AEIS English and Maths: A Preparation Guide for Parents

For primary school entry, AEIS applicants need a qualifying Cambridge English Qualifications (CEQ) result before applying to take the Mathematics test. For secondary school entry, applicants take AEIS English and Mathematics tests. The preparation your child needs therefore starts with the intended entry level and admission year. MOE explains both routes in its AEIS guide.

The Admissions Exercise for International Students (AEIS) is for international students seeking admission to Singapore's mainstream primary and secondary schools. This guide explains the English and Maths requirements, how S-AEIS differs, and how to choose useful work before looking for tuition.

Admissions and test details checked on 26 October 2026.

AEIS or S-AEIS: which admission exercise applies?

The two exercises cover different entry levels and school-start dates:

These are the routes described in MOE's AEIS overview and S-AEIS overview. Check the relevant page for the upcoming application and test dates before planning lessons or booking an English test.

Age eligibility also matters. Use MOE's AEIS eligibility checker or S-AEIS eligibility checker to establish the available route for your child. A grade completed overseas does not by itself establish the entry level.

Taking AEIS or S-AEIS does not guarantee admission. MOE considers test performance and available vacancies; placement takes the declared Singapore residential area into account where possible. The official overviews explain these conditions.

Primary English: arrange the CEQ result before applying

Primary applicants need to obtain the required Cambridge English Scale score in the relevant CEQ test before submitting their AEIS or S-AEIS application. Use MOE's eligibility guidance to check the qualification and score for your child's age and intended route before booking.

The result must be ready to submit with the application. SEAB says it cannot be submitted later, and the CEQ test must have been taken within the 12 months before the application submission month. This makes the English test and result-release schedule part of your preparation plan. See SEAB's primary CEQ submission requirements.

Prepare for all the skills in the required qualification. Cambridge's A2 Key for Schools format and B1 Preliminary for Schools format include reading, writing, listening and speaking. A plan made entirely of grammar worksheets would leave other tested skills unpractised.

Start with the official sample tasks for the qualification your child needs. Note separately whether the difficulty is understanding a passage, writing a clear response, following spoken English or answering aloud. Those observations give a teacher something specific to work on. Maths preparation can continue alongside this English work.

Secondary English: prepare writing and language use

The secondary AEIS English test lasts 2 hours 10 minutes. It includes a composition and 50 multiple-choice questions covering comprehension, comprehension cloze (gap-fill passages), vocabulary and grammar. The composition length depends on the test:

• Secondary 1: 200 to 300 words.
• Secondary 2: 250 to 350 words.
• Secondary 3: 300 to 400 words.

These are SEAB's published AEIS English test details. S-AEIS offers the Secondary 1 and Secondary 2 tests; see its separate test details.

For writing, ask your child to attempt a response to a suitable practice topic independently. Check whether it answers the topic, develops the ideas in a clear order and uses sentences the reader can follow. After feedback, have your child revise a paragraph and then apply the same point in a new piece of writing. This gives practice in using the correction beyond the original essay.

For comprehension and language use, review why an answer fits the passage or sentence. When a vocabulary choice is wrong, read the whole sentence again and explain the meaning needed there. When a grammar mistake recurs, practise that sentence pattern and return to it in later writing.

Keep both parts in the plan. Finishing multiple-choice exercises quickly tells you little about whether a student can develop a composition within the required length.

AEIS Maths: match the syllabus and practise without a calculator

MOE advises applicants to prepare the content from the level preceding their intended admission level. For example:

• Primary 3 entry: Primary 2 Maths.
• Secondary 1 entry: Primary 6 English and Maths.
• Secondary 3 entry: Secondary 2 English and Maths.

Use the syllabus links in MOE's AEIS test guidance to choose the relevant content.

The Maths test format also varies:

Calculators are not allowed. Written answers need clear working as well as the final answer. These timings and requirements come from MOE's AEIS test details. For the levels available through S-AEIS, check MOE's S-AEIS test details.

Start with a small selection of questions from the relevant syllabus. Look at three things separately: whether your child understands the question, knows a suitable method and carries out the calculation accurately. The next piece of practice should address the difficulty you find.

For an upper-primary learner, consider this illustrative question:

Mina has $24. She spends three-eighths of it. How much money does she have left?

A child might calculate three-eighths of 24 correctly as 9, then stop. Ask what the 9 represents and what the question asks for. The remaining amount is $24 − $9 = $15. This checks the meaning of the question as well as the fraction calculation.

When reviewing other word problems, ask your child to explain what each number in the working represents. For a student learning Maths in English, record unfamiliar question words alongside the mathematical topics that need more teaching.

Turn the first attempts into a preparation plan

Keep a short record of the work your child attempts independently. A useful plan has three parts:

1. Teach the gaps. Choose the English skills or Maths topics that caused difficulty. Keep the first attempts so you can compare later work.
2. Use the feedback. After a correction, try a different question requiring the same skill. Check whether your child can now do it without a prompt.
3. Add timed practice. Once the method is understood, practise completing the relevant task within the test conditions. Review unfinished work as well as incorrect answers.

For primary applicants, include the CEQ booking and results dates in that plan. For secondary applicants, include composition practice alongside the shorter English exercises and Maths questions.

Discuss English and Maths support with DeepThink

DeepThink offers live online Maths tuition from Primary 1 to Secondary 4 and Secondary English tuition. Our tutors teach on Zoom in classes capped at 4, with homework and extra practice on the platform outside class. Teachers review students' practice before class and teach the gaps they identify. Class registration for the 2027 school year is open.

If you are enquiring for a student preparing for AEIS or S-AEIS, include:

• The intended school-entry level and admission year.
• The child's current curriculum and experience studying in English.
• Whether you want help with English, Maths or both.
• The English tasks or Maths topics causing difficulty, with recent work if available.
• For a primary applicant, the required CEQ qualification and any result or planned test date.

Ask us about English and Maths support with these details so we can discuss suitable classes and the work your child needs to focus on.