Primary 2 Maths exam paper analysis and topic trends
PaperLah has 327 Primary 2 Maths exam papers from 27 Singapore primary schools, set between 2011 and 2025, with 9,932 questions in total. The topics carrying the most marks are Multiplication and division (20%), Addition and subtraction (16%) and Money (9.7%); together the top 4 topics account for half of all marks. Addition and subtraction appears in 82% of the papers. Multiple-choice questions make up 28% of marks, and 6.6% of questions are worth 3 marks or more, which usually means showing working. A typical paper has about 30 questions and 44 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.
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| Topic | % of marks | Papers |
|---|---|---|
| Multiplication and division | 20.4 | in 247 of 327 papers |
| Addition and subtraction | 16.3 | in 268 of 327 papers |
| Money | 9.7 | in 187 of 327 papers |
| Whole numbers | 9 | in 205 of 327 papers |
| Fractions | 8.7 | in 170 of 327 papers |
| Mass | 7.1 | in 178 of 327 papers |
| Length | 6.2 | in 188 of 327 papers |
| Number patterns | 4.3 | in 213 of 327 papers |
| Time | 4.2 | in 140 of 327 papers |
| Volume | 3.1 | in 114 of 327 papers |
| Picture graphs | 3.1 | in 117 of 327 papers |
| Word problems | 2.1 | in 85 of 327 papers |
| 2D shapes | 1.5 | in 92 of 327 papers |
| Solid figures and nets | 1.3 | in 101 of 327 papers |
| Measurement and units | 1.1 | in 68 of 327 papers |
| Lines | 0.6 | in 54 of 327 papers |
| Tables and graphs | 0.5 | in 28 of 327 papers |
| Ratio | 0.2 | in 13 of 327 papers |
| Area and perimeter | 0.2 | in 10 of 327 papers |
| Position and direction | 0.1 | in 16 of 327 papers |
| Circles | 0.1 | in 8 of 327 papers |
| Triangles | 0.1 | in 6 of 327 papers |
| Quadrilaterals | 0.1 | in 6 of 327 papers |
| Algebra | 0 | in 5 of 327 papers |
| Listening comprehension | 0 | in 1 of 327 papers |
| Factors and multiples | 0 | in 5 of 327 papers |
| Age problems | 0 | in 2 of 327 papers |
| Rate and speed | 0 | in 2 of 327 papers |
| Equal parts | 0 | in 2 of 327 papers |
| Permutations | 0 | in 1 of 327 papers |
What a paper is made of
How children answer, as a share of marks.
- Number answer 53%
- Multiple choice 28%
- Fill in the blank 9%
- Short answer 5%
- Other 5%
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| Format | % of marks |
|---|---|
| Number answer | 52.9 |
| Multiple choice | 28.1 |
| Fill in the blank | 9.2 |
| Short answer | 5.2 |
| Drawing or labelling | 3.3 |
| Open-ended (show working) | 0.6 |
| Word bank | 0.5 |
| Other | 0.2 |
| Listening | 0.1 |
| Rewrite / synthesis | 0 |
Marks per question
Share of questions worth 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5+ marks. 16% have no marks printed. Higher-mark questions usually need working.
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| Marks | % of questions |
|---|---|
| 1 | 32.3 |
| 2 | 44.8 |
| 3 | 4.1 |
| 4 | 2.4 |
| 5+ | 0.1 |
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.
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| Topic | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiplication and division | 20.1 | 18.6 | 17.3 | 10.1 | 8.5 | 34.1 | 20.4 | 32.3 |
| Addition and subtraction | 18.9 | 16.3 | 14.3 | 12.8 | 23.8 | 13.8 | 21.1 | 15 |
| Whole numbers | 14 | 12.8 | 8.2 | 6 | 10.6 | 9.1 | 13 | 4.7 |
| Fractions | 6.2 | 9.1 | 9.5 | 17.9 | 9.5 | 12.6 | 3.9 | 15.7 |
| Money | 6.4 | 9.8 | 11.1 | 6 | 7.4 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 4.7 |
| Mass | 6 | 4.9 | 7.2 | 10.1 | 10.1 | 5.4 | 5.6 | 5.1 |
| Length | 8.8 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 7.4 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 2.4 |
| Time | 4.3 | 4.5 | 7 | 8.3 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 6.3 | 5.5 |
| Picture graphs | 3.4 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 8.3 | 7.4 | 0.7 | 6.7 | 2.4 |
| Number patterns | 4.2 | 4.8 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 4.8 | 3 | 3.2 | 2.4 |
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 | 82 |
| Multiplication and division | 75.5 |
| Number patterns | 65.1 |
| Whole numbers | 62.7 |
| Length | 57.5 |
| Money | 57.2 |
| Mass | 54.4 |
| Fractions | 52 |
| Time | 42.8 |
| Picture graphs | 35.8 |
| Volume | 34.9 |
| Solid figures and nets | 30.9 |
| 2D shapes | 28.1 |
| Word problems | 26 |
| Measurement and units | 20.8 |
| Lines | 16.5 |
| Tables and graphs | 8.6 |
| Position and direction | 4.9 |
| Ratio | 4 |
| Area and perimeter | 3.1 |
| Circles | 2.4 |
| Quadrilaterals | 1.8 |
| Triangles | 1.8 |
| Factors and multiples | 1.5 |
| Algebra | 1.5 |
| Equal parts | 0.6 |
| Age problems | 0.6 |
| Rate and speed | 0.6 |
| Listening comprehension | 0.3 |
| Permutations | 0.3 |
Exam types
Which school exams these papers come from.
Key facts
- 327 papers, 9,932 questions, 14,309 marks, from 27 schools.
- 4 topics carry half of all marks.
- Most-tested topic: Multiplication and division, 20% of marks.
- Most common topic across papers: Addition and subtraction, in 82% of papers.
- 6.6% of questions are worth 3 marks or more.
- Exam types: End-of-Year / SA2, Quiz / Review / Test, Weighted Assessment / CA, Mid-Year / SA1 and Other.
Questions parents ask
What topics come up most in Primary 2 Maths exam papers?
By share of marks, the most-tested topics are Multiplication and division (20%), Addition and subtraction (16%), Money (9.7%), Whole numbers (9%) and Fractions (8.7%).
How many questions and marks are in a Primary 2 Maths paper?
A typical paper in this set has about 30 questions and 44 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?
327 papers from 27 schools, from these exam types: End-of-Year / SA2, Quiz / Review / Test, Weighted Assessment / CA, Mid-Year / SA1 and Other. 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 (Junior) · 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 Chiau · Nan Hua · Nanyang · Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' · Pei Chun · Pei Hwa · Raffles Girls' · Red Swastika · Rosyth · Rulang · Singapore Chinese Girls' · St Andrew's · St Hilda's · 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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