Practising is the best method to score well in examinations. The examination pattern, the type of questions asked, distribution of marks, weightage of each question can best be ascertained through practice.
For practice, you may need previous years question papers, mock question-answer series of different schools and more. But, why to spend a cent when you can get them for free.
Here’s a comprehensive list of websites for you to download free top-school exam papers in Singapore:
1. Singapore Exams: https://www.singapore-exam-papers.com/
If your child is a Primary student, this is one of the best websites from where free question papers of previous years can be obtained. You may be wondering why FREE? This website is funded by advertisements. So, question papers for your children can be availed absolutely free. Get him/her prepared well for PSLE.
The site stands good even for tutors to help their students prepare well.
Levels: Primary 1 – Primary 6 Years: 2011 to 2020
2. Test Papers Free: https://www.testpapersfree.com/
Types: Continual assessments (CA1, CA2), Semesteral Assessments (SA1, SA2)
Years: 2004 to 2020
3. Primary School Exam Papers: http://www.onlineexampapers.com/
This website provides free previous year question papers of top 10 primary schools. Types: Continual assessments (CA1, CA2), Semestral Assessments0 Years: 2006 to 2019
4. Singaporean Chinese Exam Test Papers: https://sgexam.com/
This site also offers free examination papers to be downloaded for Primary levels.
Levels: Primary P1 to P6
5. SG Test Paper: https://www.sgtestpaper.com/
This site also makes available free test papers for primary level students. Some papers are free, while others are paid.
6. SG Free Papers: https://sgfreepapers.com/
This website provides free examination papers not only for primary schools but also for secondary schools and JC prelims. Free papers can be availed either by registering with the site and then logging in. Hard copies can be purchased for a reasonable amount. Levels: Primary, Secondary, JC
7. Exam Paper: http://www.exampaper.biz/
This site also offers some test papers for free, while others for a reasonable cost.
Levels: Secondary, JC
8. SG Past Exam Papers: http://www.sgexams.com/
This is one of the most simplified websites for previous year question papers for preparing your child for Primary School Examinations. Levels: Primary 1 – Primary 6
9. Raffles Guru: https://raffles.guru/
This website offers sample papers, test papers and worksheets for primary levels that can be availed for practicing and preparing well for PSLE.
10. Exampapers.io: https://www.exampapers.io/search-exam-papers
This website offers free exam papers from the top primary schools in Singapore.
9 benefits of doing exam papers / mock exams
The benefits of doing mock exams and past exam papers must not be underestimated. This is a simple truth that all students intuitively know.
I think the first year exams were invented was the only year students didn't meticulously study past exam papers. From the second year of exams' existence onward students have been hunched over mock exams trying to decipher the questions, analyze them from every possible angle, review their mistakes, etc.
But why do we do that? How exactly do mock exams benefit us?
1. Doing mock exams helps you identify recurring exam themes.
If you have already done multiple mock tests in preparation for your exam you might have had a sense of déjà vu. No, your brain is not playing tricks on you. The questions at every exam might be new, but the themes seem to be recycled.
And that is not surprising at all. After all, there are thousands of exams conducted throughout the world every year. It is impossible to keep coming up with entirely original themes for each one of them.
By continuously doing mock exams you will be able to detect which themes occur commonly. This will help you to narrow down your revision material, and to focus on the topics that you suspect might come up at your upcoming exam.
2. Doing mock exams improves your knowledge.
Needless to say, your memory plays a crucial part in your exam success, and doing mock exams drastically improves your ability to recall necessary information.
There's even scientific research that proves this fact. Scientists conducted an experiment in which they compared two groups of students one of which had done several mock exams after revising and the one that had not. Guess which one got better marks during the actual test?
3. Doing past exam papers prepares you psychologically for what is to come.
When it comes to taking exams anxiety is your arch-enemy. Even if you are 100-percent confident in your knowledge going into the exam venue and being immersed in the atmosphere of the exam room might give you a slight shock and make you anxious, if you haven't done any mock exams whilst recreating the exact exam conditions. This is, of course, detrimental to your test score.
In order to avoid, or at least minimize this shock, do as many mock exams as possible. This way you will not feel that you are tackling something unknown on the big day. But, keep in mind that in order to succeed in controlling your nerves, you need to recreate the exam conditions in your home as closely as possible (this means putting away your mobile phone, setting time, not being distracted by anything, and so on).
