About Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE)
The Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is a national examination taken by all students in Singapore near the end of primary six in primary school, which is also their last year in Primary school before they leave for secondary school. It is administered by the Ministry of Education. This nationwide examination tests the English language, the Mother Tongue languages (typically Chinese, Malay, or Tamil, and also some other South Asian languages, such as Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu), Mathematics and Science. Each subject paper is around 2 hours long, with this time varying by fifteen minutes, except for certain components of language subjects. Multiple Choice Questions are tested using a standardised Optical Answer Sheet (OAS) that uses Optical Mark Recognition to detect answers.
The format of the PSLE and the presence of it in the Singapore education system gives the PSLE a part in national culture. PSLE material has also been exported to other countries. Also, some schools abroad have their students take the international version of the exam called the International Primary School Leaving Examination or iPSLE taken sometime in August to help them benchmark themselves vis-a-vis the performance of other foreign schools.
The format of the PSLE and the presence of it in the Singapore education system gives the PSLE a part in national culture. PSLE material has also been exported to other countries. Also, some schools abroad have their students take the international version of the exam called the International Primary School Leaving Examination or iPSLE taken sometime in August to help them benchmark themselves vis-a-vis the performance of other foreign schools.
Language examination and qualification
In order to test the students' grasp of the language subjects, such as the English language or the Mother Tongue languages at the end of primary school, there are several separate examinations. As the student is usually required to take examinations for both his/her Mother Tongue language and the English language, (with the exceptions of exemption or additional languages), the average student repeats the following procedures twice. With each Mother Tongue subject, there are three levels of examination, the standard level, the foundational level and the separate and optional "Higher Mother Tongue" subject. A student will have to choose between standard and foundational Mother Tongue based on his/her proficiency in the language. Whether a Higher Mother Tongue subject is taken also depends on the student's proficiency in the language. English, Mathematics and Science are available at the standard and foundational levels. A student can opt to take different subjects at different levels. In the past, whether a student took Higher Mother Tongue or not was determined by which stream he/she was in, namely the EM1 (higher) stream and the EM2 stream (standard). These streams had the same standard subjects except for the additional EM1 subject of Higher Mother Tongue, which differentiated the streams. This streaming was based on the overall performance of the student when he/she was in Primary 4, his/her fourth year in primary school. There was also an EM3 stream (foundational), in which a student took all four subjects (English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics and Science) at the foundational level. EM3 Science (a foundation Science curriculum for the EM3 stream) was not available then, it will be only available from 2010, and also the new Science syllabus. From 2007, Primary 4 pupils underwent subject-based rather than overall streaming, so that the labels EM1, EM2 and EM3 disappeared, leaving only the options to take different subjects at the standard or foundational level and the option of taking Higher Mother Tongue. At the end of Primary 4, the students' parents decide their combination of subjects. At the end of Primary 5, the school will make the final decision on the student's combination of subjects.
The examination format tends to vary by language, but each language examination usually has:
The examination format tends to vary by language, but each language examination usually has:
- Composition writing (Paper 1) - testing the students' composition skills and student's proficiency in writing in various scenarios. Divided into two parts: Situational (letters, e-mails etc.) and Continuous (narrative or recount). Both parts need to be attempted.
- Comprehension and Language Use (Paper 2) - testing the students' understanding of a passage and written use of the language (e.g. grammar, pnctuation, vocabulary). Carries majority of marks in that language.
- Listening Comprehension (sometimes referred to as Paper 3 or 4) - testing the students' ability to comprehend speech in daily situations. Usually contains six to seven passages.
- Oral examination (sometimes referred to as Paper 3) - Testing the students' proficiency in speaking the language.
English Language
The oral examination for the English language usually lasts about five to ten minutes per student; however, students are of the examination, the examination is often divided into two days of two separate sets of material each to reduce the inefficiency caused by the waiting time.
The maximum score for this examination is 30. The oral examination is divided into three sections: students are required to read aloud from a passage fluently (also known as Reading Aloud), this being graded on a score of 10. The students are then required to describe and interpret a picture (Picture Discussion) as thoroughly and detailed as possible in a clockwise or anti-clockwise way, and giving comments about their actions in a formal way and predict the consequence of such an action, and this also having a score of 10. It is advised that students do not point to the picture. No names should be given and everything is to be said in present tense. The final section (Conversation) requires the students to answer any questions the teachers asks of them related to the two sections, which often require their opinion and inference, and provides the final ten marks. The examination is judged by two teachers who have to agree on a single score for each student.
A listening comprehension examination will then test the students' ability to comprehend the spoken English language in various daily situations, and is composed of twenty multiple choice questions which is based on information contained in audio played to the students, and the examination is taken as a class, not individually. Usually questions will be based on one of seven passages in different scenarios. This particular examination lasts around twenty minutes, with the maximum score being 20.
There is a two-section composition question composed of functional writing, also known as situational writing, where students write an informal or a formal letter, memo, note or even possibly a short report, and an essay, also known as continuous writing, usually written in the form of a narrative or third person drama. These two sections last a total of one hour and ten minutes. The functional section has a score value of 15; the maximum essay score 40. Two teachers are required to grade a composition paper, and the disparity in scoring made by each teacher should be minimal, and the average of the scoring taken if the disparity is small in order to yield the score for the questions. If the disparity is too large, the question papers are required to be re-graded, this time with three teachers.
