PSLE 2026 Oral – Four tips to help you score in your SBC

Here are four tips on how you can ace your PSLE Stimulus-based Conversation

Study your picture well

With the change in image for the PSLE 2025 SBC, students will be presented with a ‘live’ picture and no words on it. Students should study the photo with some questions in mind :

What are the people in the photo doing?

Where are the people in the photo?

How are they feeling?

Students should remember that there is a wide range of questions that examiners can ask based on the photograph.

For example in the recent 2026 preliminary oral examinations, some schools tested their students on a photograph of a donation box and the first question was : Is this a good place to place a donation box.

Another school tested their students on a photograph of students happily playing soccer together and the first questions was : Would you like to be part of this team?

By analysing the photograph with those three questions in mind, you will be prepared to face any questions that may be thrown at you during the oral exam so use your 5 mins preparation time wisely.

Elaborate on your answers

Sometimes, students tend not to elaborate sufficiently on the photograph. It is important to describe what you see in the picture in question 1. At TF, we tell our students to describe and give inferences. This will show the examiner that aside from simply describing what they see, students are also able to infer more deeply what may be happening in the photo. For example :

In the picture, I see… I think that they are …

It is also important to elaborate on your answers to questions 2 & 3. We remind our students that SBC is a conversation and the picture is a stimulus, so students need to keep the conversation going. Answering the examiner’s question like a comprehension question won’t garner them many marks.

Reasons

Remember to give 2-3 reasons for any opinion expressed. This will justify and support your opinions. Yes, you can also give a yes and no answer with 1 reason for ‘yes’ and 1 reason for ‘no.

Give personal experiences

Remember to give a similar experience related to the picture in question 1, and also in opinion-type questions. By talking about yourself and your experiences, you are showing that you can relate to the picture and theme of the SBC. If the picture is about a family playing a board game, talk about the types of games you play with your family members.

If the opinion-based question is “When you face a problem in life, do you prefer to turn to your friends or family for help?”, remember to give a personal experience after giving your opinion and reasons for your opinion.

Give opinions

Many students are reluctant to express their opinions unless the question requires them to. At TF, we encourage students to give opinions whenever possible. Opinions usually come at the end of the conversation before the conclusion. Start off with “In my opinion…”

In question 1, remember to give an opinion about what the people in the picture are doing. Let us take the example of a family playing a board game once again. A student can say “In my opinion, what the family in the picture is doing is meaningful and important. We should always try our best to spend time with our family members so that we can develop a stronger relationship with them.”

We hope that these four simple tips will help you feel more confident in the new PSLE Oral component!