The Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is a milestone examination for all Primary 6 students in Singapore. From 2021, the PSLE uses a revised scoring system instead of the former T-score mode. No more A*s, the new highest score for each subject is AL1 – awarded for 90 marks and above!
Doing well for the PSLE opens the doors for students to enter Top Secondary Schools in Singapore, such as Raffles Girls’ School (RGS), Raffles Institution (RI), ACS (Independent), and Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools such as Hwa Chong Institution, Nanyang Girls’ High School, Dunman High School and River Valley High School.
These schools offer special programmes such as the through train Integrated Programme (IP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and Music Elective Programme (MEP). They have teachers, facilities and resources that provide high quality education learning opportunities within and beyond the classroom. Students’ holistic development is well-supported!
How can your child achieve AL1 for PSLE Math?
To answer this question, Think Academy’s full-time, dedicated Curriculum Specialists and Teachers including Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Princeton, NUS, NTU, Raffles, Hwa Chong, Nanyang alumni, former Math Olympiad winners, ex-GEPers and MOE teachers have done an in-depth analysis of past year PSLE Mathematics questions (we’ve a separate detailed analysis on PSLE 2021 Math Questions and Worked Solutions) – here are some key insights!
The most important Primary Level to master for Math is…
Primary 5!
Across past year PSLE questions, P5 topics, knowledge and skills accounted for the highest proportion in terms of question frequency and score weightage. Typically at least 40%, or 40 out of 100 marks in total.
It’s therefore really important to have a solid grasp of Primary 5 Math syllabus and questions! It’s better to learn well while your child is in Primary 5, instead of trying to play catch up in Primary 6 – that would be stressful.
Cool, and what Math Topics should I focus on?
Great question! Let’s continue practicing more Math data analytical skills and study this pie chart prepared by our dedicated team of Curriculum Specialists and Teachers:
The highest frequency topics and skills tested for PSLE Math, in descending order are:
- Fractions – usually multi-topical, important to know how to solve effectively when applied in real-life contexts
- Calculation – mastery of the Four Operations, namely addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; applied across various content areas such as Fractions (mixed numbers, proper and improper fractions)
- Angles – applying the properties of angles to find unknown angles with clear explanation of how to obtain the answers
- Area and Perimeter – finding these for composite figures made up of squares, rectangles, triangles, semicircles and quarter circles too
- Decimals – especially important to have a solid foundation for place value concepts!
- Distance, Time, Speed & Rate – including multi-steps word problems across various real-life application scenarios
Primary 6 School Prelim Papers for Math
Our Curriculum Specialists and Teachers also analysed popular primary schools’ PSLE Prelim Papers, which are designed by schools towards preparing their students for the actual PSLE Examinations:
The same high frequency PSLE topics, knowledge and skills are well included by the schools. This ensures students have adequate exam-setting practice and familiarity to tackle the actual PSLE questions.
Typically, schools do set Prelim Exams at a higher difficulty level that the PSLE paper. This encourages students not to be complacent in the lead-up to the actual PSLE. Students typically find the actual PSLE paper easier!
TL;DR
Okay lah, we summarise for you:
1. Primary 5 topics and skills consistently accounts for at least 40% of actual PSLE Math questions
2. Fractions, Calculation with Four Operations, Angles, Area and Perimeter, Decimals and Distance, Speed & Time, and Rate are high frequency PSLE Math topics
Therefore, preparing your child for PSLE when he or she is in Primary 6 would be TOO LATE.
The solid foundation and mastery of Math topics and skills begins from the Lower Primary 1 and 2 levels.
With this, your child can progress through the Primary 3 to 6 Upper Primary Math topics and skills which are taught at a deeper and broader level and covered in the PSLE.
Primary schools have designed their Examinations and Weighted Assessments as regular check points for teachers and parents to monitor and gain timely feedback on students’ learning progress.
For the upcoming Primary 3 to 5 Term 4 SA2 Year End Examinations, get additional practice with our FREE practice papers and questions here!
Get direct help from our Teachers – even for school questions or your own assessment book practices.
Get your FREE P3 to P6 PSLE Math Practice Papers here!
This detailed exam analysis was brought to you by the Curriculum Specialists and Teachers of Think Academy – Singapore’s #1 Live Online Math Classes by Math Experts