4. Mock exams help you identify your weak points.
You can't be uniformly good at all topics. Every student has some areas that they are excellent at and other areas which might bring on their demise if left unattended.
Doing past exam papers will help you identify the chinks in your armor and you will spend more time eliminating your vulnerabilities rather than waste your time rereading material about the topics you already know everything about.
5. Getting used to the exam-style questions.
It isn't just what kinds of questions are asked, it is how they are asked that matters. If you are unfamiliar with how the exam questions are structured then making heads and tails of it might take a significant chunk of your time on the big day. And wasting time on some formality is the last thing students need during the exam.
Doing multiple mock exams will help you get used to the way the questions are worded so that you don't waste any time trying to interpret the meaning and get straight to giving your answer.
Depending on the type of exam, the questions might also contain some specific phrases which are not part of our everyday vocabulary. If you regularly do past exam papers you are bound to come across these phrases at some point so they won't confuse you when you encounter them during your actual exam.
6. Time management is the key to success.
Remember when I said that anxiety is your arch-enemy? Well, on exam day it colludes with time in an effort to bring you down. And the only thing that can defeat their evil alliance is doing mock exams.
When faced with a difficult question many students panic and spend too much time trying to figure out the answer neglecting the following questions. As a result, they might miss out on quite a lot of points because the questions they definitely knew the answers to might be clustered at the end of the exam paper, but alas, the students didn't have enough time to get to them.
Doing past exam papers will help you get a sense of how much time you should spend on each question. It will also teach you how to curb your nerves and not get obsessed with the questions you are unsure about. You will learn how to calmly leave them out, keep going, and come back to them later.
7. Boost your self-confidence.
We have already spoken about identifying your weaknesses, but what about identifying your strengths? Writing past exam papers can help you do that too. You will be able to see which areas you are good at which will give you that all-important boost of confidence.
One of the reasons why students get nervous while they are taking their exams is because they fear total failure. They start doubting even the basic things they were confident about during revision.
Doing mock exams helps you solidify your knowledge, and be confident about the things you really do know, which, in turn, helps you be calmer during your test.
So, by helping you identify both your weaknesses and strengths doing mock exams reveals a rather realistic picture of where you stand in terms of your knowledge.
8. Mock exams help you get accurate feedback from your tutor.
Studying with a qualified and experienced tutor is always better than studying on your own; and if you are doing mock exams your tutor will be able to review them and give you accurate and objective feedback.
If you are simply revising for your test your tutor might not be able to help you, since even the best ones can't read your mind and tell you what you have and have not memorized.
But mock exams demonstrate in writing exactly what you know and what you do not. You might not be able to identify all of your weak points, but an experienced tutor will be able to do that without blinking an eye as soon as they review what you have written.
Receiving this objective feedback is of paramount importance since it will help you adjust your course, spend time on the areas that need more work, and ultimately achieve a better exam score.
9. Doing exams is fun (or at least more fun than continuously reading).
Constantly reading the same text with the hope of memorizing it for your exam might become tedious after a while. Why not change up the routine by doing some mock exams?
By employing several study techniques and alternating between reading and doing past practice papers you will be able to memorize the information better and keep an eye on the progress you have made.
If you have done particularly well (and your mock test proves that) you can reward yourself by doing something that you enjoy. For psychological reasons, it is important to intersperse the demanding study sessions with some brief and fun breaks, and doing well on your mock exam can give you an excuse to do just that.
To sum up, above we mentioned only some of the benefits that doing past exam papers and mock exams can bring. Overall, all of the biggest benefits are psychological in nature. Students often tend to underestimate the role their psychological state plays in successfully passing an exam. By doing mock exams you mentally prepare yourself for the big day in every way possible.
You remove the much-feared element of the unknown by testing yourself in exam conditions which sheds light on the entire process. You hone your time management skills and teach yourself to keep calm when faced with a hiccup. You boost your self-confidence by finding out what you know, and you learn the truth about which topics you have not yet mastered and need to pay more attention to.
In addition, you can get accurate and valuable feedback from your experienced tutor which will help you iron out the wrinkles you might have missed.
So as we can see doing mock exams and past exam papers brings enormous benefits to all students no matter the subject.