What Changed in the PSLE 2025 English Oral (New Format Explained)

The PSLE English Oral examination (Paper 4) changed significantly from 2025. The 2025 P6 cohort was the first to sit the new format, and it carries into 2026 unchanged. If your child is preparing for the PSLE, here is everything that changed — and what it means for how they should practise.

The headline change: Oral is worth more

Oral is now 40 marks, up from 30. That makes it a bigger slice of the overall English grade, so it deserves real practice rather than being left to the last week.

The biggest change: a live photo with no words

Before 2025, the conversation stimulus was a poster with words — a title, a date, some information the student could lean on. From 2025, students are shown a live photo of real people doing something, with no words at all.

That means your child must infer everything from visual clues:

• Setting — where are they? Indoor or outdoor? What time of day or occasion?
• Attire — what are they wearing? Does it hint at a sport, event or season?
• Facial expressions & actions — are they smiling, focused, excited? What exactly are they doing, and why?

The conversation: three questions, always in this order

The SBC is a conversation (not a speech) with the examiner, and it follows a fixed shape:

1. Q1 — Picture. Describe and interpret the photo. Aim for 6+ developed sentences: state the setting and actions, read the expressions, infer why the people feel that way, connect it to your own life, and offer an opinion.
2. Q2 — Experience. A personal recount linked to the theme — who, what, when, where and how you felt, told as a story with a clear beginning, middle, end and a reflection.
3. Q3 — Opinion / critical thinking. State a clear opinion, give two reasons with examples, support it with a personal experience, and conclude.

Answer with TREES

The framework that lifts answers to the top band is TREES:

• Thought — state your main answer/opinion clearly, upfront.
• Reasons — give 2–3 reasons, each developed in 2+ sentences.
• Examples — back each reason with a specific example.
• Experience — share a vivid, personal experience tied to the theme.
• Suggestion — close with "In my opinion…" or "I suggest…".

How it's banded

The 40-mark paper maps to overall bands: Distinction 36–40, Merit 28–35, Pass 20–27, and below 20. The most common reasons students lose marks are not elaborating on Q1, giving too-short answers, and not sharing a personal experience.

Practising for it

The single most useful habit is picture practice: take any photo, and describe it in 6+ sentences using TREES, then answer a follow-up experience and opinion question aloud. That is exactly what JinBoost's Oral Coach does — it shows a live-photo scenario, asks the three SBC questions like an examiner, and scores the conversation out of 25 against this rubric, with specific feedback and a model answer.

Independent guide based on the 2025 MOE/SEAB PSLE English Oral format. JinBoost is not affiliated with MOE or SEAB.