PSLE Chinese composition, in one screen
- Standard Chinese: one composition in 50 minutes, worth 40 marks — 20% of the PSLE Chinese grade.
- Your child chooses ONE of two questions: 命题作文 (a set title) or 看图作文 (a picture composition).
- At least 100 characters (字数不少过 100). SEAB sets no maximum.
- A dictionary prescribed by SEAB may be used during the paper.
- Higher Chinese is different: 命题作文 or 完成文章, a 记叙文 of at least 200 characters, worth 40% of that subject.
- SEAB does not publish a marking rubric. Any content-versus-language mark split you see online is not from SEAB.
Search for the PSLE Chinese composition format and you will find the word count given as 100, 200 and “350 to 500 for an AL1”, and marking schemes with confident mark splits. Most of those pages cite nothing. The format is in fact set out in a short SEAB syllabus document, and it is simpler than the internet makes it look.
This page gives what that document says, marks the places where it says nothing, and then turns to what a parent can actually do with it: helping a child choose between the two questions and plan a composition in the first few minutes.
Where every fact here comes from
The SEAB syllabus for PSLE Chinese Language (0005) and PSLE Higher Chinese Language (0015), both marked “for examination from 2017” and still the documents SEAB lists for the 2026 examination. Anything the syllabus does not state, this page says is unpublished instead of guessing.
A note on who we are: PSLEPrep is an oral practice product. We do not mark compositions. We wrote this page because the answers online to these questions disagree with each other, and the source that settles them is short and public.
The format: standard Chinese and Higher Chinese
Composition is 试卷一 (Paper 1) in both subjects, and both give 50 minutes. Everything else differs, so check which paper your child sits before reading any advice.
| Chinese (0005) | Higher Chinese (0015) | |
|---|---|---|
| Paper | 试卷一 写作 | 试卷一 写作 |
| Time | 50 minutes | 50 minutes |
| Marks | 40 marks, 20% of the subject | 40 marks, 40% of the subject |
| Choice | One of two: 命题作文 or 看图作文 | One of two: 命题作文 or 完成文章 |
| Type of writing | Not specified | A 记叙文 (narrative) |
| Length | At least 100 characters | At least 200 characters |
| Dictionary | A dictionary prescribed by SEAB may be used | Not mentioned in the syllabus |
Paper
Chinese (0005)
试卷一 写作
Higher Chinese (0015)
试卷一 写作
Time
Chinese (0005)
50 minutes
Higher Chinese (0015)
50 minutes
Marks
Chinese (0005)
40 marks, 20% of the subject
Higher Chinese (0015)
40 marks, 40% of the subject
Choice
Chinese (0005)
One of two: 命题作文 or 看图作文
Higher Chinese (0015)
One of two: 命题作文 or 完成文章
Type of writing
Chinese (0005)
Not specified
Higher Chinese (0015)
A 记叙文 (narrative)
Length
Chinese (0005)
At least 100 characters
Higher Chinese (0015)
At least 200 characters
Dictionary
Chinese (0005)
A dictionary prescribed by SEAB may be used
Higher Chinese (0015)
Not mentioned in the syllabus
Source: SEAB PSLE Chinese Language (0005) §2.1 and §3.1; Higher Chinese Language (0015) §2.1 and §3.1
Two things in that table are worth pointing out. The first is that composition carries 20% of the standard Chinese grade, while the oral carries 25%. Composition is the smaller of the two. The whole subject is broken down on our PSLE Chinese overview.
The second is that the 200-character figure you see quoted belongs to Higher Chinese. The standard Chinese minimum is 100. Neither syllabus sets a maximum, and neither says anything about how long a composition needs to be for a particular grade.
命题作文 or 看图作文: the choice your child makes
In standard Chinese the paper offers two questions and your child answers one. The syllabus names them — 命题作文, where a title is set, and 看图作文, a picture composition — and says only that the candidate chooses either. It does not say how many pictures there are, what the title will be like, or whether one question is marked differently from the other. Nothing in it suggests one is easier.
So the choice is your child's to make on the day, and it is worth practising as a decision in its own right rather than leaving it to nerves. A choice made in the first two minutes, for a clear reason, leaves 48 minutes for writing. A choice changed halfway through leaves much less.
A two-minute choice — our method, not SEAB's
Have your child ask three questions of each option before writing anything:
- Can I say in one sentence what happens? If a story does not come to mind for the title, or the pictures do not suggest one, that is a strong signal.
- Do I know the words for it? A story set somewhere your child can describe in Chinese beats a better story they can only tell in English.
- Where is the turning point? Every composition needs a moment where something changes. If your child can point to it, they can plan around it.
Whichever option gets more “yes” answers is the one to write. If it is a tie, take the one with the clearer turning point.
Higher Chinese replaces 看图作文 with 完成文章, completing a piece of writing, and asks for a 记叙文 whichever option is chosen. The same three questions still apply.
