PSLE English Composition 2027: How It Is Marked, a Model Story and What Costs Marks

What changed in 2025, and why it matters for 2027

SEAB revised PSLE English from the 2025 exam. For writing, three things moved.

The picture rule matters most. Older composition books often model stories that touch only the topic word, and under the current wording a story with no clear link to any picture does not meet the task. Our PSLE explained guide covers the other subjects and the calendar.

How paper scores become an Achievement Level is in our AL scores guide.

What the marker is looking for

SEAB publishes two objectives for Paper 1 and no band descriptors. In our own words:

1. Language that fits. Accurate, suitable words, grammar, punctuation and spelling for the story being told.
2. Ideas that are relevant and well built. A story linked to the topic and a picture, events in a sensible order, and paragraphs that connect.

Teachers usually call these "content" and "language". SEAB does not say how the 36 marks divide between them, so we will not guess. Either way, a polished story that drifts off topic loses marks, and so does a relevant one full of slips.

A 70-minute plan for Paper 1

SEAB sets only the total time. This is one workable split. Writing the composition first is also fine if the order never changes.

A practice topic we wrote

This topic and its pictures are our own, described in words.

Topic: A change of plan

• Picture 1. A school football field behind a locked gate, with a sign that reads "Closed for turfing works".
• Picture 2. A girl on an MRT platform holding a wrapped present, looking up at a screen that says the train service is delayed.
• Picture 3. An elderly man at a hawker centre table, his walking stick on the floor and his tray tipped over.

Choosing the picture

All three fit the topic. Pick the one that turns into a real problem and a decision.

We chose Picture 2. It already holds a want (reach a birthday on time) and a block (the delay). The change of plan is what the girl decides next.

Planning in five minutes

A plan needs one line per paragraph, not full sentences.

The model composition

About 360 words, written by us for this post. The numbers match the notes below.

[1] The screen above the platform flickered, and the word I had been dreading appeared in red: DELAYED. I hugged the parcel tighter against my chest. Inside the blue wrapping paper was a photo album I had spent three weekends making for Ah Ma's eightieth birthday, and lunch at her flat in Tampines would start in forty minutes.

[2] "Due to a track fault, there will be no train service between Jurong East and Clementi," a calm voice announced. Around me, the platform erupted into groans. A man in an office shirt jabbed at his phone. Two students sprinted for the escalator. My heart thudded. If I joined the crowd rushing for the bridging buses, I might still make it.

[3] That was when I noticed the old lady beside me. She was clutching a crumpled polyclinic appointment card and turning in slow circles, as if the station had rearranged itself around her. "Girl, where do I take the bus?" she asked, so softly that I almost missed it.

[4] I glanced at the escalator, then at her trembling hands. Ah Ma would have looked exactly like this if she were alone. I tucked the parcel under one arm and offered the lady the other. Together we shuffled up the stalled escalator, one step at a time, and followed the yellow signs to the bus bay. Two packed buses pulled away without us. By the time I had helped her onto the third and found her a seat, I knew I would be late.

[5] I reached Ah Ma's flat fifty minutes after everyone else. One corner of the parcel was crushed flat, and my cousins were already on their second helping of noodles. I mumbled an apology and explained what had happened. Ah Ma said nothing at first. She simply pressed the bent corner straight with her thumb, the way she used to smooth my fringe when I was small, and patted the seat beside her.

[6] "You came the long way," she said, her eyes crinkling. "Sometimes that is the right way."

As she turned the pages of the album, I realised my plan had fallen apart at Jurong East, yet the day itself had not.

Telling versus showing

Telling names a feeling. Showing gives what a person would see, hear or do, so the reader names the feeling.

Showing every feeling makes a story slow. Save it for the problem and the turning point.

A weak paragraph, rewritten

Here is a paragraph on Picture 1, written the way many Primary 6 drafts sound.

Before. On Saturday I went to play football with my friends. When we reached the field, it was closed. We were very sad and disappointed. Then Jun Kai had an idea. We went to play at the void deck instead. It was very fun. It was the best day ever.

The grammar is fine, but every sentence reports and nothing happens on the page. The feelings are told, Jun Kai's idea is never heard, and "the best day ever" is unearned.

After. The padlock on the gate was as big as my fist. Behind it, our field had been churned into brown mud. Jun Kai let the ball slip from his hands. It bounced twice, rolled against the fence and stayed there, and none of us bothered to pick it up. Then Jun Kai looked across the road at the empty void deck. "Two pillars," he said slowly, "make a pretty good goal."

Same events. The padlock adds a sense detail, the abandoned ball shows the disappointment, and the idea arrives in dialogue that pulls the reader on.

Where marks usually leak

Why memorised stories and phrase lists backfire

A story learnt by heart is risky under the current rule, because it must be based on one of three pictures set on an unknown topic. Bending it to fit usually shows as an off-topic opening, or a picture that turns up only at the end.

Phrase lists fail differently. SEAB asks for vocabulary that is accurate and appropriate. "My heart was pounding like a drum" suits a tense moment and sounds odd when a character is choosing a drink. Five such phrases in a paragraph also crowd out the specific details, like the crumpled appointment card, that make a scene real.

Download it from the PSLE English composition phrases page. Our PSLE English guide covers the other papers.