SEAB stands by 'no discrepancy' finding as WP MP moves to raise O-Level oral exam issue
SEAB says the O-Level English oral exam question shown to candidates on 15 July matched examiners' screens. WP MP Kenneth Tiong says the matter warrants checking and will file a parliamentary question.
- SEAB confirms no discrepancy after investigating complaints first raised on Reddit.
- Hundreds of students report being shown a different oral exam question.
- WP MP Kenneth Tiong says the issue warrants checking and will file a parliamentary question.
The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) has said there was no discrepancy in the GCE O-Level English Language oral examination held on Wednesday, 15 July, a position it maintains despite continued accounts from affected students and their parents.
The complaints first surfaced on the online forum r/SGExams, where a student using the handle sushimeal described sitting the oral examination on the third of five exam days. The post said the video shown depicted a barber shop, with some candidates seeing the prompt "who would visit" and others seeing "would you visit".
According to the post, several candidates initially believed they had misread the question, only to later discover that classmates had encountered the same discrepancy. The post has drawn more than 100 replies, many from students describing similar experiences.
One commenter, using the handle W3nxiii, said they only realised the prompt had changed after an examiner used different wording from what had been prepared, and that a teacher later suggested the student had simply misread it. Another commenter, Careless-Feedback496, said they raised the issue immediately and were among the first to do so in their session.
Responding to media queries on Saturday, 18 July, SEAB said it had investigated after receiving feedback, and found that the question displayed on candidates' screens matched what was shown to examiners. It added that some individuals who had posted online later acknowledged they had misread the prompt at first instance.
"For each oral examination session, only one version of the examination video and questions is released via SEAB's e-Examination system to all examination centres," a SEAB spokesperson said, adding that this meant all candidates and examiners accessed identical content.
The finding was reported by CNA and The Straits Times, and the story subsequently circulated further on Reddit and on CNA's and the Straits Times' Facebook pages, where parents shared their children's accounts in the comments.
One parent wrote that his daughter's screen had displayed the prompt "Would you go to a place like this?" but that examiners had instead asked "Who do you think would go to a place like this?", which he said left her prepared response out of step with the question and affected her composure.
Another parent said his daughter was the first candidate assessed in her session and was caught off guard by the mismatch.
Workers' Party Member of Parliament Kenneth Tiong weighed in on Facebook on Sunday, 19 July, saying he had been following accounts from students and parents indicating that the prompt shown during preparation was, in his words, a different question type requiring a different answer, not merely a rewording of the same question.
Tiong acknowledged SEAB's finding of no discrepancy but said that when a large number of candidates report the same problem, the matter should be checked thoroughly, given that the oral component makes up 20 per cent of the English grade. He said he would file a parliamentary question on the issue and invited affected students to email him their accounts.
SEAB said processes were in place before each session began to verify that the correct video and questions were displayed onscreen.
About 5,000 candidates sat the GCE O-Level English Language oral examination on 15 July.
The exam consists of two components assessed over a 20-minute session: ten minutes of preparation, during which candidates watch a video clip and read an accompanying prompt, followed by ten minutes of spoken interaction with examiners.
The planned response component accounts for 10 per cent of a candidate's overall O-Level English grade, while the oral component as a whole makes up 20 per cent of the total grade.
SEAB said all candidates would be assessed fairly based on their prepared responses and in accordance with the assessment rubrics, and that oral examiners are experienced teachers who complete a standardisation exercise before deployment.
"SEAB will continue to monitor the conduct of the examination and remains committed to ensuring a fair assessment experience for all candidates," the spokesperson said.
