Overview

Changing Educational Landscape

The last few years have seen many changes in Singapore’s Education landscape. The key focus moving forward is on the provision of a holistic education focusing on the development of self-directed and self-motivated students rather than an over emphasis on grades. 

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/fewer-exams-for-students-less-emphasis-on-grades

In view of this, examinations at the Primary 1 and 2 levels have been replaced by formative assessments where instead of grades, competency ratings for the various skills related to language learning are assessed. 

Primary 3 and 5 students as well as Sec 1 and 3 students will not have mid-year examinations in 2021. This will be replaced by weighted assessments which could come in the form of project work or bite-sized assessments. Another key changed is the grading system at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) which aims to remove the fine differentiation amongst studetns. More information on these changes can be gleaned from the following link: 

3 Biggest Changes in the Educational Landscape 2019-2021: Part 1

Primary 3 Level

Primary 3 students will have no mid-year examinations from 2020 onward and this will be extended to the Primary 5 level in 2021. In its place, a weighted assessment model will be put in place to allow pupils to be immersed in experiential and collaborative learning. The assessment plan that has been developed by BTTSAL is as follows:

The Individual project for Term 1 requires pupils to create a scrapbook on “My Family”. Pupils will be required to make a two minutes presentation to their classmates.

Focus for P3 will continue to be on developing pupils reading and writing skills. More details on the assessment process are available on the BTTSAL link:

Primary 4 and 5 Levels

Pupils in P4 and P5 will continue to have mid-year and year end examinations in 2020. P5 students will have have mid-year examinations replaced by weighted assessments in 2021. Pupils will be banded at the end of P4 into standard and foundation streams with recommendations being made by SSEF Punjabi school to the mainstream school with regard to subject based banding.

Primary 5 students will be graded at the end of the examinations based on the new PSLE Achievement Levels. More information on the new PSLE scoring system is available on MOE’s website.

A summary of the Achievement Levels is shown in the following diagrams together with eligibility criteria for secondary school streams:

The key intent of the new scoring system is to widen the scoring bands so as to reduce the fine differentiation that is inherent in the current T-score aggregate that is computed. The emphasis is also on how well the student has learnt, and not how well he has done compared to others.

More information on the assessment for P4 and P5 is available on the BTTSAL website:

P6 Level

The focus at the P6 Level will continue to be on preparation for the mainstream examinations. Please refer to the Calendar of Activities for information on additional classes that will be conducted prior to BTTSAL examinations and PSLE.

More information on the assessment is available on the BTTSAL website:

Sharing of PSLE examination format and preparation for PSLE was carried out for all P6 pupils and their parents by Mdm Manjeet Kaur, retired Principal of Unity Primary School and Mr Jasbir Singh, Principal SSEF Punjabi School. The following slides are embedded for reference.