notices, he will be committing offences under the Enlistment Act 1970. He may be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to 3 years, or both.

When your son or ward turns 13 years old, he will receive the Notice on Exit Permit (EP) requirements at his mailing address registered with the ICA. If he is 13 years or older and will be overseas for 3 months or longer, he will need to apply for an EP. He might also be required to furnish a bond. He does not need an EP if he is overseas for less than 3 months. For more details, read the guide on Exit Permit and bond.

Upon turning 16.5 years old, your son or ward will need to register for NS on the OneNS web portal. He will receive the NS Registration Notice, with instructions to register. He may apply for deferment for full-time pre-university studies during NS registration. After registering for NS, he will continue to receive NS-related notifications through mail.

Your son or ward may be deferred from NS to pursue full-time pre-university studies at a government-funded institution (such as GCE ‘O’, ‘N’ or ‘A’ Level, polytechnic diploma, Higher NITEC, or NITEC) or selected courses at a privately-funded institution, as long as he is advancing his academic qualifications. Deferment will not be granted for university degree courses even if he has already begun the course. For more details, read the guide on education before and after NS.

The pre-enlistment medical screening will determine your son or ward’s medical fitness for National Service (NS).

If your son or ward is enlisting before Oct 2027, he will receive a Physical Employment Standard (PES) status. If your son or ward is enlisting from Oct 2027 onwards, he will be graded under the refreshed Medical Classification System.

Your son or ward’s medical fitness status will be used to determine his deployment during full-time NS, so that he receives training that is suitable and safe for him. For more details, read the guide on medical screening for pre-enlistees.

Your son or ward may be eligible for an 8-week reduction in his full-time NS duration based on his medical fitness, and if he attains 61 points or more in his pre-enlistee Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT):

• Enlisting before Oct 2027. Your son or ward can take the pre-enlistee IPPT if he is medically graded PES A/B1.

• Enlisting from Oct 2027 onwards. If your son or ward is eligible for the 8-week reduction in full-time NS, he will be informed via OneNS to book his PE IPPT.

He will qualify for direct basic training if he attains this IPPT result at least two weeks before the Physical Training Phase (PTP) enlistment. For more details, read the guide on pre-enlistee IPPT and NS duration.

This is the start of your son or ward’s journey as a full-time National Serviceman (NSF). To learn more about how to prepare for this important milestone in his life, read the guide on enlistment day.

Visit the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) website for more information such as pre-enlistee IPPT and posting to uniformed services.