WA stands for Weighted Assessment and SA for Semestral Assessment. WA1, WA2 and WA3 are the smaller graded tests in Terms 1, 2 and 3, and SA2, now usually called the End-of-Year (EOY) exam, is the Term 4 exam on the whole year's syllabus. Parents ask me to decode these terms more than any other topic, usually in the week a report book comes home.
What each assessment is
| Assessment | When | Typical shape | Weight in 2026 plans we checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| WA1 | Term 1 | Short topical test, sometimes a task or coursework | 10% to 15%, or 0% where Term 1 is non-weighted |
| WA2 | Term 2 | Topical test or project task | 10% to 15% |
| WA3 | Term 3 | Topical test | 10% to 15% |
| SA2 / End-of-Year (EOY or EYE) | Term 4 | Full written exam on the year's syllabus | 55% to 70% |
The ranges come from school plans, not MOE: MOE limits how many weighted tests a school holds, and each school sets the percentages. School letters use a few more terms:
| Term on the letter | What it means |
|---|---|
| SA1 | The old mid-year exam, no longer held in primary and secondary schools |
| SA2, EOY, EYE | Different names for the same end-of-year exam |
| NWA (non-weighted assessment) | A check that gives feedback but no marks toward the grade |
| Prelim | The school's preliminary exam before the PSLE or the national secondary exam |
| HDP (Holistic Development Profile) | The report book itself |
| Class test or topical review | The school's own informal checks, unweighted unless the letter says otherwise |
If a letter names a percentage, the test is weighted. If it does not, treat it as feedback.
The rule behind WA1, WA2 and WA3
Two MOE rules shape the year:
- No weighted assessments in P1 and P2. MOE removed them from 2019, including the P2 year-end exam (MOE, 14 January 2019).
- At most one per subject per term. MOE requires schools "to conduct no more than one test per subject per school term for P3 to S5" (MOE, 8 July 2019). JCs and Millennia Institute have the same limit (MOE, 1 March 2023).
With four terms, that gives up to three WAs, then the end-of-year exam. Some schools make Term 1 non-weighted, so a subject may have only two WAs.
Why the mid-year exam (SA1) disappeared
MOE announced in March 2022 that mid-year exams "will be removed for all primary and secondary levels by 2023", freeing about three weeks of curriculum time per level. MOE has said the aim is to reduce the over-emphasis on grades (MOE, 3 October 2023). The result: one big school exam a year, and no single paper before it worth panicking over.
Real school assessment plans (2026)
From the schools' own websites, to show how much the split varies:
| School and level (2026) | Term 1 | Term 2 | Term 3 | Term 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bendemeer Secondary, Sec 1 to 3 (non-modular subjects) | WA1 15% | WA2 15% | WA3 15% | EOY 55% |
| Damai Secondary, Sec 1 to 3 | WA1 10% | WA2 10% | WA3 10% | EOY 70% |
| St Gabriel's Primary, P3 | WA 10% | WA 10% | WA 10% | EOY 70% |
| Tampines Primary, P3 to P5 | Non-weighted | WA 15% | WA 15% | EYE 70% |
Every plan adds up to 100%, and the end-of-year exam is always the largest part. Schools at the same level differ: a Sec 2 WA is worth 15% at Bendemeer and 10% at Damai. Some schools, like Tampines Primary, start weighting only in Term 2, and subjects within one school can differ too.
