PUBLISHED ONAugust 05, 2026 4:58 AMBYLim KeweiThe Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) has determined that there were no errors in the O-level English oral exam on July 15, after 432 candidates reported discrepancies in the question shown during their preparation time.
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday (Aug 5), Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Education Janil Puthucheary said SEAB immediately investigated the claims by checking its e-system.
It also reviewed digital logs and conducted cybersecurity checks and determined that there was no evidence of a system malfunction and no discrepancy in the prompt displayed to candidates and oral examiners.
Dr Janil said there was "no discernible pattern", and the alleged discrepancies reported had "significant variation".
He said SEAB will review the oral examination processes for students to read the oral prompt more carefully during the 10-minute preparation time.
@asiaone Senior Minister of State for Education Dr Janil Puthucheary told Parliament on Wednesday (Aug 5) that schools are working with candidates who might have experienced significant distress arising from the circumstances, to apply for special consideration. #sgnews #Singapore #Parliament #OLevel ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
The topic for the O-level oral exam on July 15 was regarding street barbers.
The prompt asked: "Who do you think would go to a place like this for a haircut? Why do you say so?"
Several Reddit users had earlier claimed that the text prompt displayed on a computer screen, which lets candidates plan their oral response in advance, had differed from the actual prompt read by examiners.
On the day of the examination, 173 candidates from 76 different schools reported a difference in the prompt shown and the question asked by the oral examiners.
In the following days, more students who took the oral exam on July 15 reported similar issues, bringing the total number of affected students to 432 from 102 schools.
Nearly 5,000 candidates sat for the oral exam on July 15, said Dr Janil.
He said: "[There were] different phrases recalled by different students, including by students that were examined at the same centre and by the same oral examination team."
Some of these phrases include "Would you visit?", ""Would you be interested?" and "Would you cut your hair?", among similar variations.
"Putting together the technical details, the distribution pattern of the incidents across the stations, schools, and time, as well as the variety of phrases reported by the students, SEAB has concluded the cause for these incidents was not technical in nature, nor the result of a deliberate or malicious act."
@asiaone Preliminary data shows that the mean score for the English O-level oral examination on July 15 is comparable to that of the other four sessions in 2026, said Senior Minister of State for Education Dr Janil Puthucheary. #sgnews #Singapore #Parliament #OLevel ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
According to Dr Janil, preliminary data indicates that the mean score for the oral exam on July 15 is "comparable" to the whole 2026 cohort who took the oral exam in other sessions.
The mean score of the 432 candidates who reported discrepancies is also comparable to the mean score of the remaining oral candidates on July 15.
Acknowledging that some candidates may have "experienced significant distress" which affected their final response, the senior minister of state said the schools are working with these students to apply for special consideration.
"We take these reports very seriously," he stressed.
"SEAB also remains committed to ensuring that all candidates, including those who might have misread the prompt, are assessed fairly."
Elaborating on SEAB's review of the incident in response to a supplementary question by Workers' Party (WP) Andre Low, who said the incident appeared to have affected eight to nine per cent of candidates, Dr Janil clarified that the O-level English oral exams were held across five days.
Low also asked if the education ministry would "consider varying the way they set oral examination questions in the future".
Said Dr Janil: "SEAB will look to learn from this incident how we can reduce the risk of prompts being misread, guide the students about the preparation better, both in terms of the preparation for the exam and during the exam itself.
"Part of that...is to look at how specific phrases or words are used within examination prompts, and SEAB will certainly do this."
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lim.kewei@asiaone.com
