Paper 1 bans the calculator, Paper 2 allows it, both run on the same day, and the mark scheme quietly awards a mark for correct method even when the answer is wrong.
By Marcus Toh · 2026-03-05
| Paper | What is in it | Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1, Booklet A | 10 multiple choice at 1 mark, 8 multiple choice at 2 marks | 26 | 1 h 10 min for both booklets, no calculator |
| 1, Booklet B | 12 short answer questions at 2 marks | 24 | (same sitting) |
| 2 | 5 short answer at 2 marks, then 10 structured and long answer questions at 3 to 5 marks | 50 | 1 h 20 min, calculator allowed |
The SEAB format states the design plainly: the 1 mark multiple choice questions are straightforward questions on basic concepts, and the demanding end lives in Paper 2's ten structured questions worth 3 to 5 marks each, 40 of the 100 marks, where multi step reasoning decides the grade.
For 2 mark short answer questions with one part, SEAB's format states that if an incorrect answer is given, 1 mark is awarded for the correct method. Read that as the exam telling your child how to behave: show the working, always, because a slipped digit costs one mark with working shown and both marks without it. The habit of writing method clearly is worth real points across two dozen questions.
Parents ask me about heuristics like they are secret weapons, model drawing, guess and check, working backwards, but the honest answer from three years of tutoring is that heuristics are just names for showing your reasoning in an organised way, and the exam above literally pays for that. The method mark is the syllabus telling students that thinking on paper beats answers from nowhere.
So train two unglamorous habits. First, no calculator arithmetic every day, ten minutes, because Paper 1's 50 marks are sat without one and shaky mental maths bleeds silently there. Second, presentation of working as a non negotiable, even when the answer feels obvious, because the child who writes their method collects the insurance marks and, more importantly, can find their own mistake when checking. The child who only writes answers cannot, and that difference compounds across 45 questions.
For 2 mark questions with two parts, the format awards one mark for each correct part, and any unit required in an answer is provided on the paper, so a child cannot lose marks for forgetting to write units where the paper supplies them.
Foundation Maths runs the same two paper, same day shape with the same calculator rules, but at 42 questions and 80 marks over 1 hour 45 minutes, with structured questions at 3 or 4 marks, and we cover how Foundation grades feed the PSLE score here.
Mathematics sits on Friday 25 September 2026, the day after English, with Paper 1 in the morning and Paper 2 before lunch, full calendar here.