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Serangoon Garden Secondary School

SGS Assessment Guidelines

Find out how SGS assesses students through formative and summative methods, and what to do if your child misses an exam.

Last updated 25 August 2026

What is assessment?

Assessment is an integral part of the school curriculum and a child’s learning process. It provides students and teachers with feedback that will help them address learning gaps and improve teaching practices.

A child’s progress could be assessed in terms of:

  • knowledge and understanding

  • skills

  • attributes and capabilities

How does assessment look like in SGS?

In line with our changing Singapore educational landscape, our school believes that we must strike a balance between the rigour and joy of learning. This balance is to ensure that desired academic outcomes are achieved, and to allow room to prepare students for the future. In SGS, we employ a good mix of formative and summative assessments:

Formative and summative assessment types and purposes

Formative assessment

It aims to monitor student learning continuously and to provide ongoing feedback which will bring about improvement in their learning. In order to provide more flexibility in supporting your child’s learning needs, our school has designed formative assessment to take on varied forms:

  • participation in a presentation, class discussion, performance or practical investigation

  • creation of a prototype e.g. drawing, report, photograph(s), video or audio clip(s) or piece(s) of artwork that they have produced to encapsulate their learning

Summative assessment

It aims to evaluate student learning and academic achievement at the end of the year, and usually takes the form of an examination or Weighted Assessment (WA). Summative assessment recognises student achievement for placement at higher levels of learning.

Typically, there will be one WA per subject from Terms 1 to 3. The modes of WA could include:

  • Performance Tasks (e.g., group presentation, project work)

  • Tests (timed-based written assessment conducted during curriculum time)

 Please see Table 1 for the assessment weightings for Secondary 1 to 3 students for the year.

Table 1: Assessment weighting

Assessment weightings by term for Secondary 1 to 3

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

Term 4

WA1

WA2

WA3

End-of-year Exam

15%

15%

15%

55%

 For subjects that are taught on a per-semester basis, i.e. Design and Technology and Food and Consumer education, respective subject teachers will inform students of the details on assessment weighting.  

How can you help your child prepare for assessment?

  1. In preparing for assessment, you can support your child by helping him/her form good time management routines. (e.g. craft a revision schedule/work plan).

  2. You can encourage him/her to revisit his/her work regularly, so as to develop a deeper understanding of what he/she has learned, and what needs to be worked on.

  3. You can also work with your child to form good study habits.

What are the guidelines for students’ absence from summative assessment?

A student who is absent for a paper during an examination/ WA due to illness, must produce a Medical Certificate (MC) to cover his/her absence. A student without an MC will be given zero mark for the paper he/she missed. MCs issued by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners and letters from parents/ guardian will not be accepted.

This practice will ensure

  • alignment with the national examination where there is no re-attempt for examination papers missed

  • fairness for all students.

We seek your cooperation NOT  to send your child/ward to school for the assessment if he/ she is unwell. Do take your child/ward to the doctor and get an MC so that the school can process the results accordingly.

How should students conduct themselves during summative assessment?

All students are responsible for upholding the highest standards of academic conduct and integrity in all academic undertakings. Any act of academic dishonesty, including cheating and plagiarism, will be subjected to stern disciplinary actions.to do better, and learn for life.

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