Private School (PEI) Websites: Registration and EduTrust Rules

Who regulates private schools now: CPE, SSG and SWDA

Private education institutions (PEIs) must register under the Private Education Act 2009. For years this was handled by the Committee for Private Education (CPE) within SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG). On 1 July 2026, SSG and Workforce Singapore merged into the Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA), and ICA's pages now describe PEIs as registered with SWDA.

Many official documents, including the Enhanced Registration Framework (ERF) information notes on the Training Partners Gateway), still use the SSG and CPE names. The rules themselves have not changed because of the merger, but update any website text that says "registered with CPE" or "SSG" so it matches the regulator's current name.

Not every school is a PEI under SWDA. MOE's page on registering a private school explains which tuition and enrichment centres register with MOE instead. Our tuition centre website guide covers that route.

What every PEI advertisement and web page must show

CPE's advisory on the most common contraventions (27 April 2022) lists the advertising rule under Regulation 27(2): any advertisement issued by or for the PEI must not be false or misleading, and must include, set out consecutively, the PEI's name, registration number and period of registration.

In practice that means a standard line in your website footer, on every landing page used for ads, and in social media and print ads, including those run by agents for you. For example: the school's registered name, then "PEI registration no." followed by the number, then the registration period dates.

The ERF information notes also explain that, under section 19(2)(b) of the Act, an advertisement is treated as false or misleading if it misdescribes the PEI or its courses, or leaves out the information the regulations require. Avoid claims such as "government-approved" or "guaranteed job placement" unless you can prove them in those exact terms.

Course, fee and refund information: the 14-day rule

Regulation 28(1) of the Private Education Regulations requires a PEI to make the prescribed information available to students, intending students and prospective students in a form that is easy for them to access. Regulation 28(2) requires you to inform them of changes within 14 days. CPE lists failure to do this as its most common contravention.

Your website is the obvious place to meet this. The ERF notes list what the student contract must cover, and the same items belong on each course page:

Build the course pages so that one person can update dates and fees in a single place, and keep a dated change log. That makes the 14-day rule easy to meet and easy to evidence.

Online fee payment: collection caps and no deposits

Online checkout is where PEI rules bite hardest. The ERF information notes set a fee collection schedule that your payment set-up must follow:

The same notes say a PEI may not collect a deposit or penalty from a student for any purpose, refundable or not, other than charges for late payment. A website that takes a full-course payment or a "registration deposit" at checkout can therefore breach the rules on its own. Set up instalment billing that matches your cap instead. SWDA's Protection of Course Fees/protection-of-course-fees) page explains the IWC and Fee Protection Scheme options.

EduTrust, international students and agents

ICA's page on approved private education institutions states that only EduTrust-certified PEIs can offer placements to foreign students, who then need a Student's Pass for full-time study. If you are not EduTrust-certified, your website should not invite international students to apply for full-time courses, and your enquiry form should screen for this.

• Show your EduTrust status and validity only if you hold it, exactly as certified.
• Keep a list of authorised agents on your website, so students can check who represents you.
• Tell students to pay fees directly to the PEI. SkillsFuture's student guidance says course fees should be paid directly to the PEI, not through a third party.
• Route agent leads into the same enquiry system as direct leads, so you can see what agents tell students.

Student data: enquiry forms, passports and PDPA

PEIs collect a lot of sensitive data: passport copies, academic transcripts, sometimes medical details. The PDPA applies in full. Ask for passport and certificate copies only at the application stage, not on the first enquiry form, and store them in a system with access controls rather than a shared inbox.

Your privacy notice should explain why you collect each item, who you share it with (awarding universities, ICA, agents) and how long you keep it. Our guide to website privacy policies and cookie consent covers the website side. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Do it yourself or get help?

A PEI with a few courses can maintain compliant course pages itself if the site is built so dates, fees and the registration line live in one place. The common problems are old intakes left online, fees shown without all components, deposits at checkout, and agent ads without registration details.

Our Website Pro (S$2,990) builds a multi-page site with structured course pages, a site-wide registration footer and an enquiry flow that separates local and international applicants. The PDPA Compliance Pack (S$690) covers consent wording, the privacy notice and retention rules for student documents. For typical build costs, see our website cost guide.