For Singapore Primary 6 students sitting the PSLE in 2026, two subjects look different on paper. Mathematics has dropped Speed and added Algebra. Science has dropped the Cells topic. Neither change is dramatic, but both are real, and both are now in the marking schemes your child will be graded against.
Mathematics: Speed out, Algebra in
Speed was a perennial PSLE Mathematics topic — the problems that always involved one cyclist overtaking another, or a man walking at 5 km/h to catch a bus. It tested unit conversion (km/h vs m/s), proportional reasoning, and the steady arithmetic that makes up most of the PSLE band. From 2026, it is no longer in the PSLE syllabus.
Algebra steps in to fill the gap. This is genuine algebra at the introductory level: solving for an unknown represented by a letter, manipulating simple expressions, and working with linear equations in a single variable. The questions are still framed in word-problem style — that hasn't changed — but the technique inside is now algebraic rather than purely arithmetic.
In practice, students who were strong at the unitary method and model drawing have most of what they need. Algebra at this level is a more compact way of expressing the same reasoning. The shift is from "if 3 boxes hold 24 apples, how many in 7 boxes" handled with proportional thinking, to handling the same problem with a variable.
Science: Cells removed
Cells — the topic that introduced students to the basic biological unit, organelles, and the difference between plant and animal cells — has been removed from the Primary 3–6 Science syllabus from 2026. It hasn't moved earlier and hasn't been replaced; it's simply taught at Secondary level instead.
The rest of the Science syllabus is unchanged. Diversity, cycles, systems, energy, and interactions all remain. If your child has been working through assessment books published before the 2026 syllabus update, the Cells chapters are still useful as enrichment but won't be examined.
What this means for parents
For families with a P6 child in 2026: their textbooks and the school's scheme of work will already reflect this. The change has been telegraphed by MOE for over a year. Their tutors and teachers know.
For families with a P5 child in 2026 — those who will sit PSLE in 2027 — the syllabus they'll experience is the same as the 2026 cohort. Buy assessment materials marked "2026 syllabus" or later. Anything older still teaches Speed and Cells and is no longer current.
AL1 Tutor follows the cohort year — a Primary 5 student in 2026 is taught against the 2026 syllabus from day one. The Cells topic and Speed problems do not appear in their practice generation.