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PSLE 2024 Exam Format

Winning is all about planning right and knowing what to expect — this logic holds true for excelling in any examination, more so if your child is preparing for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). Hence, familiarising yourself with the exam format steers you toward the winning track. Studying smart also includes knowing how to revise based on the way questions are asked in the exam papers. Get a boost on your child's overall performance by understanding the exam format.

English

Paper 1 - Writing (55 marks)

Situational Writing (15 marks): Students need to write a short functional piece such as an email or a letter as per the given situation. Students will be assessed based on their ability to express and put forth situational ideas like writing emails/reports and compositional skills will be assessed.

Continuous Writing (40 marks): Students must write a composition on a given topic in continuous prose of at least 150 words. Three pictures related to the topic will be provided for students to come up with their own interpretation of the topic. Usage of grammar, vocabulary, sentence formation, paragraph writing with an introduction, a middle and an end, and punctuations will be taken into consideration.

Duration: 1 hour 10 minutes

Weightage: 27.5%

Paper 2 - Language Use and Comprehension (95 marks)

Students are assessed based on their ability to write grammatically correct language. There will be two booklets for this exam and the students will be tested on the following:

Booklet A

Grammar (MCQ. 10 questions. 10 marks)

Vocabulary (MCQ. 5 questions. 5 marks)

Vocabulary cloze (MCQ. 5 questions. 5 marks)

Visual text comprehension (MQ. 8 questions. 8 marks)

Booklet B

Grammar Cloze (OE. 10 questions. 10 marks)

Editing for spelling and grammar (OE. 12 questions. 12 marks)

Comprehension cloze (OE. 15 questions. 15 marks)

Synthesis and transformation (OE. 5 questions. 10 marks)

Comprehension OE (OE. 1o questions. 20 marks)

Duration: 1 hour and 50 minutes

Weightage: 47.5%

Paper 3 - Listening Comprehension (20 marks)

This paper judges a student’s ability to understand spoken English. There are 20 multiple-choice questions — the first seven questions will be based on pictorial representations. The written material may be as varied as announcements, advertisements, conversations, instructions or stories. Each text will be read twice.

Duration: Maximum 35 minutes

Weightage: 10%

Paper 4 - Oral Communication (30 marks)

Reading Aloud (10 marks): Students are expected to read a passage aloud with proper pronunciation, fluency in the language, and articulation.

Stimulus-based Conversation (20 marks): Students will be assessed on their ability to provide a personal response to a visual stimulus with fluency and proper diction. Students will also be expected to engage in a conversation on a relevant topic.

Duration: 5 minutes to prepare; 5 minutes to answer

Weightage: 15%

Mathematics

Math Paper 1 (45 marks)

This consists of Booklet A and Booklet B. Booklet A consists of 15 multiple-choice questions of total 20 marks while Booklet B carries 15 short-answer sums of total 25 marks.

The multiple-choice and the 1-mark short-answer questions will be straightforward questions that assess basic concepts and skills. The 2-mark short-answer questions are trickier in nature and may comprise one or two parts. Partial marks may be given should a student fail to give the correct answer but provided the correct method or working.

You need to be fast and accurate in solving this paper worth a total of 45 marks. Scoring well here will increase your AL Score. Calculators are not allowed.

Duration: 1 hour

Math Paper 2 (55 marks)

This paper tests a student’s expertise in Mathematics. It has just one booklet with five short-answer questions of 2-marks each as well as 12 long structured questions that comprise a total of 45 marks. Some problem sums are indirect and hence the students must read the questions properly before attempting them. Calculators are allowed.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Science

PSLE Science examination has just one written paper comprising two booklets, Booklet A and Booklet B. Booklet A has 28 multiple-choice questions with 2 marks each. Total marks for Booklet A are 56. Booklet B has about 12 to 13 open-ended questions carrying 2 to 5 marks, depending on the questions asked. The total marks are 44. All questions are compulsory.

Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes


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