Primary 1 Maths exam paper analysis and topic trends
PaperLah has 277 Primary 1 Maths exam papers from 25 Singapore primary schools, set between 2011 and 2025, with 7,985 questions in total. The topics carrying the most marks are Addition and subtraction (35%), Whole numbers (19%) and Multiplication and division (15%); together the top 2 topics account for half of all marks. Addition and subtraction appears in 89% of the papers. Multiple-choice questions make up 22% of marks, and 4.5% of questions are worth 3 marks or more, which usually means showing working. A typical paper has about 29 questions and 34 marks.
These figures describe the school papers in PaperLah's collection, not official MOE or SEAB weightings. They help with planning revision; they can't predict a particular exam.
Where the marks are
Topics ranked by their share of all marks. The blue ones above the line together make up half.
Show as table
| Topic | % of marks | Papers |
|---|---|---|
| Addition and subtraction | 34.8 | in 246 of 277 papers |
| Whole numbers | 18.8 | in 221 of 277 papers |
| Multiplication and division | 14.5 | in 120 of 277 papers |
| Number patterns | 6.9 | in 195 of 277 papers |
| Money | 6.9 | in 72 of 277 papers |
| Time | 3.9 | in 83 of 277 papers |
| Picture graphs | 3.3 | in 60 of 277 papers |
| Length | 2.8 | in 65 of 277 papers |
| 2D shapes | 2.3 | in 69 of 277 papers |
| Word problems | 1.9 | in 97 of 277 papers |
| Position and direction | 1.2 | in 52 of 277 papers |
| Tables and graphs | 0.7 | in 24 of 277 papers |
| Mass | 0.7 | in 14 of 277 papers |
| Measurement and units | 0.6 | in 23 of 277 papers |
| Algebra | 0.2 | in 4 of 277 papers |
| Solid figures and nets | 0.1 | in 6 of 277 papers |
| Triangles | 0.1 | in 4 of 277 papers |
| Fractions | 0.1 | in 4 of 277 papers |
| Ratio | 0.1 | in 6 of 277 papers |
| Quadrilaterals | 0 | in 4 of 277 papers |
| Spatial awareness | 0 | in 2 of 277 papers |
| Spatial relationships | 0 | in 1 of 277 papers |
| Circles | 0 | in 2 of 277 papers |
| Volume | 0 | in 3 of 277 papers |
| Alphabetical order | 0 | in 1 of 277 papers |
| Sets | 0 | in 1 of 277 papers |
| Following instructions | 0 | in 1 of 277 papers |
| Sorting and classifying | 0 | in 1 of 277 papers |
| More and less | 0 | in 1 of 277 papers |
| Groups of 4 | 0 | in 1 of 277 papers |
What a paper is made of
How children answer, as a share of marks.
- Number answer 40%
- Multiple choice 22%
- Fill in the blank 21%
- Drawing or labelling 9%
- Other 9%
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| Format | % of marks |
|---|---|
| Number answer | 39.9 |
| Multiple choice | 21.7 |
| Fill in the blank | 21 |
| Drawing or labelling | 8.8 |
| Short answer | 6 |
| Word bank | 1.5 |
| Other | 0.6 |
| Open-ended (show working) | 0.5 |
| Rewrite / synthesis | 0 |
Marks per question
Share of questions worth 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5+ marks. 23% have no marks printed. Higher-mark questions usually need working.
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| Marks | % of questions |
|---|---|
| 1 | 41.7 |
| 2 | 30.9 |
| 3 | 2.6 |
| 4 | 1.9 |
| 5+ | 0 |
How topics change over the years
The most-asked topics, as a share of each year's questions. Darker means asked more that year. Use it to spot topics schools are asking more often now.
