What can you do in the preparation time before the O-Level Chinese oral?

What does the syllabus say about the preparation time?

Two sentences in the K320 syllabus cover it. The first gives the time and what it is for: reading the passage silently (默读 (silent reading)) and watching the video clip (录像短片 (video clip)). The second adds a permission: within that time, you may read the passage and watch the clip more than once.

The syllabus places the preparation before the examination (在考试前) and gives the paper itself as about 15 minutes. It does not say in so many words whether the preparation counts inside that figure, so this page does not add the two together.

What happens during the preparation and in the exam room?

SEAB's Instructions to Candidates for the 2026 O-Level Chinese oral (1160/03) describe the day step by step. You sign the attendance sheet, key in an Exam Centre Key to start the silent preparation, study the passage and watch the clip through headphones, and are "logged out automatically" when the time is up. Then you wait to be called.

In the exam room the order is fixed: you read the passage aloud first, then watch the video clip one more time, then hold the conversation with the Oral Examiners. If the passage or the clip is not the one you saw in preparation, the instructions say to tell the examiners immediately.

Can you take notes during the preparation?

SEAB's 2026 instructions for the Chinese oral mention no note paper at all, while the instructions for the English and Higher Chinese orals each describe a sheet of paper for notes that is collected at the end. The general rules also list notes among the materials candidates may not bring into the oral premises. Our guidance: plan to hold your ideas in your head, and if your school tells you otherwise for your sitting, follow your school.

This is a real difference from the English oral's preparation time, where notes are part of the plan. In Chinese, the preparation is for understanding and deciding, not for writing.

How should you split the time between the passage and the clip?

Our guidance, not SEAB's: split it by what each part is worth and by what comes next in the room. The passage is worth 10 marks and reading it aloud is the first thing you do when you are called in. SEAB's rules say the passage is shown on the eExam2 system in the oral, and the 2026 instructions set no further preparation time before you start reading. The clip carries the 40 marks conversation, and the instructions say you watch it "one more time" in the room before the conversation. So in our view the preparation is where you make sure you understand the passage, and where you decide what you think about the clip.

1. Read the passage through once, silently, for its meaning. Know what it is about before you read it aloud.
2. Watch the clip once for what happens: who is in it, where it is, what changes by the end.
3. Watch it again with one question in mind: what is this clip about, as a theme someone could ask your opinion on?
4. Decide your view on that theme, and find one thing from your own life that supports it. The top 等级 in 附录C describes giving an example (举例说明).
5. Go back to the passage for a second silent read, so it is fresh when you are called in.

What should you be looking for in the video clip?

In our reading, its theme more than its details. The 2026 instructions describe the conversation as one "related to the theme of the video", and the 会话 criterion is about your own view: 个人意见和内容的组织 (personal opinion and the organisation of content). 附录C does not describe remembering what is in the clip; it describes extending a view and giving an example. So knowing what the clip is about, and what you think of it, is the preparation that matches the descriptor. For the kinds of question that follow, see 会话 question types and how to extend an answer.

Is the preparation time the same as at PSLE?

In shape, yes. The PSLE Chinese syllabus (0005) uses almost the same sentence: silent reading of the passage, a video clip, and permission to go through both more than once. What changes is what the time is preparing for. At PSLE the passage is worth 20 marks and the conversation 30 marks; at O-Level it is 10 marks and 40 marks. The passage's share of the oral was larger at PSLE, which is worth remembering if the old split of preparation time is a habit. See what changes from the PSLE Chinese oral.

For what the two parts are marked on, see what the 朗读短文 descriptors ask for and a 等级 1 会话 answer beside a 等级 3 one.