G3 English · 1184 / K300 · Paper 4
English oral practice questions: 24 sets to practise with, and a timer
Each set follows the shape of Paper 4: a scene, a Planned Response prompt, then three discussion questions. Run the 10-minute preparation timer, speak for up to 2 minutes, then answer the follow-ups, recording yourself if you want to listen back.
These are our practice questions, not past papers or predictions. For what candidates have reported from real sittings, see the O-Level English oral topics page.
Community and neighbours
The scene
Under an HDB block on a weekday evening, two retirees play Chinese chess on a stone table while a small crowd of residents, some of them teenagers, stands around watching and pointing at the board.
In the exam this is a video clip on a computer screen. Here it is written down, so picture it before you plan.
Planned Response prompt
Why do you think activities like this draw a crowd? Why do you say so?
Start the timer for the full 10 minutes of preparation, as in the exam. Plan your response in notes, not a script.
All the practice sets
Community and neighbours
Under an HDB block on a weekday evening, two retirees play Chinese chess on a stone table while a small crowd of residents, some of them teenagers, stands around watching and pointing at the board.
Why do you think activities like this draw a crowd? Why do you say so?
- What makes a shared space like a void deck feel welcoming, or unwelcoming?
- Is there a game or hobby you learned from someone much older than you?
- Should town councils do more to bring different generations together in their neighbourhoods?
Community and neighbours
Residents of a housing estate water and weed small vegetable plots in a rooftop community garden. A volunteer shows a primary school pupil how to check whether a chilli plant needs water.
What do you think the volunteer and the pupil each get out of an afternoon like this?
- Who do you think benefits most from a community garden?
- Tell us about a time you worked with people you did not know well.
- Is it the government's job or the residents' job to build a sense of community?
Community and neighbours
A notice in a lift lobby announces that the lifts will be closed for three days for maintenance. An elderly man with a walking stick reads it while a delivery rider waits beside him with heavy parcels.
How do you think people living in this block will be affected? Why do you say so?
- What could be done to help residents who would find the stairs difficult?
- Have you ever helped a neighbour without being asked?
- Do people in Singapore depend on their neighbours less than they used to?
Community and neighbours
A weekend pasar malam has been set up in an open car park. Families queue at food stalls, children play a game of hoopla, and generators hum behind the tents.
Do you think events like this are good for a neighbourhood? Why or why not?
- Some residents complain about the noise and crowds. How would you respond to them?
- What kind of event would you organise for your own neighbourhood?
- Are traditional night markets still relevant when people can shop online?
Community and neighbours
Outside a community centre stands a glass-fronted fridge with a sign saying anyone may take or leave food. A woman places a bag of bread inside while a man nearby hesitates before opening the door.
What do you think of the idea shown in the video?
- Why might some people feel uncomfortable taking food from the fridge?
- What is one way students your age could help people in need?
- Should food that is still safe to eat ever be thrown away by shops and restaurants?
The environment and resources
Cyclists, joggers and a family pushing a pram share a narrow park connector beside a canal. A cyclist rings his bell and swerves around a group walking three abreast.
Is a path like this a good way to share outdoor space? Why or why not?
- What rules, if any, should there be for people sharing paths like this?
- How do you usually spend time outdoors, if at all?
- Should Singapore keep more land as green space even if it means fewer new buildings?
The environment and resources
At a hawker centre, a stall displays a sign offering twenty cents off for customers who bring their own container. One customer hands over a lunchbox; the next takes a plastic takeaway box.
Do you think schemes like the one shown will change people's habits? Why do you say so?
- Why might people still choose disposable containers?
- What is one habit you have changed, or would like to change, to reduce waste?
- Should businesses be made to charge for disposable packaging, or should it be left to choice?
The environment and resources
Volunteers in gloves collect plastic bottles and fishing line along a stretch of beach on a Saturday morning. A group of students sorts the rubbish into piles while a teacher writes down the numbers.
Do you think activities like this make a real difference? Why or why not?
- Why do you think the students are counting the rubbish?
- Would you give up a Saturday morning for an activity like this?
- Is it fair to ask individuals to clean up pollution they did not cause?
