From the first Mother Tongue paper on 2 June to the last written paper on 10 November, every key O-Level 2026 date in one verified calendar.
By Marcus Toh · 2026-05-24
The official SEAB timetable, updated as at 13 February 2026, spreads the O-Level across five months. That length is a feature, not a threat, because each block of papers has its own window and its own preparation runway. Here is the shape of the season.
| Milestone | Date | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Mother Tongue written | 2 June | Chinese, Malay, Tamil and the B syllabus sit Papers 1 and 2 |
| Mother Tongue listening | 7 July | MT and MT B listening comprehension |
| Oral week | 13 to 17 July | English Paper 4 and the MT orals, candidates take turns across the week |
| MT B oral, round two | 23 September | Chinese B, Malay B and Tamil B oral for the year end sitting |
| English listening | 15 October | English Paper 3, the doorstep of the written season |
| Written season | 19 October to 10 November | The core subject papers, back to back |
The timetable lists Mother Tongue written papers on 2 June and again on 3 November (with the B syllabus on 4 November). That is the retake structure at work: candidates sit the paper mid year, and those who want to improve their grade can sit it again at the end of the year. It is why some Secondary 4 students walk out of a national exam in June while their classmates are still doing coursework.
| Subject | Paper dates |
|---|---|
| English Language (1184) | Papers 1 and 2 both on 19 October |
| Mathematics (4052) | 21 October and 23 October |
| Combined Humanities (2260 to 2265) | 20 October and 26 October (Literature options vary) |
| Additional Mathematics (4049) | 26 October and 28 October |
| Chemistry (6092) | 27 October and 6 November |
| Principles of Accounts (7087) | 28 October and 30 October |
| Physics (6091) | 29 October and 6 November |
| Biology (6093) | 30 October and 10 November |
| Combined Science (5086 to 5088) | Component papers 27 to 30 October, Paper 1 on 10 November |
| History (2174) / Geography (2279) | 22 October and 27 October |
Read the crunch honestly: from 19 October onwards a typical student with seven or eight subjects sits papers on most weekdays for three weeks. The spacing you get between any two papers of the same subject is two days to a week, so the deep revision has to happen before the season starts, not between papers. We covered the oral's format and weightage separately, and every formula sheet your child gets in the papers is collected in one place here.
Print the timetable and plan backwards, because the students who struggle in October are usually the ones who treated 19 October as the start line instead of the finish line. The season actually starts in June with Mother Tongue, the orals land in July, and the stretch between the orals and mid October, which is also prelim season, is the real preparation window. What happens in August and September decides October.
And once the written season starts, the calendar above tells you the honest truth: there is no time to learn anything new between papers, only time to rest, review mistakes and show up sharp. So build the plan now, subject dates on the wall, revision finished before 19 October, and the last three weeks become execution rather than panic. A child who walks into the crunch knowing the plan held is a different child from one who is cramming at midnight between two papers.
French, German, Japanese and Spanish sit their orals early, on 31 July and 3 to 4 August 2026, with the written papers on 12 October and 14 October, which includes the listening paper on 14 October. Students taking these at MOELC juggle a slightly different rhythm from their school subjects.
Two subjects start before everyone else: Business Studies sits its first written paper on 6 October, and Computing candidates sit their practical exam on 7 October, almost two weeks before the main written block opens on 19 October.
Higher Chinese, Higher Malay and Higher Tamil written papers fall on 3 November 2026, in the same end of year window as the Mother Tongue retake sitting, and their orals run within the main oral week of 13 to 17 July.