Primary 4 Science exam paper analysis and topic trends
PaperLah has 464 Primary 4 Science exam papers from 26 Singapore primary schools, set between 2011 and 2025, with 23,870 questions in total. The topics carrying the most marks are Matter (15%), Heat (13%) and Light (13%); together the top 4 topics account for half of all marks. Matter appears in 88% of the papers. Multiple-choice questions make up 54% of marks, and 0.5% of questions are worth 3 marks or more, which usually means showing working. A typical paper has about 51 questions and 70 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Matter | 15.1 | in 409 of 464 papers |
| Heat | 13 | in 300 of 464 papers |
| Light | 12.7 | in 337 of 464 papers |
| Life cycles | 10.6 | in 382 of 464 papers |
| Magnets | 8.8 | in 352 of 464 papers |
| Classification | 7.5 | in 370 of 464 papers |
| Materials | 6.8 | in 381 of 464 papers |
| Plant parts and transport | 5.8 | in 367 of 464 papers |
| Digestive system | 5.1 | in 342 of 464 papers |
| Scientific investigation | 3.3 | in 358 of 464 papers |
| Living and non-living things | 2.5 | in 298 of 464 papers |
| Human body systems | 2 | in 250 of 464 papers |
| Plant reproduction | 1.6 | in 199 of 464 papers |
| Electricity | 1.3 | in 162 of 464 papers |
| Fungi and bacteria | 1.1 | in 158 of 464 papers |
| Changes of state and water cycle | 0.7 | in 81 of 464 papers |
| Adaptations | 0.4 | in 75 of 464 papers |
| Environment and ecosystems | 0.3 | in 48 of 464 papers |
| Forces | 0.3 | in 57 of 464 papers |
| Respiratory and circulatory systems | 0.2 | in 41 of 464 papers |
| Reproduction in humans and animals | 0.2 | in 50 of 464 papers |
| Photosynthesis | 0.1 | in 22 of 464 papers |
| Energy | 0 | in 7 of 464 papers |
| Testing for starch | 0 | in 1 of 464 papers |
| Cycles | 0 | in 2 of 464 papers |
| Flow of water | 0 | in 1 of 464 papers |
| Dengue and rainfall | 0 | in 1 of 464 papers |
| Food preferences | 0 | in 2 of 464 papers |
| Mosquito prevention | 0 | in 2 of 464 papers |
| Animal food | 0 | in 1 of 464 papers |
What a paper is made of
How children answer, as a share of marks.
- Multiple choice 54%
- Open-ended (show working) 25%
- Short answer 12%
- Fill in the blank 4%
- Other 6%
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| Format | % of marks |
|---|---|
| Multiple choice | 53.7 |
| Open-ended (show working) | 24.6 |
| Short answer | 11.5 |
| Fill in the blank | 4.1 |
| Word bank | 2.2 |
| Drawing or labelling | 2 |
| Number answer | 1.2 |
| Other | 0.6 |
| Cloze passage | 0 |
Marks per question
Share of questions worth 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5+ marks. 9% have no marks printed. Higher-mark questions usually need working.
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| Marks | % of questions |
|---|---|
| 1 | 44.9 |
| 2 | 45.2 |
| 3 | 0.5 |
| 4 | 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.
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| Topic | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matter | 15.9 | 16.5 | 14.6 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 14.2 | 17.1 | 17.2 |
| Light | 13 | 10.9 | 14.8 | 12.7 | 12.1 | 14.1 | 13.9 | 14 |
| Heat | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 11.7 | 11.3 | 14.3 | 15.7 | 14.6 |
| Life cycles | 11 | 12.1 | 13.7 | 12.9 | 11.1 | 14.3 | 8.1 | 10.8 |
| Magnets | 10.2 | 9.7 | 7.8 | 8.7 | 9.5 | 8.9 | 7.9 | 7.4 |
| Classification | 7.3 | 6.5 | 5.7 | 7.1 | 6.7 | 6.9 | 5 | 4.2 |
| Materials | 7.4 | 6.9 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 6.7 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 5.8 |
| Plant parts and transport | 5.6 | 5.9 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 6 | 4.2 | 6.6 | 6.6 |
| Digestive system | 5 | 6.3 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 7.4 | 6.4 |
| Scientific investigation | 3.7 | 2 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 3.9 | 4.9 | 3.8 | 4 |
How likely a topic comes up
The share of papers with at least one question on the topic.
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| Topic | % of papers |
|---|---|
| Matter | 88.1 |
| Life cycles | 82.3 |
| Materials | 82.1 |
| Classification | 79.7 |
| Plant parts and transport | 79.1 |
| Scientific investigation | 77.2 |
| Magnets | 75.9 |
| Digestive system | 73.7 |
| Light | 72.6 |
| Heat | 64.7 |
| Living and non-living things | 64.2 |
| Human body systems | 53.9 |
| Plant reproduction | 42.9 |
| Electricity | 34.9 |
| Fungi and bacteria | 34.1 |
| Changes of state and water cycle | 17.5 |
| Adaptations | 16.2 |
| Forces | 12.3 |
| Reproduction in humans and animals | 10.8 |
| Environment and ecosystems | 10.3 |
| Respiratory and circulatory systems | 8.8 |
| Photosynthesis | 4.7 |
| Energy | 1.5 |
| Mosquito prevention | 0.4 |
| Cycles | 0.4 |
| Food preferences | 0.4 |
| Testing for starch | 0.2 |
| Animal food | 0.2 |
| Dengue and rainfall | 0.2 |
| Flow of water | 0.2 |
Exam types
Which school exams these papers come from.
Key facts
- 464 papers, 23,870 questions, 32,408 marks, from 26 schools.
- 4 topics carry half of all marks.
- Most-tested topic: Matter, 15% of marks.
- Most common topic across papers: Matter, in 88% of papers.
- 0.5% of questions are worth 3 marks or more.
- Exam types: End-of-Year / SA2, Mid-Year / SA1, Weighted Assessment / CA, Quiz / Review / Test and Practice paper.
Questions parents ask
What topics come up most in Primary 4 Science exam papers?
By share of marks, the most-tested topics are Matter (15%), Heat (13%), Light (13%), Life cycles (11%) and Magnets (8.8%).
How many questions and marks are in a Primary 4 Science paper?
A typical paper in this set has about 51 questions and 70 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?
464 papers from 26 schools, from these exam types: End-of-Year / SA2, Mid-Year / SA1, Weighted Assessment / CA, Quiz / Review / Test 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 (Junior) · ACS (Primary) · Ai Tong · Anglo-Chinese School · CHIJ · CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' · Catholic High · Henry Park · 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 Hilda's · St Joseph'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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