SPERS stands for School Placement Exercise for Returning Singaporeans. SPERS is an exercise that helps returning Singaporeans who are studying overseas to find a suitable school in Singapore. The aim is to ensure that these students can continue their education seamlessly upon their return to Singapore.

During the SPERS exercise, students will have to take a placement test, which assesses their knowledge and skills in English, Mathematics, and Mother Tongue languages. Based on their performance in the placement test, students will be placed in a suitable school.

Your child needs to be familiar with the English and Mathematics topics taught in mainstream secondary schools, such as:

• Topics in Primary 6 for Secondary 1 admission.
• Topics in Secondary 1 for Secondary 2 admission.
• Topics in Secondary 2 for Secondary 3 admission.

SPERS English Test

The English test comprises two parts. Your child will be given 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete it:

Part 1: Writing

2 topics are set for Secondary 1, while 4 topics are set for Secondary 2 and Secondary 3.

Your child has to choose 1 topic for composition writing. The word limits for the different academic level are as follows:

• Secondary 1: 200 to 300 words
• Secondary 2: 250 to 350 words
• Secondary 3: 300 to 400 words

Part 2: Comprehension and language use

Compulsory multiple-choice questions

• Comprehension (based on 2 passages): 15 items
• Comprehension cloze (based on 2 passages): 15 items
• Vocabulary: 10 items
• Grammar: 10 items

SPERS Maths Test

The Mathematics test comprises 2 parts. Your child will be given 30 minutes to complete Part 1, and 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete Part 2. They will not be allowed to use a calculator.

Part 1

• Multiple-choice questions: 34 items

Part 2

• Short-answer questions: 20 items
• Open-ended questions: 10 to 15 items

For both short-answer and open-ended questions, your child has to show the method of solution clearly by writing their working steps in the spaces provided in addition to providing the final answers.

Generally, open-ended questions require longer and more complex method of solutions as compared to short-answer questions.