National and school-based examinations in Singapore remain proctored with no AI allowed, and students who use AI in permitted coursework have to state how they used it. The Ministry of Education set out the position in a written parliamentary reply published on 7 October, and no separate test of AI-free ability is planned.
Nee Soon GRC MP Jackson Lam had asked whether the ministry would develop measures to assess whether students can do key learning tasks without AI, particularly writing, research and problem solving.
Exams test what students do alone
Assessments are designed for their intended purpose, and one of those purposes is measuring what a student can do independently. That is the job of the national examinations and school-based exams, which are typically proctored and bar AI.
For families, the practical line is the exam hall. PSLE, O-Level and A-Level papers, and most school tests, are taken without AI tools, so the foundational skills in writing and problem solving are still examined directly.
When AI is allowed in coursework
Some tasks allow AI, such as certain research assignments and coursework. In those, students must declare how AI was used, and the work remains their responsibility.
The tasks are also set so that a student still has to show their own thinking, judgement and understanding, even with AI permitted. The ministry is reviewing its assessment approaches as AI tools develop, without committing to a date or a specific change.
Universities and polytechnics set their own guardrails
A second reply on the same day, to Sengkang GRC MP He Ting Ru, covered institutes of higher learning (IHLs) that give students free access to premium AI tools. She had asked what oversight MOE has over such decisions, and how risks such as cognitive offloading and over-reliance are handled.
MOE issues guidelines on AI in education and assessment to the IHLs, and every IHL has its own institutional policy with guardrails against misuse and harm to learning. The universities, polytechnics and ITE review their curricula, teaching and assessment to deal with over-reliance.
In practice, that means two kinds of assessment:
- Where a student has to show independent mastery of concepts, AI is prohibited.
- Where AI is allowed, the assessment is redesigned to keep testing knowledge, judgement and application, for example through presentations and projects.
Students are also taught AI’s limitations and how to use it with discernment.
At the IHLs, each institution’s own AI policy is the rule that applies to its students.
