Do You Have to Reference the Video in the O-Level or PSLE Oral? A Format Checklist

Practise this on OralCat: O-Level Oral practice · PSLE Oral practice

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The short answer

No. Referencing the video clip is not one of the assessment criteria for the O-Level or N(A)-Level English oral (from 2027, the G3 and G2 English oral). And the PSLE English oral has no video at all: it uses a photograph. The video (O-Level and N(A)-Level) and the photo (PSLE English) are stimuli. They set the topic. Your marks come from how well you develop and deliver your own ideas and opinions, not from whether you mention the clip. A student who "forgot to reference the video and just used a personal example" is doing what the marks reward.

One thing to know if your child also takes a Mother Tongue oral: the PSLE Chinese, Malay and Tamil orals do use a short video. More on that below.

Where this worry comes from

After the 2026 oral exams, a student commented on a revision video: "How important is it to reference the video? I forgot to do that and just used my personal example." No one answered. It is a real post-exam worry — and it is the kind of mechanics slip that feels bigger in hindsight than it was on the score sheet. This article answers it with what the syllabus actually says.

What the O-Level syllabus (1184) actually says

The O-Level Paper 4 Oral has two parts, worth 30 marks in total (20% of the English paper):

Part 1 — Planned Response (15 marks). Candidates "plan and deliver a response of up to 2 minutes to a video clip and accompanying prompt presented on a computer screen." The 15 marks split into:

• Response (10 marks) — development and organisation of ideas, and expression of ideas.
• Delivery (5 marks) — pronunciation, fluency and intonation.

Part 2 — Spoken Interaction (15 marks). Candidates "engage in a discussion with the Examiners on a topic broadly related to the video clip used in Part 1." The syllabus adds one line that matters for this question: "They will not be asked any questions about what people say in the video clip."

Read those criteria again: development of ideas, organisation, expression, pronunciation, fluency, intonation, discussion. Referencing the video appears nowhere. The prompt asks for your view on the topic; the clip exists to set that topic.

When referencing the video helps (optional, not required)

Referencing the video is a tool, not a requirement. It helps in three situations:

• As an anchor to start. "The video showed people... and that made me think..." is an easy way to get the first sentence out.
• To show you've engaged with the topic. A brief mention of the clip can make it clear you're answering the prompt you were given.
• To give yourself a concrete detail to develop. A scene from the clip can become the example that develops your point.

But a personal example works exactly as well. The criteria reward your ideas, developed and delivered clearly — the source of the example is not scored. If you have a strong personal example, use it. That is not a mistake; it is what the marks are for.

The format checklist

Must do:

• Read the prompt and answer the question it asks.
• Use the 10 minutes of preparation to plan your structure — position, two or three points, an example, a conclusion.
• Speak for up to 2 minutes in Part 1 (a full response, not a single sentence).
• Develop your view: opinion, reason, example.
• In Part 2, keep the discussion going — extend your answers and engage with the examiners' prompts.

No need to do:

• Quote or summarise the video clip.
• Recall what anyone said in the clip — the syllabus states you will not be asked about it.
• Memorise clip details.
• Mention the video at all, if you have your own example to develop.

For PSLE parents: no video in the English oral, but there is one in Mother Tongue

The PSLE English oral (Paper 4, 40 marks) has two parts: Reading Aloud (15 marks), and a Stimulus-based Conversation (25 marks) about one photograph, not a video (PSLE English syllabus 0001). The photo is a springboard. SEAB's assessment objectives ask your child to express their own opinions, ideas and experiences clearly, to engage the listener. Referring to the photo isn't one of those objectives. So "I didn't reference the video" can't apply to PSLE English, because there's no video.

The PSLE Mother Tongue orals are different. PSLE Chinese, Malay and Tamil, and their Foundation versions, pair a reading-aloud part with a conversation based on a short video (Chinese 0005, Malay 0006, Tamil 0007). PSLE Higher Mother Tongue has no oral.

For PSLE Chinese, SEAB has said clearly how the video is used. In a media reply on 21 August 2026, it said: "The video stimulus in the PSLE Chinese Language oral examination provides context for students to make observations and express viewpoints. Students do not have to narrate the action sequence, name or describe objects or features in the video." It added: "Should students require support during the conversations, the oral examiners will provide additional prompts and students will not be penalised." (SEAB media replies, 21 Aug 2026)

So the Chinese video works much like the O-Level clip. It sets the scene for a conversation about your child's own views. It isn't something to retell.

OralCat practises English orals only. It doesn't cover Chinese, Malay or Tamil yet.

If the exam is already over

A forgotten reference is not a scored criterion, so it cannot, by itself, decide a band. Your marks came from what the rating scales actually describe: how well you developed and organised your ideas, how clearly and fluently you spoke, and how well you kept the discussion going (O-Level syllabus 1184, Oral Communication rating scales).

If you want to practise the checklist before the next exam — responding to a prompt, developing a view, keeping the discussion going — OralCat gives AI feedback on recorded practice answers, built on the oral formats in SEAB's published syllabuses, so you know whether you addressed the prompt and developed your ideas before you walk in.

Key facts to remember

Sources: SEAB O-Level English Language syllabus 1184 (2026) · N(A)-Level English syllabus 1190 (2026) · PSLE English Language syllabus 0001 · PSLE Chinese 0005, Malay 0006, Tamil 0007 · SEAB media replies, 21 Aug 2026. Last checked: 8 October 2026.