How is PSLE Chinese composition marked?
The honest answer is that SEAB does not publish it. The syllabus gives the marks (40) and the task. It does not give a rubric, band descriptors, or a split between content and language. That is true for both standard and Higher Chinese.
You will find pages that state a split to the mark, and school worksheets that use one. Those may reflect how a school or a tuition centre marks its own practice papers, and that can be useful feedback. They are not a published SEAB marking scheme, and no page we found cited one. If a source tells you exactly how many marks PSLE gives for content (内容) or for language (语文), ask where the number comes from.
What the syllabus does say is broad: among the language abilities the whole examination assesses, it lists 写作／书面互动 (writing and written interaction), alongside the use of words and idioms and sentence structure. That is enough to say a composition is judged as writing in Chinese, and not enough to say more.
A five-minute plan your child can use on either question
Because nobody outside SEAB can tell you how marks are awarded, the useful preparation is the part that is under your child's control: turning a title or a set of pictures into a story with a shape, quickly. This is the plan we suggest. It is a method, not an official requirement, and it works the same way for 命题作文 and 看图作文.
| Step | What your child writes down | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The one-line story | Who, where, and what happens — in one sentence. | If it will not fit in one sentence, the story is not clear yet. |
| 2. The turning point | The single moment where something changes. | This is the scene the composition is about. It gets the most words. |
| 3. Before and after | One line on how things were before that moment, one on how they were after. | Gives the beginning and the ending something to do. |
| 4. Words to use | Five or six words or phrases your child is confident writing for this story. | Chosen now, while there is time, not hunted for mid-sentence. |
| 5. Link to the question | One line saying how the ending answers the title, or which pictures it uses. | Keeps the composition on the question that was set. |
1. The one-line story
What your child writes down
Who, where, and what happens — in one sentence.
Why
If it will not fit in one sentence, the story is not clear yet.
2. The turning point
What your child writes down
The single moment where something changes.
Why
This is the scene the composition is about. It gets the most words.
3. Before and after
What your child writes down
One line on how things were before that moment, one on how they were after.
Why
Gives the beginning and the ending something to do.
4. Words to use
What your child writes down
Five or six words or phrases your child is confident writing for this story.
Why
Chosen now, while there is time, not hunted for mid-sentence.
5. Link to the question
What your child writes down
One line saying how the ending answers the title, or which pictures it uses.
Why
Keeps the composition on the question that was set.
Our planning method — SEAB prescribes none
Children can write the plan in whatever mix of Chinese and English is fastest for them. The plan is not marked. What matters is that the composition itself is written in Chinese from a plan that already knows where it is going.
How to practise it at home
Do plans, not whole compositions, most of the time. A plan takes five minutes and a composition takes fifty, so ten plans a fortnight teaches the choosing and shaping far faster than one full piece. Every so often, have your child write out one of the plans in full under the 50-minute limit, so the timing is familiar before the day.
What about past-year 作文 topics?
SEAB does not publish past-year topics as a list, and we found no news coverage naming a year's PSLE Chinese composition question. The lists online are recollections compiled by tuition centres. We have not reproduced one here, because we could not check any of them against a published source.
If you want the real papers, SEAB sells past-year question papers through its authorised distributors, listed on SEAB's website. Used with the plan above, one real paper teaches more than a long list of titles.
The paper we do help with is the oral. PSLE Chinese 口试 is worth 25% of the grade — more than composition. PSLEPrep lets your child practise 朗读 and 会话 at home, in the exam format, with feedback after every attempt.
See how Chinese oral practice works →Where to go next
Frequently Asked Questions
How many words is the PSLE Chinese composition?
At least 100 characters for standard Chinese (字数不少过 100) and at least 200 for Higher Chinese. Those are the only figures in the SEAB syllabus. Neither paper has a maximum, and SEAB does not link any length to a grade.
How long is PSLE Chinese Paper 1, and how many marks is it worth?
50 minutes and 40 marks in both subjects. In standard Chinese that is 20% of the subject grade; in Higher Chinese, which has only two papers, it is 40%.
What is the PSLE Chinese composition marking scheme?
SEAB does not publish one. The syllabus gives the marks and the task, but no rubric, band descriptors, or split between content and language. Mark splits found online come from schools and tuition centres, not from SEAB.
Can my child use a dictionary in PSLE Chinese composition?
In standard Chinese, yes: the syllabus says candidates may use a dictionary prescribed by SEAB while writing. It does not name the models, so check with your child's school which ones are allowed. The Higher Chinese syllabus does not mention a dictionary.
Should my child choose 命题作文 or 看图作文?
Whichever one they can see a clear story for in the first two minutes. SEAB does not say that either is easier or marked differently. Our suggestion is three quick checks: can I say what happens in one sentence, do I have the Chinese words for it, and where is the turning point.