No discrepancy found in GCE O-Level English Language oral exam questions

The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) confirmed that there was no discrepancy in the GCE O-Level English Language oral examination questions conducted on July 15, 2023. The question displayed on candidates’ screens was the same as that on the oral examiners’ screens during the exam held for about 5,000 candidates nationwide ^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]}.

The issue arose after a Reddit post claimed some candidates saw a different question during the 10-minute preparation period than the one read aloud by examiners. SEAB investigated these feedbacks and found the difference stemmed from some individuals misreading the prompts rather than system errors or content mismatch ^{[1, 2, 3, 5]}.

"For each oral examination session, only one version of the examination video and questions is released via SEAB’s e-Examination system to all examination centres. Hence, all candidates and oral examiners access the same examination video and test content," a SEAB spokesperson said ^[1].

The oral component of the O-Level English exam accounts for 20 percent of the total grade. Candidates have 20 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare by watching a video and reading the prompt, then 10 minutes of spoken interaction based on the same theme ^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]}.

Before each session starts, a verification process ensures the correct video and questions appear on the candidates’ screens. Oral examiners are experienced teachers who complete a standardisation exercise prior to deployment to maintain consistent and fair assessment standards, SEAB said ^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]}. "The Oral Examiners are experienced teachers and have completed a standardisation exercise prior to being deployed for the oral examination to ensure fair and consistent assessment for all candidates," the spokesperson added ^[1].

SEAB stated it will continue to monitor examination conduct and remains committed to a fair assessment experience for all candidates ^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]}. The board publicly responded to online complaints on July 18, confirming the findings after its investigation ^{[1, 2, 3, 5]}.