The environment and resources
On a very hot afternoon, construction workers rest in the shade of a lorry, a delivery rider wipes his face at a traffic light, and office workers hurry between air-conditioned buildings.
How do you think hot weather affects the people shown in the video?
- Which of these people do you think finds the heat hardest, and why?
- How do you cope with the heat on a school day?
- What can a city do to stay liveable as temperatures rise?
Technology and digital life
In a supermarket, most checkout lanes have been replaced by self-checkout machines. An elderly woman struggles to scan a bag of vegetables while a staff member hurries over to help.
Do you think changes like the one shown make shopping better? Why or why not?
- What could the supermarket do to help customers who find the machines difficult?
- Tell us about a time you had to teach someone to use a new piece of technology.
- Should every service always keep a human option for people who need it?
Technology and digital life
A group of friends at a café stack their phones face-down in the middle of the table. The first person to reach for a phone has to pay for everyone's drinks.
What do you think of the idea shown in the video? Why do you say so?
- Why do you think the friends decided to do this?
- How much time do you think you spend on your phone each day, and are you happy with it?
- Should schools ban phones during the whole school day?
Technology and digital life
A secondary school student types a question into a chatbot on a laptop at home. The answer appears in seconds, and the student copies part of it into a worksheet while a younger sibling watches.
Do you think tools like this help students learn? Why or why not?
- What would a teacher think if they saw what happened in the video?
- When, if ever, would you use a tool like this for schoolwork?
- How should schools prepare students for a world where these tools are everywhere?
Sport, CCAs and perseverance
A school football team waits under a shelter as lightning warnings flash and the field empties. The coach tells them the inter-school match has been postponed for the second time.
How do you think the players are feeling? Why do you say so?
- How should a coach keep a team motivated after a setback like this?
- Tell us about a time something you were looking forward to was cancelled.
- Do young people today give up too easily when things do not go to plan?
Sport, CCAs and perseverance
Early in the morning, a dragon boat crew paddles in time on a reservoir while a drummer at the front keeps the beat. One paddler falls out of rhythm and the boat slows.
What do you think makes an activity like this worth doing?
- What happens to a team when one person does not keep up?
- Would you rather take part in a team sport or an individual one? Why?
- Should schools spend more on sports that few students take part in?
Sport, CCAs and perseverance
At a sports hall, a mixed group of wheelchair users and able-bodied volunteers play basketball together, all of them in sports wheelchairs. Spectators cheer when a volunteer misses an easy shot.
Who do you think gains the most from an activity like this? Why do you say so?
- Why do you think the volunteers chose to play in wheelchairs too?
- Have you ever tried an activity that made you see something differently?
- How can sport be made open to more people in Singapore?
School, study and future paths
At a polytechnic open house, students in lab coats demonstrate a food science experiment to a crowd of Secondary 4 students and their parents, who ask questions and take photos.
Do you think events like this help students choose their next step? Why or why not?
- What would you most want to find out at an open house?
- Who has influenced your thinking about what you might do after secondary school?
- Should students be asked to choose a career path at sixteen?
School, study and future paths
During the exam period, every seat in a community club study area is taken. Students share tables, some wear headphones, and a few have fallen asleep over their notes.
Why do you think so many students choose to study in places like this?
- What makes a place good, or bad, for studying?
- Where do you find it easiest to concentrate?
- Do Singapore students spend too much of their time studying?
School, study and future paths
A class on a learning journey walks through a museum gallery of old photographs. A guide speaks to the front of the group while students at the back look at their phones.
Do you think trips like this are a good use of school time? Why or why not?
- How could the trip be made more interesting for the students at the back?
- Tell us about a school trip you remember, and why it stayed with you.
- Is learning outside the classroom more valuable than learning inside it?
Family, elders and care
A grandmother holds a tablet at arm's length to video-call her grandson, who is studying overseas. She laughs as the picture freezes and asks him to repeat what he said.
What do you think the video shows about family life today?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of keeping in touch this way?
- How do you stay in touch with relatives who do not live with you?
- Are families in Singapore closer or more distant than they were a generation ago?
Family, elders and care
Three generations of a family make dumplings together at the kitchen table before a festival. The grandfather corrects how the youngest child folds the dough, and everyone laughs at the result.
Why do you think families keep traditions like the one shown?
