SEE model papers
Full practice papers for the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) in Compulsory English, made to CDC’s specification grid: the same parts, marks and types of question as the real paper. Every question has a model answer, and every writing task a model and a marking scheme.
The SEE Compulsory English paper
The SEE paper in Compulsory English is set to CDC’s Test Specification Chart, Compulsory English, Grades 9–10: a written paper of 75 marks in 3 hours, every question compulsory. It is set by skill, not by unit: reading 40, writing 24, grammar 11. The other 25 of the 100 marks are given by the school (participation 3, listening test 8, speaking test 8, terminal exams 6).
The papers here are new, written by us to the same chart: in every paper the same parts, marks and types of question, and the same number of questions of each kind of comprehension. In the real exam Reading 1 and Reading 2 are texts from the textbook; ours are new texts on the book’s unit themes, so read the textbook’s own texts well too. A writing task or a sentence to rewrite earns one mark for each point in its marking scheme, so the scheme lists exactly as many points as the marks.
| Part | What is asked | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Written paper: Reading | Reading 1, Reading 2, Reading 3, Reading 4 | 40 |
| Written paper: Writing | Guided writing I, Guided writing II, Free writing I, Free writing II | 24 |
| Written paper: Grammar | Grammar: reproducing sentences, Grammar: multiple choice in a passage | 11 |
| Marked in school | Participation 3, Listening test 8, Speaking test 8, Terminal exams 6 | 25 |
| Total | 100 |
The written paper, part by part
| Part | What is asked | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 40 | ||
| Reading 1 | A short text from the textbook, about 100 words, with one type of comprehension question | 5 | 5 × 1 = 5 |
| Reading 2 | A short text from the textbook, about 200 words, with two types of comprehension question | 10 | 10 × 1 = 10 |
| Reading 3 | A short text not in the textbook, about 200 words, with two types of comprehension question: a story, notice, advertisement, product guide, letter, news story, brochure, instructions or manual, diary entry, interview or recipe | 10 | 10 × 1 = 10 |
| Reading 4 | A short text not in the textbook, about 300 words, with three types of question, one of them on vocabulary: a biography, autobiography, essay, newspaper or magazine article, science article, book or film review, travelogue, editorial, report or blog | 15 | 15 × 1 = 15 |
| Writing | 24 | ||
| Guided writing I | About 100 words from given clues: a paragraph, a description of a table, chart or diagram, a set of instructions, a recipe, an advertisement, a notice, or a set of rules and regulations | 1 | 5 |
| Guided writing II | About 100 words from given clues: a news story, a skeleton story, a message of condolence or of congratulations, an invitation letter, a thank-you letter, or a biography | 1 | 5 |
| Free writing I | About 150 words: a paragraph giving views, an opinion, an experience or a feeling, a leave application, a job application, or a dialogue | 1 | 6 |
| Free writing II | About 200 words: a personal or official letter, a letter to the editor, an email, a short essay (narrative, argumentative or descriptive), a diary entry, a newspaper article, or a book or film review | 1 | 8 |
| Grammar | 11 | ||
| Grammar: reproducing sentences | Six sentences to rewrite as told: tense, a question tag, reported speech, voice, a ‘wh’ question, and negation | 6 | 6 × 1 = 6 |
| Grammar: multiple choice in a passage | Ten blanks in a passage, four options each: articles, prepositions, tense, question tags, voice, reported speech, connectives, conditional sentences, subject–verb agreement, causative verbs, modals, adjectives and adverbs, relative pronouns | 10 | 10 × 0.5 = 5 |
| Total | 60 | 75 | |
Kinds of comprehension question
| Literal comprehension | 16 |
| Reorganization | 8 |
| Inference | 8 |
| Evaluation and reflection | 3 |
| Vocabulary (Reading 4 only) | 5 |
| Total | 40 |
Counted across all the reading texts.
How the paper is made
- Reading has 40 questions of 1 mark each, of six types: true/false, fill in the gaps, multiple choice, matching, ordering, and short answers.
- Except for short answers, the two texts from the textbook don't use the same type of question, and neither do the two texts from outside it. Only Reading 4 tests vocabulary.
- Writing is marked for organization, coherence and cohesion, subject matter, appropriate and correct language, range of vocabulary, and layout. No writing task is of the same kind as a reading text in the same paper.
- Grammar covers 14 areas: articles, prepositions, tense, connectives, question tags, reported speech, voice, conditional sentences, subject–verb agreement, interrogation and negation, causatives, modals, relative pronouns, and adjectives and adverbs.
Source: CDC, Test Specification Chart, Compulsory English, Grades 9–10 (Specification Grid based on the revised curriculum 2078, with the Grade 10 model question paper); the internal assessment from CDC's Secondary Education Curriculum, Grades 9–10, Compulsory English, 7.2.
These are practice papers made by Science Playground, not official ones. Every fact and calculation has been checked, but they have not yet been reviewed by subject experts. If you find a mistake, please tell us.