27th June 2023

In Singapore, hundreds of students go to tuition centres during the middle of each academic year to take mock mid-year examinations. This trend became more pronounced after the Ministry of Education decided to scrap all midterms in primary and secondary schools.

Many of these students are in Primary 6 and Secondary 4, and want more test-taking experience ahead of national exams to gauge their academic progress.

Tuition centres offering mock examinations say that there is strong demand from parents and students after the mid-year exams in schools were progressively removed for various levels starting from 2019. Midterm tests will also be gradually removed for junior colleges and the Millennia Institute 2024.

MOE said that exams are but one of the many avenues to assess learning progress, adding that schools have given positive feedback following the removal of mid-year exams, such as having more time to design and provide a wider variety of learning experiences based on students’ needs. MOE noted that schools can provide timed practices that do not count towards academic results for students to build confidence and familiarise themselves with the format of the national exams.