PSLE Oral Day 2 (2025): An Educator’s Analysis

This year’s Day 2 PSLE Oral set offered a theme that was both familiar and relevant to students’ everyday experiences. The questions invited pupils to reflect on their own preferences, lifestyle choices and the broader value of practical life skills such as cooking.

Interestingly, at Writers Studio, the practice picture we had used in both our onsite and online classes bore a striking resemblance to the actual examination visual stimulus. This alignment

provided our 2025 cohort with valuable rehearsal for both content and confidence.

Thematic Focus

The oral set centres on the role of food in our daily lives. Food is not simply about sustenance; it is closely tied to culture, health, family life and independence. By anchoring the questions around this theme, the examiners would have been able to assess a student’s ability to:

• • Observe and describe everyday settings

• • Express personal opinions and preferences clearly

• • Discuss broader values related to healthy living and independence

Question Progression

The three questions were structured to progress in scope and complexity:
1) Picture-based observation (hawker centre)
2) Personal lifestyle preference (home-cooked food vs outside food)
3) Broader value-based opinion (importance of learning how to cook)

This sequencing moves students from the concrete (what they see in the picture) to the personal (their own choices), before stretching them towards the societal and value-based (life skills for students).

Analysis of Each Question and Pointers

Q1: Would you visit this hawker centre for a meal?
Students must first demonstrate their ability to interpret visual information. They should describe what is happening in the picture (e.g., people queuing at stalls, others seated at tables) before making a personal connection.

Always link observation with personal habits. For example, “Yes, I would, because my family enjoys visiting hawker centres for variety and affordable meals.” After which, students will have to elaborate.

Q2: Do you prefer home cooked food or outside food?
This question assesses a student’s ability to state a clear opinion and support it with reasons. It also tests whether they can compare options meaningfully.

Students should state your choice clearly, then provide at least two justifications. For instance, “I prefer home cooked food because it is healthier and it gives me more time with my family.”

Q3: Do you think students should learn how to cook?
You will realise that question moves beyond personal preference to a broader perspective on values and life skills. It allows examiners to assess higher-order thinking and the ability to articulate why a skill is important for young people.

We encourage students to begin with a firm stand (“Yes, students should learn how to cook”), then support it with practical benefits such as independence, responsibility or healthy eating. Students may also add a personal example of helping in the kitchen.

Pedagogical Insights

2025 PSLE Oral Day questions demonstrate the importance of scaffolded practice. Students who are trained to move systematically from description → opinion → value-based reasoning are more confident and coherent in their answers. Writers Studio curriculum team designs our oral practice materials to mirror this progression, helping our students build both fluency and depth in their responses.

Additionally, our P6 students have been trained to go beyond one-line answers. They are encouraged to:

• • Use complete sentences;

• • Support points with examples or experiences;

• • Explain the “why” behind their views.

In our opinion, PSLE Oral component continues to test more than surface-level description. It aims to gauge a child’s ability to observe, reflect, and reason thoughtfully. This year’s theme of food and daily choices provided a familiar entry point while still challenging students to express broader insights.

At Writers Studio, our newly released P5 Oral Training Programme has been designed with the PSLE rigour in mind, drawing from recent PSLE trends and classroom practice to prepare students not just for the exam, but for confident communication beyond it.

Discover our P5 Oral Training Programme that comes with proven strategies and insights to help your child excel with confidence.