P5 English Paper 2 SA2 Reminders

In Primary 5, many students will face their first full English Paper 2 during the end-of-year (SA2) examination. This page offers essential reminders—covering grammar structures, Synthesis & Transformation rules, comprehension strategies, and revision techniques—to help students approach the paper with confidence. For a more comprehensive overview of all Paper 2 components, please visit our P5 English Paper 2 components to explore each section in greater depth, from editing and grammar to vocabulary and beyond.

Learn Your Grammar and Synthesis & Transformation Rules

Grammar structures tested become more complex in upper primary. Students in P5 will be tested on new grammar structures such as Negative adverbs and question tags, Conditionals, and the use of ‘Whom’. Over the P5 year, students would have already come across these grammar structures in school, at their tuition classes, or even at home while doing additional practices.

When you make a mistake in grammar exercises, you should learn the rules and even compile them in a notebook.

This is the same for Synthesis & Transformation. Like grammar, P5 students have learnt these rules in their P5 year. The rules for the common S&T topics such as Reported Speech and Active and Passive can be found in books and even online.

Grammar and S&T are rule-based. If you learn your rules and have adequate practice, you should ace these sections of your Paper 2.

At TF, we remind our students of the Grammar and S&T rules when we work on our exercises. Some students are quick to remember and not make the same mistake again while others require more repetition and practice. If you are a student who needs more repetition, spend some time every week reviewing your rules. It will be extremely beneficial in the long run.

Remember To Use The Techniques Taught To You

Students can use techniques in every Paper 2 component to help them score. Students are taught in school, at their tuition classes, and even at home how to find grammar and comprehension cloze clues, how to transform synthesis & transformation questions accurately, and how to answer comprehension OE questions. Some techniques are more time-consuming than others but they are taught so that students can score during exams.

At TF, our students are guided on these techniques every time we do paper 2 components which is weekly. Our teachers are firm about our students using these techniques and we penalise our students during mock tests if we do not see annotations on their papers. Yet, some students still do not employ these techniques during examinations in school.

Students should remember not to be complacent during examinations. Use the techniques taught to help you.

Spend More Time On Components With Higher Weightage

Sometimes during our mock tests, a student may complete the Comprehension OE section or Comprehension Cloze section very quickly. This always worries me and our teachers. At TF, we remind our students that Comprehension OE is out of 20 marks, the highest weightage in the paper. Comprehension Cloze is out of 15 marks. Failing or doing badly in these two sections can cost a student a lot of marks. Do not rush through your paper. Take the time to read the passages carefully. Re-read the passages again if you not understand them. Look for keywords in the questions or clues in the cloze passage. Annotate your answers in your passages. Yes, it will take more time but ample time is given to each student to complete Paper 2. If you are mindful of the time and work diligently, there will be enough time to check through the whole paper.

At TF, we teach our students 4 simple steps to handle Comprehension OE.

Step 1 – Read to understand.

In our weekly Paper 2 practices, we will ask each student questions about the passage they have read. It is a way for our teachers to check that students have understood what they have read and it is a way to train students to read their comprehension passages with understanding and not just skim over it.

Step 2 – Identify question types and underline keywords in the questions.

Students who do not identify keywords in the questions can sometimes make the mistake of giving a two-word phrase instead of just ‘a word’. Reading all the questions before looking for their answers will prepare them for the answers that they need to look for.

Step 3 – Look for their answers in their passage.

Students are timed 6 minutes to highlight and number their answers in the passage. They will look for clues in the passage to help them with their inferential question types.

Step 4 – Fill in their answers.

This will also be their way of checking that they have answered the questions completely as they fill in their answers.

Be Meticulous In Your Synthesis & Transformation Section

The synthesis & transformation section carries a weightage of 10 marks. Do well and it can help you. However, if done carelessly, it can cost you a lot of marks. Some students diligently learn the rules but then make mistakes in spelling, or miss out on words when they transform the initial sentence.

Check and double-check your answers. Do not lose your marks to careless mistakes.

Check Your Work

Lastly, do check your work.

While it is a relief to complete the English Paper 2 examination, use any extra time you have to check through your work. Read through your grammar and vocabulary cloze with the answers that you filled in to check if your answers sound accurate.

We hope that the reminders above have been useful for you. We wish all students all the best for their English Paper 2 examination!