Primary 5 Chinese exam paper analysis: 2021
PaperLah has 28 Primary 5 Chinese exam papers from 2021, set by 14 Singapore primary schools, with 1,002 questions worth 2,467 marks. The topics carrying the most marks were 词语 Vocabulary (40%), 阅读理解 Comprehension (33%) and 作文 Composition (17%); together the top 2 topics account for half of all marks. 阅读理解 Comprehension appears in 100% of the papers. Multiple-choice questions make up 50% of marks, and 17% of questions are worth 3 marks or more, which usually means showing working. A typical paper has about 36 questions and 88 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.
Compared with all years: 词语 Vocabulary took 40% of marks in 2021 (all years: 42%); 阅读理解 Comprehension took 33% of marks in 2021 (all years: 37%); 作文 Composition took 17% of marks in 2021 (all years: 13%).
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 词语 Vocabulary | 40.3 | in 27 of 28 papers |
| 阅读理解 Comprehension | 32.9 | in 28 of 28 papers |
| 作文 Composition | 17.4 | in 25 of 28 papers |
| 汉语拼音 Hanyu Pinyin | 4.1 | in 26 of 28 papers |
| 关联词与语法 Grammar | 2.9 | in 20 of 28 papers |
| 短文填空 Cloze | 1.2 | in 3 of 28 papers |
| 句子 Sentences | 1.1 | in 7 of 28 papers |
| 汉字 Characters | 0.2 | in 2 of 28 papers |
What a paper is made of
How children answer, as a share of marks.
- Multiple choice 50%
- Composition 16%
- Open-ended (show working) 16%
- Word bank 6%
- Other 12%
Show as table
| Format | % of marks |
|---|---|
| Multiple choice | 50.3 |
| Composition | 16.3 |
| Open-ended (show working) | 15.7 |
| Word bank | 6.2 |
| Short answer | 5 |
| Cloze passage | 4 |
| Fill in the blank | 2.6 |
Marks per question
Share of questions worth 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5+ marks. 2% have no marks printed. Higher-mark questions usually need working.
Show as table
| Marks | % of questions |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3.4 |
| 2 | 77.3 |
| 3 | 7.2 |
| 4 | 8.9 |
| 5+ | 0.9 |
How likely a topic comes up
The share of papers with at least one question on the topic.
Show as table
| Topic | % of papers |
|---|---|
| 阅读理解 Comprehension | 100 |
| 词语 Vocabulary | 96.4 |
| 汉语拼音 Hanyu Pinyin | 92.9 |
| 作文 Composition | 89.3 |
| 关联词与语法 Grammar | 71.4 |
| 句子 Sentences | 25 |
| 短文填空 Cloze | 10.7 |
| 汉字 Characters | 7.1 |
Exam types
Which school exams these papers come from.
Key facts
- 28 papers, 1,002 questions, 2,467 marks, from 14 schools.
- 2 topics carry half of all marks.
- Most-tested topic: 词语 Vocabulary, 40% of marks.
- Most common topic across papers: 阅读理解 Comprehension, in 100% of papers.
- 17% of questions are worth 3 marks or more.
- Exam types: End-of-Year / SA2, Weighted Assessment / CA and Quiz / Review / Test.
Questions parents ask
What topics come up most in Primary 5 Chinese exam papers in 2021?
By share of marks, the most-tested topics were 词语 Vocabulary (40%), 阅读理解 Comprehension (33%), 作文 Composition (17%), 汉语拼音 Hanyu Pinyin (4.1%) and 关联词与语法 Grammar (2.9%).
How many questions and marks are in a Primary 5 Chinese paper?
A typical paper in this set has about 36 questions and 88 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?
28 papers from 14 schools, from these exam types: End-of-Year / SA2, Weighted Assessment / CA and Quiz / Review / Test. 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 Hua · Nanyang · Pei Chun · Pei Hwa · Raffles Girls' · Red Swastika · Rosyth · Rulang · Singapore Chinese Girls' · St Hilda's · Tao Nan
Schools with Primary 5 Chinese papers in the collection (all years). 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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