21 August 2026 | Media Replies 2026

PSLE ORAL EXAMINATION AIMS TO ASSESS STUDENTS' COMMUNICATION SKILLS

We thank 洪婷婷 (“Did the Primary 6 oral exam catch students by surprise?”, 14 August 2026) and 王莉芳 (“Oral exams can be innovative, but fairness must not be overlooked”, 16 August 2026) for their feedback.

The PSLE oral examination assesses students’ ability to communicate effectively, including their ability to express ideas and engage in a conversation using appropriate vocabulary, sentence structures and pronunciation. Students are not assessed on specialised knowledge of a particular subject or context, nor are they expected to reproduce specific vocabulary, technical terms or pre-prepared responses.

The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) has established processes in place for developing national examinations, including the oral examinations. The panel responsible for developing the PSLE papers comprises assessment specialists from SEAB and curriculum experts from the Ministry of Education. The panel ensures that the examination questions are aligned with the teaching syllabus and that the oral examination tasks across different sessions assess the intended learning outcomes at an appropriate and comparable level.

The video stimulus in the PSLE Chinese Language oral examination provides context for students to make observations and express viewpoints. Students do not have to narrate the action sequence, name or describe objects or features in the video. For example, students will not be penalised for not naming the ‘crowbar’ on the first day’s oral examination 2026. Oral prompts are designed to be accessible for Primary 6 students, allowing them to respond using language they are familiar with and from the perspective and reasoning of a 12-year-old child. Should students require support during the conversations, the oral examiners will provide additional prompts and students will not be penalised.

In particular, the use of different contexts across the two oral examination sessions are designed to be comparable in assessment demand and the topics are aligned to what students have learnt in schools. For example, the topic of “safety awareness” （安全意识）on the first day of the oral examination this year can be traced back to the Primary 3 Chinese Language textbook, where students were introduced to the context of a burglar breaking into a house and committing burglary (3B, Chapter 15) and given opportunities to discuss “community safety awareness”（社区安全意识） (3A, Chapter 7).  Similarly, the topic of “honesty” on the second day of the oral examination is covered in the same chapter on “Leaving a Note” （留张便条）(3A, Chapter 7) in the Primary 3 Chinese Language textbook. These topics reflect familiar situations and values that form part of students’ curriculum.

Yue Lip Sin
Chief Executive, Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board