- What might the youngest child learn from an afternoon like this, apart from cooking?
- Is there a family tradition you would want to keep when you are older?
- Will traditions like this survive as families get busier?
Health and eating
In an open plaza at lunchtime, office workers in their work clothes follow a free fitness class led by an instructor with a microphone. A few passers-by stop to watch, then join in.
Would you recommend activities like this to people who work long hours? Why or why not?
- Why do you think some passers-by decided to join in?
- What do you do, if anything, to look after your health during a busy week?
- Should employers be responsible for their workers' health?
Health and eating
A long queue of teenagers forms outside a new bubble tea shop on its opening day. A poster beside the queue shows the sugar content of each drink.
Do you think posters like the one shown will change what people buy? Why do you say so?
- Why do you think so many people are willing to queue for a new shop?
- How do you decide what to eat and drink when you are out with friends?
- Should the government do more to control what people eat, or is it a personal choice?
Tradition, heritage and change
An old shophouse that was once a family-run provision shop has become a busy café. The original shop sign has been kept above the door, and an old photograph of the shop hangs inside.
Do you think it is a good idea to give old buildings new uses like this? Why or why not?
- Why do you think the café kept the old sign and photograph?
- Is there a place in your neighbourhood that has changed a lot in your lifetime?
- How should Singapore decide which old buildings to keep?
Character and personal values
At an MRT station, a teenager finds a wallet on a bench and hands it in at the passenger service counter. The staff member thanks her and writes down her name.
What do you think the video shows about the teenager? Why do you say so?
- Why might some people keep a wallet they found instead of returning it?
- Tell us about a time someone's honesty surprised you.
- Can schools really teach values like honesty, or are they learned at home?
How do these sets match the real paper?
They copy its shape, not its content. The real Paper 4 shows a video clip and a prompt on a computer screen, gives you 10 minutes to prepare, takes a response of up to 2 minutes, then moves to a discussion with the examiners.
Planned Response. Candidates plan and deliver a response of up to 2 minutes to a video clip and accompanying prompt presented on a computer screen.
Spoken Interaction. Candidates engage in a discussion with the Examiners on a topic broadly related to the video clip used in Part 1.
Our prompts are written in the shapes candidates have reported since the video format began in 2023: a view about what the clip shows, who an activity suits, whether it is worth doing, or what it changes for people. Very few ask you only to describe. Each set’s three discussion questions start close to the scene, then ask about you, then widen to society. The top Spoken Interaction band asks for a discussion that is “sometimes moving beyond the prompts”, and the third question is where you get the chance.
Source: SEAB syllabus K300 (PDF), read 13 September 2026. Listed on SEAB’s G3 syllabus page.
How to get the most out of a set (our advice)
Do the full 10 minutes at least once a week, record the response, and listen back against the band descriptors rather than against how you felt.
- Notes, not a script. A script read aloud sounds read aloud. See using the preparation time.
- Listen back with the descriptors open. The marking page sets out what each band asks for in SEAB’s words.
- Change themes. Practising one theme until it feels easy prepares you for that theme. The exam can be any of them.
This drill times you and, where your browser allows, records you so you can listen back. It does not mark anything.
Marked practice, with feedback on what you said, is being built and will be here in time for the 2027 oral season.
Common questions
- Are these past O-Level English oral questions?
- No. Every set on this page was written by OralPrep for practice. SEAB publishes no past oral papers, and what candidates have reported from past sittings is collected, with how far to trust each row, on our O-Level English oral topics page.
- How long should a Planned Response be?
- Up to 2 minutes. The syllabus says candidates "candidates plan and deliver a response of up to 2 minutes to a video clip and accompanying prompt presented on a computer screen."
- What happens after the Planned Response?
- Spoken Interaction: Candidates engage in a discussion with the Examiners on a topic broadly related to the video clip used in Part 1. It is worth 15 marks, the same as the Planned Response.
- Does this page mark my answer?
- No. It times you and lets you record yourself to listen back. It does not score, transcribe or judge anything, and the recording never leaves your device.
Last checked against the SEAB syllabus documents on 13 September 2026. This page was updated on 2026-10-23. OralPrep is not affiliated with SEAB or MOE.