The 2026 PSLE written papers run from Thursday, 24 September to Wednesday, 30 September. Here is every paper with its time and duration, what SEAB asks your child to bring and leave at home, and what to do if they fall sick.
By Marcus Toh · Published
The oral examinations are done, having run on Wednesday, 12 August and Thursday, 13 August, and listening comprehension follows on Tuesday, 15 September. The written papers then open with English Language on Thursday, 24 September and close on Wednesday, 30 September, per SEAB's 2026 PSLE examination timetable.
Every date from oral to results sits in our PSLE 2026 calendar. This post is about the written week itself, so it goes paper by paper and then through what actually happens on the morning.
| Date | Paper | Time | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, 24 Sep | English Language Paper 1 | 0815 to 0925 h | 1 h 10 min |
| Thu, 24 Sep | English Language Paper 2 | 1030 to 1220 h | 1 h 50 min |
| Fri, 25 Sep | Mathematics Paper 1 | 0815 to 0925 h | 1 h 10 min |
| Fri, 25 Sep | Mathematics Paper 2 | 1030 to 1150 h | 1 h 20 min |
| Mon, 28 Sep | Chinese Language Paper 1, Malay Language Paper 1, Tamil Language Paper 1 | 0815 to 0905 h | 50 min |
| Mon, 28 Sep | Chinese Language Paper 2, Malay Language Paper 2, Tamil Language Paper 2 | 1015 to 1155 h | 1 h 40 min |
| Tue, 29 Sep | Science Paper 1 | 0815 to 1000 h | 1 h 45 min |
| Wed, 30 Sep | Higher Chinese Language Paper 1, Higher Malay Language Paper 1, Higher Tamil Language Paper 1 | 0815 to 0905 h | 50 min |
| Wed, 30 Sep | Higher Chinese Language Paper 2, Higher Malay Language Paper 2, Higher Tamil Language Paper 2 | 1015 to 1135 h | 1 h 20 min |
SEAB's rules say the duration of each paper includes the time to read the questions and to write or shade the answers, so there is no separate reading time on top. The approved scientific calculator is used only in Mathematics Paper 2, which our guide to PSLE Maths Paper 1 and Paper 2 walks through.
The week opens hard, with English Language on Thursday and Mathematics on Friday back to back, and then a weekend sits between Mathematics and Mother Tongue on Monday, 28 September. Science is a single paper on Tuesday, 29 September, and for a child who does not take Higher Mother Tongue, that is the last paper of the PSLE.
Higher Mother Tongue candidates have one more morning, on Wednesday, 30 September. So the practical question for most families is not how to survive seven days, it is how to protect Friday night and the weekend, because that is the only real pause in the run.
The 2026 PSLE Rules and Regulations for Candidates is the booklet SEAB writes for candidates, and it asks them to share it with their parents. These are the rules that most often catch a family out on the day.
If your child is not feeling well and cannot sit a paper, SEAB's rules ask you to inform the school immediately and seek advice before the examination. If you see a doctor, ask for the diagnosis to be stated on the Medical Certificate or the doctor's letter, because that is the evidence the school will need.
What happens next is special consideration. A 2021 parliamentary reply, published by SEAB, explains that students who miss a national examination paper for a valid reason, including medical leave or compassionate reasons, can apply for it, and a projected grade is then awarded using evidence such as the student's other papers in that subject and their school examinations.
Feeling unwell during a paper is handled in the room. Your child raises a hand and stays seated, and the examination personnel take them to a rest area or the toilet.
Every PSLE subject carries questions meant to stretch the strongest students. A November 2025 parliamentary reply, published by SEAB, says challenging questions make up approximately 15% of total marks in each subject, that they are based entirely on the primary school syllabus, and that they ask students to apply concepts in novel or authentic contexts.
So a question your child cannot finish is not a sign that something went wrong. It is built in, and SEAB adds that these questions are often scaffolded so a student can attempt them step by step. How the 2026 scores then turn into Achievement Levels is in our PSLE scoring guide.
SEAB's PSLE marking exercise is scheduled for 12 to 14 October 2026, and schools make their own arrangements around it. Results are released tentatively between Tuesday, 24 November 2026 and Wednesday, 25 November 2026, per MOE, and what that morning looks like is in our guide to PSLE results day.
If a younger child at home is in P4 or P5, the weeks after the PSLE are a calmer time to look at support for their own run, whether that is primary science tuition in Bishan or a centre closer to home.
Stop asking your child how the paper went. I know that sounds almost cold coming from a tutor, because it is the first thing every loving parent wants to know at the school gate on 24 September, and it comes from exactly the right place. But the question turns a finished paper back into an unfinished one, because a child who replays English on the ride home is still sitting English at dinner, and Mathematics is the very next morning.
So change the question. Ask what they want to eat, ask whether they are tired, and let each paper close when the invigilator says stop, because SEAB builds every subject with a share of questions meant to stretch, so every child will meet a question they cannot finish, and the students I see come through a week like this well are the ones who leave that question in the hall and walk into the next paper fresh.
The weekend before Mother Tongue is not a second attempt at English and Mathematics either, it is rest with a little light revision, and when your child walks out of their last paper, whether that is Science or Higher Mother Tongue, tell them you are proud of how they showed up for the whole week. A few mornings in September do not define your child, and how they carried themselves through them says far more.
Possibly. SEAB's rules say arrangements can be made if a qualified medical practitioner certifies the child as medically fit to sit the examination, and the request is submitted through the school to SEAB before the start of the paper. The school must be told as soon as the child has seen a doctor.
Some do. Foundation Mathematics Paper 1 runs from 0815 to 0915 h and Paper 2 from 1030 to 1115 h, Foundation English Language Paper 2 runs from 1030 to 1130 h, and Foundation Science Paper 1 runs from 0815 to 0930 h, per SEAB's timetable.
Only approved printed or electronic dictionaries, and only for the Mother Tongue Language, Higher Mother Tongue Language and Non-Tamil Indian Language composition papers, per the items list in SEAB's rules.
It is the Absent Without Valid Reason Symbol, which SEAB defines as the candidate being absent for the subject without a valid reason. SEAB also notes that school postings do not take result slip annotations into account.