Common Last Topics — List of Topics Removed from Exams and how it Affects your Revision!
With the increased infection rate in Singapore due to the COVID-19 Delta variant, and resultant disruptions to curriculum time, MOE and SEAB have decided to remove the last topic from all content-based syllabuses in the national examinations in 2021. This removed topic, known amongst educators as the Common Last Topic (CLT), would have been taught in schools, but not examinable.
We understand that, with these changes in place, many graduating students will be anxious about their national exams this year. At AfterSkool, we aim to ensure that each and every one of our students is confident about excelling in their exams.
Am I Affected by this Removal of CLTs?
You’re only affected if you are a graduating student this year, i.e. taking SEAB’s A-Level, O-Level, N-Level or PSLE examinations in 2021 itself.
Students taking these same examinations in 2022 and beyond will not be affected by these measures, i.e. the full syllabus will still be tested for you.
How Will It Affect My Examination Strategy?
While schools will still teach the full syllabus, the removal of certain topics means that you will now have fewer topics to revise for your national exams. Apart from the what to revise, the removal of these topics may also impact how you revise.
With the removal of topics, the use of past-year practice papers must be done judiciously. Attempting the whole paper without considering which questions are still being assessed will result in wasted time and effort if the goal is exam revision.
In line with our examination-focused approach at AfterSkool, we will omit the CLTs for graduating students so that they can use the time saved to further improve on examinable topics. For certain subjects such as Biology, Chemistry and Physics, lessons covering these omitted topics will be offered for FREE instead on a sign-up basis.
Any Revision Advice?
1) Be Exam Smart!
With the reduced number of topics, the remaining topics will be tested more heavily. Hence you should be focusing your efforts on mastering these topics instead of wasting time on the topics that have been removed!
2) Make A Study Plan Using the Revised Syllabus
While reviewing syllabus is always good practice for exam preparation, it is perhaps even more important now. Make sure you review your updated syllabuses so you have a firm understanding of what topics you need to revise. You can then use this to devise an organised revision plan and timetable.
3) Make Sure Your Tutor Guides You!
Teachers are in the best position to identify which questions are no longer examinable. At AfterSkool, our teachers will be painstakingly going through ALL of your practice papers and modifying the questions so that they are tailored to YOUR syllabus. If you have your own tuition outside, you should insist on this too.
It is not as simple as just crossing out questions, as many examination questions have a cross-topic approach. If you try to cross out questions on your own, you will very likely end up:
(a) cancelling out questions that should not be cancelled, i.e. any question that looks foreign to you. However, many of these are actually “higher order questions” of topics within your syllabus, and you are depriving yourself of these practices which are very crucial to obtain the distinction.
(b) struggling with questions that are actually removed from syllabus, but you were not aware of, causing confusion and weakening your foundation in the subject.
However, for MCQ papers, we will still be retaining a small number of CTL questions in order to expose you to the concepts for your own learning.
We hope this article has helped you better understand CLT! You can find more information about CLT in the sources below.
List of CLTs:*
*This list is not exhaustive and covers only the CLTs for select subjects. Please visit the SEAB website for the full list of CLTs that have been removed from this year’s national exams, and more details of each CLT. Please also consult with your school teachers should you have any questions about the CLTs.
PSLE
Math — Primary 6 content of the following topics: Speed, Volume, Pie Charts, Solid Figures and Nets
Science — Interactions within the Environment
O-Levels
History
Reasons for the end of the Cold War in Unit 3 Bi-Polarity and the Cold War
In Unit 4 Decolonisation and Emergence of Nation States:
If studying the case study of Vietnam: Reunification and establishment of independent Communist Vietnam, 1975
If studying the case study of Indonesia: Establishment of Independent Indonesia, 1949
Elective History— Reasons for the end of the Cold War in Unit 2 Bi-Polarity and the Cold War
Geography — How can we manage the current and future spread of infectious diseases? in Topic 6 Health and Diseases — Are we more vulnerable than before?
Elective Geography — What are the trends and challenges in the production of food crops? in Topic 4: Food Resources — Is technology a panacea for food shortage?
Social studies — How do we respond to tensions arising from some security impacts of globalisation? in Issue 3: Being Part of a Globalised World
A Math — Proofs in Plane Geometry
E Math — Vectors in two dimensions
Physics — Electromagnetic Induction
Chemistry— Organic Chemistry
Biology — Organisms and their Environment
Science (Physics) — Magnetism and Electromagnetism
Science (Chemistry) — Organic Chemistry
Science (Biology) — Organisms and their Environment
A-Levels
H1 Geography — Issues affecting liveability — crowding and fear in the city in Topic 2.2 Liveability in Cities
H2 Geography — Needs of different social groups in the city — Elderly, Youths, Disabled and Migrants and Responding to environment hazards — Pluvial floods in cities in Topic 3.2 Sustainable Urban Development
H1 History —Case studies of Lebanon (1978 - 1985) and Kosovo (1999) in Theme III The Cold War and the United Nations, 1945 - 2000.
H2 History — UN Reforms in Theme III Safeguarding International Peace and Security
H1 Economics — Monetary policy in Theme 3.2.3 Macroeconomic policies to improve standard of living.
H2 Economics — Globalisation and the International Economy
H1 Physics — Nuclear Physics
H2 Physics — Nuclear Physics
H1 Chemistry — Nanomaterials
H2 Chemistry — Introduction to the Chemistry of Transition Elements
H1 Biology — Impact of Climate Change
H2 Biology — Impact of Climate change on Animals and Plants
H1 Mathematics — Correlation and Linear regression
H2 Further Mathematics — Non-parametric tests
H2 Mathematics — Correlation and Linear regression