Show as table
| Topic | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Addition and subtraction | 33.1 | 31.8 | 29.4 | 33.2 | 28.4 | 33.8 | 34.7 | 48.6 |
| Whole numbers | 24.9 | 20.2 | 20.2 | 19 | 18 | 15.9 | 21.5 | 21.4 |
| Multiplication and division | 11.9 | 15.6 | 7.6 | 19.8 | 19.3 | 17.9 | 23.1 | 17.1 |
| Money | 5.1 | 10.8 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 7.5 | 6.9 | 0 | 0 |
| Number patterns | 6.8 | 5.6 | 7.6 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 6.9 | 4.1 | 4.3 |
| Time | 5 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 6.5 | 5.4 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 0 |
| Picture graphs | 3.5 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 6.8 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 0 |
| 2D shapes | 2.6 | 2.7 | 8.4 | 4.6 | 4 | 1.4 | 5 | 0 |
| Length | 1.8 | 1.2 | 11.8 | 0.5 | 4.6 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 0 |
| Position and direction | 1.8 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0 |
How likely a topic comes up
The share of papers with at least one question on the topic.
Show as table
| Topic | % of papers |
|---|---|
| Addition and subtraction | 88.8 |
| Whole numbers | 79.8 |
| Number patterns | 70.4 |
| Multiplication and division | 43.3 |
| Word problems | 35 |
| Time | 30 |
| Money | 26 |
| 2D shapes | 24.9 |
| Length | 23.5 |
| Picture graphs | 21.7 |
| Position and direction | 18.8 |
| Tables and graphs | 8.7 |
| Measurement and units | 8.3 |
| Mass | 5.1 |
| Solid figures and nets | 2.2 |
| Ratio | 2.2 |
| Algebra | 1.4 |
| Fractions | 1.4 |
| Quadrilaterals | 1.4 |
| Triangles | 1.4 |
| Volume | 1.1 |
| Spatial awareness | 0.7 |
| Circles | 0.7 |
| Following instructions | 0.4 |
| Sorting and classifying | 0.4 |
| Spatial relationships | 0.4 |
| More and less | 0.4 |
| Alphabetical order | 0.4 |
| Sets | 0.4 |
| Groups of 4 | 0.4 |
Exam types
Which school exams these papers come from.
Key facts
- 277 papers, 7,985 questions, 9,476 marks, from 25 schools.
- 2 topics carry half of all marks.
- Most-tested topic: Addition and subtraction, 35% of marks.
- Most common topic across papers: Addition and subtraction, in 89% of papers.
- 4.5% of questions are worth 3 marks or more.
- Exam types: Quiz / Review / Test, Weighted Assessment / CA, End-of-Year / SA2, Mid-Year / SA1, Other and Practice paper.
Questions parents ask
What topics come up most in Primary 1 Maths exam papers?
By share of marks, the most-tested topics are Addition and subtraction (35%), Whole numbers (19%), Multiplication and division (15%), Number patterns (6.9%) and Money (6.9%).
How many questions and marks are in a Primary 1 Maths paper?
A typical paper in this set has about 29 questions and 34 marks. Papers vary by school and by exam (weighted assessments are shorter than mid-year and end-of-year exams).
Which exams and schools are included?
277 papers from 25 schools, from these exam types: Quiz / Review / Test, Weighted Assessment / CA, End-of-Year / SA2, Mid-Year / SA1, Other and Practice paper. The schools are listed further down this page.
Can I download these papers?
No. PaperLah doesn't share the papers as downloads. Children practise them online one question at a time, with instant marking, and parents see which topics need work.
Schools included
ACS (Primary) · Ai Tong · Anglo-Chinese School · CHIJ · CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' · Catholic High · Henry Park · Holy Innocents · Maha Bodhi · Maris Stella High · Methodist Girls' · Nan Hua · Nanyang · Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' · Pei Chun · Pei Hwa · Raffles Girls' · Red Swastika · Rosyth · Rulang · Singapore Chinese Girls' · St Andrew's · Tanjong Katong · Tao Nan · Temasek
Papers are past school assessments; PaperLah is not affiliated with MOE, SEAB or the schools.
How this analysis is made
Every question in each paper is tagged with its topic, format and marks as printed. The figures above are counts over those questions: a topic's share of marks, the share of papers that include it, and so on. Topic names come from the papers and their answer keys, so similar topics can appear under slightly different names. Only aggregate figures are shown here; the questions themselves are practised inside PaperLah.
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