What's changing in 2026 PSLE Maths

Why this year is different

MOE rolled out a revised primary maths syllabus one level at a time, starting with Primary 1 in 2021 and reaching Primary 6 this year. So the 2026 cohort is the first to sit a PSLE built entirely on the new syllabus. The thinking is consistent: teach each topic at the level where children are ready for it, smooth out the steep jump that used to land in Primary 5, and reward reasoning over memorising. Less cramming, not more.

What is gone, and what has moved

Speed is gone. The topic that caused the most worry, speed, distance, and time, has been removed from the syllabus entirely. If your child has been grinding speed problems, they can stop. It leans on algebraic thinking that lands more naturally once students start algebra in Secondary 1.

Average and Ratio now sit in Primary 6. Both have moved up from Primary 5 into the exam year, so they are now front-and-centre PSLE topics. Give them real weight.

Pie Charts and Nets are now Primary 4 topics. By P6 they are treated as assumed knowledge rather than fresh material, which creates a quiet trap: a child who never quite locked them in at P4 can carry that gap all the way into the exam. Worth a quick check that the basics are solid.

Algebra now goes further. Basic algebra was already part of the P6 syllabus, using letters for unknowns and working with simple expressions. For 2026 it has been extended: P6 students now also solve simple linear equations, the kind like 3x + 5 = 20, and the PSLE can test equation-solving for the first time. So this is not a brand-new topic out of nowhere, it is a familiar one that now reaches further. A child who only practised the expressions side, or who worked from older material, may not have met the equation-solving part. It is a deliberate bridge into secondary school.

The paper itself has been reweighted

This is the change parents most often miss, and it matters as much as the topic changes.

• The two papers now carry equal weight. Paper 1 is up from 45 to 50 marks; Paper 2 is down from 55 to 50. Paper 1 is no longer the lighter half you can coast through.
• Booklet B has been streamlined, with five one-mark short-answer questions removed, and Booklet A gaining more multiple-choice questions in their place.
• The marking still rewards method. On a two-mark short-answer question, a wrong answer with correct working still earns one mark. With fewer questions each worth more, showing working matters more than it used to.

Why old papers can mislead now

Here is the practical sting. A 2025 practice paper still tests Speed and does not include the new equation-solving algebra. A child drilling it is revising a topic that will not appear, while missing one that will. Past papers from 2022 and 2023 are still useful for familiarity with question types, but they cannot be treated as a checklist of what to study. Before you buy or download anything, check it is labelled for the 2021 syllabus or 2026 PSLE.

What to actually do

If you do nothing else, do these four.

1. 1Stop drilling Speed. Reclaim that time for the topics that are now on the paper.
2. 2Make Average, Ratio, and the new equation-solving algebra solid. These are the P6 topics most likely to be under-practised in older material. For algebra, the gap is usually the equation-solving, not the expressions.
3. 3Check the P4 foundations, Pie Charts and Nets especially, since they are now assumed rather than taught fresh in P6.
4. 4Treat Paper 1 as seriously as Paper 2, and build the habit of showing working on every short-answer question.

It is the biggest change in years. It is also designed to make the subject more learnable, not less. Take it one topic at a time, starting with the ones that moved.