PSLE Results to be released on Thursday

PSLE results out Thursday
SINGAPORE: The results of the 2011 Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) will be released on Thursday.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) said pupils may obtain their result slips from their respective schools from 12noon.

Eligible pupils will also receive from their respective primary schools, their option forms to select secondary schools.

MOE said the results of Secondary 1 postings will be out on 21 December.

Nan Chiau High School, which has been designated a Special Assistance Plan school from January next year, will admit only Express course students offering Chinese or Higher Chinese as a Mother Tongue Language.

And two more schools - Victoria School and Cedar Girls - will take in their first batch of Secondary 1 students in the six-year integrated programme.

- CNA/ck

PSLE will start a week earlier this year

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_626701.html

THIS year's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) will take place a week earlier to accommodate Children's Day.

The written papers have been scheduled for Sept 29 to Oct 5. Last year, they were held between Oct 6 and Oct 12.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) said in response to queries from The Straits Times that the adjustment was made to avoid disruption to the exam caused by the extended weekend to mark Children's Day.

Children's Day falls on Oct 7, a Friday, and will be celebrated the day before in schools, with many declaring half-days.

If the PSLE were to start in the first week of October, pupils sitting it would not be able to enjoy the long Children's Day weekend.

Last year, the MOE announced that Teachers' Day and Children's Day would be marked on the first Fridays of September and October respectively, starting from this year. This would give children and teachers long weekends in the two months.

Rosyth boy tops PSLE

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_607535.html

ALEX Tan Kian Hye of Rosyth School is the top Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) pupil this year with a score of 282.

Fu Wan Ying from Tao Nan School had the second highest score of 279.

The top Malay pupil is Aquilah Dariah Mohd Zulkarnain, of Coral Primary School who scored 278, while the top Indian pupil is Muhammad Hameem, of Henry Park Primary School with a score of 274, and the top Eurasian pupil is Lendermann Monika Jiz-xin, of CHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace, with a 269 score.

Top PSLE 2010 Score - 282 (unofficial)

News from Kiasu Parents Forum.

Top Score - 282
School - Rosyth

Above is unofficial.

PSLE results to be released on Thursday

From Channel News Asia

PSLE results to be released on Thursday
Posted: 23 November 2009 1215 hrs

SINGAPORE: The Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results will be out on Thursday.

Pupils can get their result slips from their schools from noon on November 26. Eligible pupils will also receive their option forms to select their secondary schools.

With the PIN contained in the sealed option form, parents can submit their child's secondary school options online via the Secondary One Internet System.

The system is accessible 24 hours a day through the MOE Secondary One Posting website, starting from noon on Thursday. Application closes at 3pm on December 2.

Alternatively, parents may also submit their child's secondary school options through their child's primary school.

The Secondary One posting results will be released on Tuesday, December 22. Pupils are to report to their secondary schools on Wednesday, December 23, at 8.30am.


- CNA/so

PSLE Aggregate Score Calculation

Your individual PSLE Aggregate Score depends on your cohort’s performance and how easy or tough the paper is.

Using the individual’s score of Eng 82, MT 89, Maths 87, Science 86, two scenarios are created below.

Example 1 - where it is assumed the cohort is weak, and the paper is assumed “tough”. An average score of 55 is used, and the Standard Deviation of 20 is used.


PSLE Aggregate Score is worked out to be 262.

Example 2 - Using the same individual score, but the cohort is now assumed to be stronger, and the paper is assumed to be “simple”. A higher average of 60 is used, and a higher Standard Deviation of 25 is used.


PSLE Aggregate Score is worked out to be 242.

Rationale for adjustment - If the cohort is strong, it can be assumed that pupils will be able to score a higher average. Conversely, if the cohort is weak, the average of the cohort will drop.

If the paper is “simple and easy”, it is assumed that more students will be able to score "A*"s and "A"s. Hence, an “easy” paper will widen the gap between the brighter and average pupils, giving a larger Standard Deviation.

Likewise, if the paper is "tough", it is assumed that fewer students will be able to score "A*"s and "A"s, narrowing the gap between the brighter and average pupils, giving a smaller Standard Division.

Note - For those who are using the PSLE Aggregate score calculator, using a low average and low Standard Deviation would create a "most liberal scenario" where the PSLE Aggregate Score Calculator will show a high result. Using a high average and high Standard Deviation would create a "most conservative scenario", where the PSLE Aggregate Score will show a much more conservative result.

Related posts
How PSLE Aggregate Score is calculated
Get a free copy of your PSLE Aggregate Score Calculator

Free PSLE Aggregate Score Calculator

Excel Eduservice thrives to serve you better. For the first time in Singapore, made available to the public is the PSLE Aggregate Score Calculator.

This software programme is in Microsoft Excel format - and it is made available to you by Excel Eduservice for FREE!

A sample screenshot of the PSLE Aggegate Score Calculator is shown below. Click on the image to enlarge.



Question - How do I get a copy of the PSLE Aggregrate Score Calculator?

Answer - Click here to download.