The essay section in particular usually avoids giving questions requiring logical argument and favours scenic or event description. This stands in contrast to some of the questions asked often in the General Certificate of Education (O levels). The examination paper asks the students to choose from two questions. The first question takes the form of a picture, representing a scene in which the students are supposed to write about and describe, and the second takes the form of a given situation or scenario, each including writing criteria, such as the required setting of each of the two questions in which the students are supposed to fulfil.
The final examination testing the students' proficiency in the language is a written paper which tests the student's comprehension of the written language being tested, and usually lasts about 1 hour and 50 minutes in length. It has a total score value of 95. Multiple choice questions are given in the first section of the written paper, and tests grammar, where students are required to spot a mistake in tense and provide the correct conjugate or word form, or provide correct punctuation which as of 2005 has a weight of 15. It also tests vocabulary the students are required to choose a word from a list that fills in a blank that will express a sentence logically, with a current weight of 5. Students then are provided five questions, with a total weight of 10, where the student is to synthesise (join) two sentences together into one complete, grammatically coherent and agreeable sentence. Following this ten sentences with highlighted spelling and grammar mistakes which are supposed to be copyedited, with a total weight of 10. A cloze passage with a total of ten items and a weight of 10 is provided to the student; the passage tests grammar specifically.
After this, students are given a cloze passage testing comprehension as opposed to grammar, which currently has a weight of 15 in which they fill in blanks with words on their own. Students may be given a graphical stimulus; students will answer multiple-choice questions based on the graphical stimulus. Students are then given a passage to comprehend, and are tested first by answering five multiple choice questions about it, with a total weight of 5, and answering in full sentences ten open-ended questions with a total weight of 20.
To yield the final grade for the student taking the language, all of the students' examination scores for that language are added; as the maximum total score is 200, the total is divided by 200% to yield the students' percentage score for the language subject. The format described is the standard format for 2005; it varies slightly in weight for each section, with deletions of some sections if the student is taking Foundation English as part of the EM3 stream.
The maximum score for this examination is 30. The oral examination is divided into three sections: students are required to read aloud from a passage fluently (also known as Reading Aloud), this being graded on a score of 10. The students are then required to describe and interpret a picture (Picture Discussion) as thoroughly and detailed as possible in a clockwise or anti-clockwise way, and giving comments about their actions in a formal way and predict the consequence of such an action, and this also having a score of 10. It is advised that students do not point to the picture. No names should be given and everything is to be said in present tense. The final section (Conversation) requires the students to answer any questions the teachers asks of them related to the two sections, which often require their opinion and inference, and provides the final ten marks. The examination is judged by two teachers who have to agree on a single score for each student.
A listening comprehension examination will then test the students' ability to comprehend the spoken English language in various daily situations, and is composed of twenty multiple choice questions which is based on information contained in audio played to the students, and the examination is taken as a class, not individually. Usually questions will be based on one of seven passages in different scenarios. This particular examination lasts around twenty minutes, with the maximum score being 20.
There is a two-section composition question composed of functional writing, also known as situational writing, where students write an informal or a formal letter, memo, note or even possibly a short report, and an essay, also known as continuous writing, usually written in the form of a narrative or third person drama. These two sections last a total of one hour and ten minutes. The functional section has a score value of 15; the maximum essay score 40. Two teachers are required to grade a composition paper, and the disparity in scoring made by each teacher should be minimal, and the average of the scoring taken if the disparity is small in order to yield the score for the questions. If the disparity is too large, the question papers are required to be re-graded, this time with three teachers.
The essay section in particular usually avoids giving questions requiring logical argument and favours scenic or event description. This stands in contrast to some of the questions asked often in the General Certificate of Education (O levels). The examination paper asks the students to choose from two questions. The first question takes the form of a picture, representing a scene in which the students are supposed to write about and describe, and the second takes the form of a given situation or scenario, each including writing criteria, such as the required setting of each of the two questions in which the students are supposed to fulfil.
The final examination testing the students' proficiency in the language is a written paper which tests the student's comprehension of the written language being tested, and usually lasts about 1 hour and 50 minutes in length. It has a total score value of 95. Multiple choice questions are given in the first section of the written paper, and tests grammar, where students are required to spot a mistake in tense and provide the correct conjugate or word form, or provide correct punctuation which as of 2005 has a weight of 15. It also tests vocabulary the students are required to choose a word from a list that fills in a blank that will express a sentence logically, with a current weight of 5. Students then are provided five questions, with a total weight of 10, where the student is to synthesise (join) two sentences together into one complete, grammatically coherent and agreeable sentence. Following this ten sentences with highlighted spelling and grammar mistakes which are supposed to be copyedited, with a total weight of 10. A cloze passage with a total of ten items and a weight of 10 is provided to the student; the passage tests grammar specifically.
After this, students are given a cloze passage testing comprehension as opposed to grammar, which currently has a weight of 15 in which they fill in blanks with words on their own. Students may be given a graphical stimulus; students will answer multiple-choice questions based on the graphical stimulus. Students are then given a passage to comprehend, and are tested first by answering five multiple choice questions about it, with a total weight of 5, and answering in full sentences ten open-ended questions with a total weight of 20.
To yield the final grade for the student taking the language, all of the students' examination scores for that language are added; as the maximum total score is 200, the total is divided by 200% to yield the students' percentage score for the language subject. The format described is the standard format for 2005; it varies slightly in weight for each section, with deletions of some sections if the student is taking Foundation English as part of the EM3 stream.
