Looking for the best pen for your PSLE child to use during the year-end major exams at Primary 6? Here’s one less thing for anxious Singapore parents (and our P6 kids) to worry about.
Last year, the search for that “perfect” ballpoint pen to use became a little experiment during our prep season. I’m sharing this from an experienced PSLE mum’s perspective so you can avoid any of this PSLE preparation mistakes!
What Pen Does SEAB Recommend for PSLE?
Did you know that the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) has advice and different lists of what is allowed as PSLE exam stationery?
Besides the list for approved scientific calculators, list of approved Chinese dictionaries in key exams, SEAB recommends the use of 0.5mm tip blue or black ballpoint pens during PSLE. Although there’s no penalty if kids don’t follow, this exam isn’t quite the time to “test the system”, right?
Can the Wrong Pen Really Affect Your Child’s PSLE Score?
The short answer is, yes. SEAB pen recommendation only mentions 0.5mm ballpoint pens in the best interest of kids. Clarity in handwritten answers is very important for the exam scripts.
If you’ve used 0.7mm pens before, you’d know that the written text looks “thicker” compared to using 0.5mm pens too. This might work against kids whose handwriting is small, or scribbly.
Ink colour is a choice between blue or black – BUT please don’t pick those annoying bright blue or light blue! Your child’s PSLE scripts shouldn’t be a creative playground. Using the “correct” pen makes a difference.
I will explain further why using the wrong pen can affect your child’s PSLE score.
Why Gel Pens Can Be Risky for PSLE Scripts
The truth is, gel ink smudges, and that’s catastrophic when PSLE exam scripts are now scanned for the teachers to mark. Smudging also adds extra stress for left-handed kids and those with sweaty palms.
How to avoid smudging in PSLE? Don’t bring those gel pens to the exam hall!
Kids’ handwriting is sometimes also a headache for parents, especially in a high-pressure setting. Afterall, who wants to lose marks over illegible scripts with correct answers? Add small handwriting, untidiness and writing fast under exam pressure to the cauldron, you’ll get an instant bubbling potion faster than your mum’s blood boils. #havekidstheysay
In fact, Vera’s P6 English teacher from school told us during a parents briefing that “a” and “d” can look similar in exam scripts. Uppercase letters that don’t look big enough i.e. they are too small! Teachers have marked such answers WRONG during P6 Prelims!
The importance of legible handwriting on scripts is 200%, right?
Best 0.5mm Ballpoint Pens for P6 Students in Singapore and Where to Buy
Like myself, my daughter loved using gel pens; until push came to shove + several reminders to switch during the months leading to the exams.
Love Popular Bookstore for allowing pen tests before buying. There are so many brands and variations of ballpoint pens, your child (and you!) may be a little lost.
Start your pen shopping experiment early!
- First, decide on whether your child prefers black or blue ink.
- Next, let your child test the pens and decide based on: how comfortable the grip is, how heavy or light the pen is, how smooth the ink feels on paper etc.
- Then, buy 1 of each variant that your child is comfortable writing with.
Once she was locked in on her favourite 0.5mm blue ballpoint pens, I stocked up on more, or got refills (not all pens have refills).
Online shopping also makes it convenient if you want to buy the pens in bulk without leaving home. I would recommend that after you’ve narrowed down on that perfect sword for their first major battle, it’s best to get them to use it every time they do written work. Finally, she used them during revision and P6 Prelims!
Here’s Vera’s review of the 0.5mm blue ballpoint pens that I bought for her to try:
- Stabilo 388 pen – She didn’t really like this one. Her fingers hurt when gripping to hard during writing.
- Uni-ball Signo 0.5 (gel pen!) – Besides the MUJI gel pen, Vera also liked using this Uni-ball gel pen during P6. Had to remind her repeatedly to get comfortable using ballpoint pens during revision.
- Zebra Surari 0.5 – To her, the comfort was around the same as Stabilo 388 blue pen.
- Pilot Acroball 0.5 (white opaque) – Vera’s favourite blue ballpoint pen of all that she’s tried! It’s the smoothest when it comes to writing and “grippy” too. Plus, it’s the most aesthetic one. Haha!
- Pilot Acroball 0.5 (blue transparent) – This pen was comparable with its white opaque counterpart – except on some occasions when drawing lines, the nib/ink creates broken lines.
It’s a personal opinion on how pens feel – so get your P6 kids to test and choose!
How many pens should my child bring for PSLE?
For electronic dictionaries and calculators which may fail on exam day, students can bring spare batteries or an extra dictionary/calculator as standby.
Likewise for writing instruments, having extra ones as backup helps alleviate nerves when a pen runs out of ink suddenly. Or, drops onto the exam hall and rolls out of reach! I’d say bring at least 3 black or blue ballpoint pens.
PSLE often seem like a high-stake examination for our 11 and 12 year old’s to take. After all, it’s their first major examination which influences their next education chapter. Understandably, this translates to parenting anxiety too.
Honestly, it’s just wiser to make it a breeze for PSLE markers to vet the truckloads of scripts – trying to guess/decipher what your children scribbled ain’t fun. Just imagine how tired they already are. With the new PSLE AL scoring system, 1 or 2 marks can make a BIG difference in each subject AND secondary school choices.
Do share what other pens your kids love and are SEAB-approved for PSLE too!
I hope these sharing on how we decided which pens are the best for my P6 child along with other P6 exam survival tips are useful to you too! SHARE this article with parents who are on the same page. Because we aren’t buying pens. We’re buying peace of mind. And reducing risks. #iykyk
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