PS - To understand how PSLE Aggregate scores are calculated, just click here.

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Tips on PSLE English (Oral)

A video clip produced by Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Primary).

More on Primary 6 Algebra

You can check the syllabus of P6 PSLE Maths pertaining to Algebra.

Refer to this link from the website of the MOE .

Below is a screenshot of page 32 taken from the above link.

Click on image to enlarge

Algebra allowed but not encouraged

Using Algebra for PSLE Maths is perfectly legal. The student would not be penalized. However, Algebra taught in P6 is very basic. It is not deep enough to solve many of the Section C questions found in PSLE Maths. As such, teachers usually do not encourage students to use Algebra. Instead, heuristics are encouraged.

In P6, only the 4 operations of Algebra is taught. Students are not taught how to use Algebra to solve Section C type questions, which cognitive skills are needed.

As such, if students were use Algebra without being taught how to apply them in actual Section C questions, they may fumble along the way.

Here is an example how Algebra can be used to solve a P6 question.

Question

Ricci saved $200 from her salary and spent the rest. She spent 1/9 of the expenditure on a blouse, $40 on a scarf and the rest on books. The amount spent on the scarf was $20 less than that spent on the blouse. What was her salary?

Solution

Let $n be her salary

Since she saved $200, she would have $n - $200 left to spend.

Amount spent on blouse was 1/9 x ($n - $200) = $(n – 200)/9

Amount spent on scarf was $40. But we know scarf was $20 less than blouse, which means blouse cost $60.

Cost of blouse….

$(n – 200)/9 = $60
$(n - 200) = $60 x 9
$n - $200 = $540
$n = $540 + $200
$n = $740

Since $n represents her salary, it means her salary was $740.

Note that there are no diagrams or models used. Every step has to be envisioned in the mind. In the above, you must be able to see that 1/9 of the expenditure is equivalent to the cost of the blouse, which is also equivalent to $40 more than the cost of the scarf . P6 students are not trained to do that using Algebra.

P6 students are however trained in heuristics. Now compare how the same question is done, using heuristics, as demonstrated in the link below.

Tao Nan School P5 SA2 2006 Math Question (Q47)

So to answer the question, “Is Algebra allowed in PSLE Maths?”, the answer is yes, it is, but it is not encouraged.

Breakdown of marks allocated for PSLE subjects

Below, is a breakdown of marks that has been allocated for PSLE subjects.

MCQ - Multliple Choice Questions
OE - Open ended questions

.

More on PSLE Aggregate and T-Scores

This post is Part 2 on the topic of PSLE Aggregate and T-Scores. In the last post in this blog , How PSLE Aggregate and T-Scores are calculated, we saw how those scores are calcuated.

One concern parents and students have is that there may be bias towards language subjects because the total score is 200, while the total for Maths and Science is 100.

In this post, we will see that there is no bias towards any particular subject, although the total scores for languages is twice that of Maths and Science.

Below is a tabulation to show that T-score eliminates any bias that may occur due to more total marks allocated to a particular subject.





In the example above, the Raw Score of all subjects for this student is 90%.

English – 90% of 200 marks = 180 marks
MT - 90% of 200 marks = 180 marks
Maths – 90% of 100 marks = 90 marks
Science – 90% of 100 marks = 90 marks


The Average Score of the cohort for all subjects is 50% of the maximum score.

English – 50% of 200 marks = 100 marks
MT - 50% of 200 marks = 100 marks
Maths – 50% of 100 marks = 50 marks
Science – 50% of 100 marks = 50 marks


The Standard Deviation (Std Dev) is 40% from the average.

English – 40% of 100 marks (the average) = 40 marks
MT - 40% of 100 marks (the average) = 40 marks
Maths – 40% of 50 marks (the average) = 20 marks
Science – 40% of 50 marks (the average) = 20 marks


Using the T-score formula 50 + 10(X-Y)/Z, we can note that for all the subjects, the T-Score is 70. Although English and MT have a total score of 200, while Maths and Science have a total score of 100, this is automatically adjusted with the T-Score calculation.

There is no bias towards any subject in the calculation of PSLE Aggregate and T-Scores.

Parents and students need not be unduly worried.

How PSLE Aggregate and T-Scores are calculated

Now that the dust has settled, we can perhaps take a look at the most asked, yet least answered question about the PSLE. That question is –

How are PSLE Aggregate Scores calculated?

To understand how PSLE Aggregate Scores are calculated, we must first understand T-Score. T-Score is the adjusted score a student will get for a subject, after a series of tabulations has been made.

Formula for T-Score


X = Raw score of student
Y = Average Score of the whole cohort
Z = Standard Deviation* (SD)

Standard Deviation* (SD) is the spread of the marks around the average.

Example 1 -
Allan, Bernard and Charles have $45, $50 and $55 respectively. They have an average of $50 each.

Example 2 -
Dan, Edward and Frank have $10, $50 and $90 respectively. They also have an average of $50 each.

In Example 1, the spread ($45 to average of $50 and $55 to average of $50) is smaller than the spread in Example 2, where the spread is bigger ($10 to average of $50 and $90 to average of $50)

As such, Example 1 will have a smaller SD, as compared to Example 2.

