Great World MRT and River Valley Primary: When a Parcel C Address Can Count for P1 Distance Priority

For a family looking at the Parcel C site beside Great World MRT, the school question usually comes first. River Valley Primary School's MOE address is 2 River Valley Green, the same road as the site. That is a genuine advantage, but Primary 1 (P1) priority is not decided by a street name. It is decided by Ministry of Education (MOE) rules on how distance is measured, which address counts and when the family has to move in. This article runs those rules against what is known, and not yet known, about Parcel C.

The three MOE tests a new-launch address must pass

MOE test	What MOE says	Where Parcel C stands
Home-school distance (HSD) category	Measured as the shortest distance from any point on the school boundary to the home, based on the building outline in the building plan submitted by the development's Qualified Person. MOE asks parents to check the OneMap School Query service in the year of registration, because the category can change.	No project building outline is public yet, so the formal category cannot be checked today. Our site lists the school as within 1 km as a working position, not a confirmed HSD result.
Yet-to-be-completed property	You can register with a purchased property that is not yet completed, but its vacant or delivery possession date (VPD/DPD) must be within 2 years of the child's entry into P1. MOE does not accept a probable completion date. For private property, you email the school a copy of the original Sale and Purchase agreement.	There is no Sale and Purchase agreement yet. Possession date and TOP have not been announced.
30-month stay	A child who gets a place through HSD priority using a new property address must live at that address for at least 30 months, counted from the time the family moves in.	This applies after move-in, so it shapes any plan to sell or lease the unit early.

Why "same street" is not yet "within 1 km" on paper

MOE does not measure from a road name or a postal district. It measures from the outline of the building in the plans the project's Qualified Person submits, to the nearest point of the school boundary. Until Parcel C's building plans exist, nobody can show a buyer the official category for a given block. MOE also says the category can shift from year to year, for example when building plans are updated or a school boundary changes.

The practical step is simple. When the developer releases a site plan, note which blocks sit nearest the school, then check the OneMap result for your chosen block in your child's registration year. Stack and layout information will appear on the floor plans page once the developer releases it.

Matching your child's P1 year to a possession date that has not been announced yet

This is the timing test families most often miss. MOE's own example: a child registering for P1 in 2026 needs a VPD/DPD no later than 31 December 2028. The same two-year logic applies to later cohorts, and MOE will only look at the date in the contract, not a brochure estimate.

1. Write down your child's P1 registration year and entry year. Work out the latest possession date MOE would accept for that cohort.
2. Wait for the contract date. Parcel C's TOP and possession dates have not been announced. The only date that counts for P1 is the one in the Sale and Purchase agreement.
3. Keep a fallback. If the possession date falls outside the window, you would register with another eligible address, normally your current NRIC address.
4. Plan for the 30-month stay. If the new address wins a place through HSD priority, the stay clock starts when you move in.

MOE's 2027 framework changes and River Valley Primary

MOE's P1 pages, updated on 11 September 2026, set out changes that apply from the 2027 P1 Registration Exercise, for children starting P1 in 2028. Two matter for this decision:

• 60 places will be reserved in Phase 2C, up from 40, at all schools except smaller-intake schools, meaning those with a P1 intake of fewer than 180 students.
• A Two-Track Scheme in Phase 2C will split places equally between applicants living within 2 km and beyond 2 km, with no distance priority inside each track. MOE named 12 schools for a start. River Valley Primary School is not among them.

On MOE's published list, then, the usual order still applies at River Valley Primary when it is oversubscribed: Singapore Citizens within 1 km, then between 1 km and 2 km, then outside 2 km, followed by Permanent Residents in the same distance order. We have not checked the school's intake or past balloting figures. Check MOE's vacancy and balloting data for the year you register before you rely on any band.

The parent's commute from Great World station

URA describes the site as next to Great World MRT station. Great World opened on 13 November 2022 in Stage 3 of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL). For a parent whose office, a second child's school and enrichment classes may sit in different parts of the island, what matters is which interchanges the line reaches without a transfer. From LTA's list:

TEL interchange	Direction from Great World	Connects to
Orchard	Northbound	North-South Line
Stevens	Northbound	Downtown Line
Caldecott	Northbound	Circle Line
Outram Park	Southbound	East-West Line and North East Line
Marina Bay	Southbound	North-South Line and Circle Line

We do not quote walking times from any block to the station or to the school gate, because block positions are not public. Ask for the site plan through the showflat registration page and walk the routes yourself before committing.

What to confirm before you commit

• The possession date clause in the Sale and Purchase agreement, checked against your child's P1 year.
• The OneMap HSD category for your specific block, in the registration year.
• Price and payment timing on the price page, which has no figures until the developer releases a price list.

For the land record behind the site, read who won the Parcel C tender. For errands, food and the river around Great World, see everyday life beside Great World City.