# The 2026 PSLE Maths syllabus changes — what actually changed, and for whom

Source: https://test-paper.info/guides/psle-maths-syllabus-2026-changes/
Updated: 2026-09-26

## Is there a new 2026 PSLE Maths syllabus?

No. There's no separate "new" 2026 syllabus. MOE's [2021 Primary Mathematics Syllabus](https://www.moe.gov.sg/api/media/92bff26d-b2b4-4535-b868-b8415c744b91/2021-Primary-Mathematics-Syllabus-P1-to-P6-Updated-October-2025.pdf) has been phasing in by cohort since 2021, and 2026 is the year that cohort first sits PSLE — the first Primary 6 group to complete the full 2021 syllabus. The topic changes below all come from that 2021 syllabus, not a fresh 2026 edition.

## Is Speed still tested at PSLE from 2026?

No. Speed (distance, time and average speed problems) has been removed from the primary syllabus entirely and pushed to Secondary 1. It was previously a Primary 6 topic; there is no PSLE Maths question on speed for the 2026 cohort onwards. This is one of the clearest reductions in the 2021 syllabus's primary scope, confirmed in the [MOE syllabus document](https://www.moe.gov.sg/api/media/92bff26d-b2b4-4535-b868-b8415c744b91/2021-Primary-Mathematics-Syllabus-P1-to-P6-Updated-October-2025.pdf).

## Is the 8-point compass still tested?

No. Compass directions (the 8-point compass — N, NE, E, SE, and so on) have been removed from the primary syllabus completely; it doesn't reappear at a later primary grade under another name. Like Speed, this is a straightforward removal rather than a move, and it applies to the same cohort now reaching PSLE in 2026.

## Where did pie charts and nets of solids move?

Both moved from Primary 6 to **Primary 4**. Under the pre-2021 syllabus, pie charts and nets of solids (the 2D "unfolded" shape of a 3D solid) were taught at P6, close to PSLE. Under the 2021 syllabus they're taught two years earlier, at P4. They haven't left the primary syllabus, so they can still come up at PSLE, which draws on everything from P1 to P6; the difference is that a child learns them at nine or ten and has to keep them for two years. Parents of a P4 child will see them arrive earlier than an older sibling's books suggest.

## Where did average and ratio move?

Both moved from Primary 5 to **Primary 6**, so they're now learned in the PSLE year itself. Average was a P5 topic; it's now taught at P6. Ratio's P5 content has folded into P6's existing ratio topic — P6 already covered ratio before 2021, and it now also carries the introductory material P5 used to teach. For a P6 child that means less time between first meeting ratio and sitting the exam; [P6 Ratio](/learn/p6/ratio/) covers the whole topic from the start.

## What's new in P6 Algebra?

Nothing: algebra didn't move in the 2021 syllabus. It's worth stating clearly because it's commonly misdescribed: P6 Algebra has always included, and still includes under the 2021 syllabus, **forming and solving simple linear equations** (for example, 2y + 3 = 11) as well as writing and simplifying expressions. It isn't limited to expressions with no equation-solving. See [P6 Algebra](/learn/p6/algebra/) for the full scope and worked examples.

## Does any of this change the PSLE exam paper format itself?

No — the changes above are all content/topic moves from the MOE syllabus, not exam-format changes. [SEAB's PSLE Mathematics (0008) syllabus document, for examination from 2026](https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/334/fe51f29b-04ae-4fcb-a907-8db04c028510/0008_y26_sy.pdf), covers only the paper structure — two papers, 45 questions, 100 marks, with a calculator allowed only on Paper 2 — and doesn't list syllabus topics at all. Content questions belong with the MOE syllabus document, not the SEAB one.

## Which P4–P6 topics does this affect today?

For a child in P6 now, ratio is the topic the changes touch most, because all of it is taught in the PSLE year: see [P6 Ratio](/learn/p6/ratio/). [P6 Algebra](/learn/p6/algebra/) didn't move, but check that equations are covered. PSLE problem sums often combine ratio with fractions and percentage in one question, so [P6 Fractions](/learn/p6/fractions/) and [P5 Percentage](/learn/p5/percentage/) are the building blocks, and [PSLE problem-solving](/learn/p6/psle-problem-solving/) shows how they get combined under exam conditions. For a child in P4, pie charts and nets now arrive this year.

## What should a parent actually do about this?

Not much changes in practice, since the moves have been rolling out by cohort since 2021 rather than landing all at once in 2026. The useful step is checking which of these topics your own child has actually mastered rather than assuming from an older syllabus what "should" be covered by now — [find out which topics your child is weak in](/guides/which-topics-is-my-child-weak-in/) walks through how.