A more detailed explanation of how SD is calculated can be found in this link.


Simpler Way to read Standard Deviation (SD)

If the average score of 3000 pupils who sat for Science Test is 50 marks and the SD is 5, it means that 2/3 of the 3000 pupils have scored 5 marks around the average, which means 2000 of the students scored from 45 to 55 marks.

If the average score of the same 3000 pupils who sat for Mathematics Test is 50 marks and the SD is now 10, it means that 2/3 of the 3000 pupils have scored 10 marks around the average, which means 2000 students scored from 40 to 60 marks.


Example of how T-score is calculated

Li Ting’s score for Mathematics – 90 (X)
Average score of cohort – 75 (Y)
Standard Deviation - 20 (Z) (this means 2/3 of cohort scored from 55 to 95)

Using the T-Score formula

T = 50 + 10(X – Y) / Z

T = 50 + 10 x (90 – 75) / 20

= 50 + 10 x 15/20

= 50 + 10 x 0.75

= 57.5

Li Ting’s T-score for Mathematics is 57.5

Now that we have covered T-score, we can take a look at PSLE Aggregate Score.


Using T-Score to Calculate PSLE Aggregate Score

Let’s now take a look at Li Ting’s total performance



The cohort’s average and standard deviation plays a big part in Li Ting’s score. To demonstrate, let’s move the average scores of all subjects down by 10 marks each, keeping all other variables (raw score and SD) constant. This is how Li Ting’s score will now look like.




Take note that Li Ting’s aggregate goes up from 245 to 260 when the averages of all subjects went down by 10 marks each. This shows that if the cohort is weaker, Li Ting’s aggregate score will increase, even if she scores the same marks for all the subjects.

It is therefore not accurate to compare a student’s aggregate score in a particular year, to the aggregate score of another student in a different year. Each year will have a different average for all the subjects.

Parents who have more than 1 child, tend to compare each child’s PSLE Aggregate Score with his/her sibling's score. This is not a very fair comparison.


Final Note –

Because PSLE aggregate score is based on T-scores, theoretically, there is no such thing as “maximum aggregate score”.

Many parents believe the (non-existent) maximum aggregate is 300. That is a misconception.

To demonstrate, I have bumped up Li Ting’s score (in Table 3) to full marks for all her subjects, using the same averages and SDs found in Table 2.




Note that although Li Ting scored 100% marks for all subjects, her PSLE Aggregate Score is only 286. She did not score the (imaginary and non-existent maximum) PSLE Aggregate Score of 300!

The only way to score that 300 (or even above that), is to have a very weak cohort in your year.


So if our imaginary Li Ting scored 100% for all her subjects and still only scored 286 for her PSLE Aggregate, how did Ms Natasha score a PSLE Aggregate of 294 for the year 2007? I don’t have the stats, but my guess is that the averages and SDs of the individual subjects of the cohort played a big role.

In any case, 294 is a respectable score, and we should give credit where it is due. It is an all time high and Ms Natasha definitely deserves the recognition for her outstanding performance.

I hope the article in this post gives parents and students a better picture how PSLE Aggregate Scores are calculated.


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Top PSLE student attains highest score in 17 years

Same news from another site. (Channel News Asia)

Top PSLE student attains highest score in 17 years

SINGAPORE: St Hilda's Primary School has produced the top PSLE student this year. Natasha Nabila Muhammad Nasir is also this year's top Malay student. With an aggregate score of 294, the Education Ministry said she has set a record as having achieved the highest marks in the 17 years since the current PSLE system was implemented in 1991.

Top PSLE Student Sets New Record

Top PSLE student sets new record with 294 score

Excerpts:

"A ST HILDA'S Primary pupil has scored a record 294 in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), beating the previous high of 292 set in 1993.

Natasha Muhamad Nasir, 12, eclipsed the record set by Nanyang Primary's Justin Lau in 1993.

Her score was 'outstanding', said the Singapore Examination and Assessment Board (SEAB) spokesman, as it was a good six points ahead of the next highest
score of 288."

Natasha's parents started her early

"Natasha, who plays the piano and violin and is in the Scrabble club, already has a place in Raffles' Girls Secondary and plans to be a paediatrician in future.

Her parents have left nothing to chance when it comes to bringing up Natasha.

When she was still in her mother's womb, they would would read aloud to her and played music for her to listen.

Her mother, Ms Zahara Osman, 44, quit her flight stewardess job after Natasha was born so that she can give her 'quality time'.

When Natasha was three months old, she bought her an encyclopedia set. By two and a half years, she could read a book on her own.

Ms Zahara and her husband, Mr Muhamad Nasir Atan, 47, a Singapore Airlines technician, live in a five-room Pasir Ris flat, but they volunteered at Gongshang Primary in Tampines to get Natasha a place in the popular school."

PSLE 2007 Results out today

The PSLE 2007 results will be out today.

Press release on 19 November 2007 by The Ministry of Education.