PSLE Chinese Composition 2027: How It Is Set and Marked, With an Annotated Model Essay

Paper 1 in numbers, and the dictionary rule

SEAB's format document calls the second question a picture composition and stops there. It does not say how many pictures there are, or whether the title comes with prompts, so practise with more than one layout.

Higher Chinese differs in three ways. The second option is 完成文章, continuing a story that has been started. Every answer must be a narrative (记叙文). And the Higher Chinese format document does not mention a dictionary, so ask the school what applies. Higher Chinese is graded Distinction, Merit or Pass, outside the PSLE Score. Our guide to Higher Chinese at the PSLE and in Secondary 1 explains where that grade still counts.

命题 or 看图: picking the question in two minutes

Both questions carry the same marks, so pick the one your child can write well in 50 minutes.

With pictures, the trap is writing a caption for each one. With a title, the trap is drifting. Every paragraph should link back to the title's key word.

Our practice prompt: four pictures at a bus stop

We made up this prompt. Imagine four pictures in a row.

1. After school, a boy in primary school uniform waits at a bus stop under a dark sky. His bus is coming.
2. An old man beside him drops a bag. It splits and oranges roll across the pavement. People walk past.
3. The boy kneels to pick them up as his bus leaves. A secondary school girl joins him. It is raining.
4. The old man shakes the boy's hand and smiles. At home, his mother pats his head at the dinner table.

From four pictures to a six-line plan

This is our plan. Two paragraphs go to the problem and only one to the ending.

The model composition: 滚落的橙子

About 570 characters. That is well above SEAB's minimum and within reach of a confident Primary 6 writer in 50 minutes, but length only helps if the story stays on track.

星期五下午，放学的钟声一响，我就背起书包，飞快地跑向学校对面的巴士站。天空乌云密布，看起来快要下雨了。我心里只想着一件事，就是赶快回家，因为妈妈说今晚要煮我最爱吃的海南鸡饭。

Time, place and action arrive in one sentence. The weather prepares for the rain later. The dinner gives the boy a reason to hurry, which makes his later choice cost something.

巴士站里挤满了刚放学的学生。一位白发苍苍的老爷爷提着一大袋橙子，站在我旁边。就在这时，我要搭的巴士缓缓地开进了车站。老爷爷急忙往前走，没想到袋子突然破了，一个个橙子“咚咚咚”地掉在地上，滚得到处都是。

The problem comes in paragraph 2, not halfway down the page. 白发苍苍 describes the old man in four characters. 就在这时 and 没想到 move the action and signal surprise. The sound word lets the reader hear the scene.

我愣住了。周围的人有的看了一眼就走开，有的忙着上车，没有一个人停下来。我看看巴士，又看看老爷爷，心里像有两个小人在吵架。一个说：“快上车吧，错过这一班就要等很久。”另一个说：“老爷爷年纪那么大，你怎么能不帮他？”司机按了一下喇叭，车门慢慢地关上了。我咬了咬嘴唇，转身蹲了下来。

This paragraph earns the content marks. The inner argument shows the boy's values instead of saying he is kind. The decision is shown through two small actions, 咬了咬嘴唇 and 转身蹲了下来, with no comment needed.

这时，豆大的雨点落了下来。我一边捡，一边把橙子放进我的环保袋里。一个穿着中学校服的大姐姐看见了，也跑过来帮忙。我们弯着腰，在湿漉漉的地上找了一圈又一圈，连滚到排水沟旁边的橙子也捡了回来。不到五分钟，二十几个橙子全都回到了袋子里。

Actions come in order, with 一边 and 一边 joining two in one sentence. The second helper follows picture 3. Numbers such as 不到五分钟 make the detail concrete.

老爷爷接过袋子，紧紧地握着我的手，笑着说：“小朋友，谢谢你们。你的巴士走了，真不好意思。”我摇摇头说：“没关系，下一班很快就来了。”看着他满是皱纹的脸上露出了笑容，我觉得身上的寒冷一下子都不见了。

The dialogue is short and sounds like real people. The feeling is shown through a contrast, cold rain against inner warmth, not a flat 我很开心.

那天，我晚了半个小时才到家，海南鸡饭也有点凉了。可是，当我把这件事告诉妈妈时，她摸摸我的头说：“你今天做了一件对的事。”我明白了，帮助别人不一定要做什么大事，只要在别人需要的时候停下脚步就可以了。那盘有点凉的鸡饭，是我吃过最香的一盘。

The ending returns to the dinner from paragraph 1. The lesson is in the child's own plain words, not a proverb tacked on. The last line leaves an image.

How the three marking areas show up in the model

SEAB does not publish how PSLE compositions are marked, so we will not invent a split. From the format, and from the one Chinese composition rubric SEAB does publish, markers reward three things.

Content. The story fits the question, has a problem and a turning point, and gives enough detail to picture it. In the model, paragraph 3 does this work. A memorised story that half fits the question is the commonest way to lose these marks.

Language. Correct characters and punctuation, smooth sentences, and words beyond 很好 and 很开心. The model uses ordinary patterns such as 有的 and 有的, each once, and no rare idioms.

Organisation. Each paragraph has one job, and linking words such as 这时 and 可是 carry the reader on. The ending echoes the opening.

Here are SEAB's published bands for the secondary composition. They are not the PSLE scheme, but they show the standard markers have in mind.

The top language band asks for 用词丰富适当，句式正确且多样化: apt, varied words and a mix of correct sentence patterns. It does not ask for an idiom in every line.

Weak and strong openings and endings

Openings and endings are where children fall back on stock lines. Here are two versions of each for our prompt.

The strong opening is a different style from the model, which tells events in order. Both work. What matters is that the first two sentences put the reader at the scene.

A phrase bank we wrote, grouped by job

Learn each phrase inside a sentence, never as a word list. Several appear in the model above. For more, with pinyin and example sentences, download our free PSLE Chinese composition phrase sheet, a 7-page PDF with no sign-up.

Three or four phrases used well is plenty. Ten in a row reads like a list, and one used wrongly can cost language marks.

When English is the main language at home

Children who mostly speak English often think a sentence in English and translate it. The words are right but the order is not. These are the slips we see most.

None of these habits needs a parent who speaks Mandarin.

For steady weekly practice, our Primary 6 Chinese tuition page explains how a tutor works on composition and oral together. For every PSLE Chinese paper and how to choose help, see our guide to Chinese tuition in 2027.