The General Paper Examination (8005)

The General Paper will test the candidate's use of English, level of understanding and the extent to which he has achieved a maturity of thought appropriate to pre-university students in their second year. It is not primarily a test of general knowledge. All candidates for the full GCE 'A' level are required to reach a satisfactory level in this subject.

Candidates sit for both papers one after the other, with a short break in between.

Paper 1 (Essay): 1.5 hours

There is a choice of 12 essay topics, ranging from science and technology to politics and social problems, of which at least three will be relevant to National Education.

The essay should be 500 - 800 words in length. Students are expected to construct arguments and offer balanced views which are substantiated by facts and a thorough knowledge of the topic. The essay should be well organized and structured, have few or no grammatical errors and exhibit a sophisticated range of language.

The essay is marked out of a total of 50 marks with 30 marks for content and 20 marks for use of language.

Paper 2 (Comprehension): 1.5 hours

Either one or two passages for comprehension are set. Questions test the ability to understand the passage(s), to summarise, to compare points of view and to apply knowledge gained from the passage(s) to issues of contemporary life.

Note that sentence construction is no longer tested.

This paper is marked out of a total of 50 marks with 35 marks for content and 15 marks for use of language.

Emphasis is placed on the candidate's use of his own words in expressing answers.

Grading

Note: GP grades look similar to O-level grades but do not correspond to O-level marks.

You might also like to view our past examination papers or MOE's official syllabus (subject code 8005 - may crash your computer).