In the Penilaian Menengah Rendah examination, the Mathematics paper is one of the most important subjects because a good grade in this paper will provide you with the pre-requisites to enrol in the Science stream in Form 4. Over the years, the PMR Mathematics paper has been criticized for being one of the toughest papers among all the other PMR subjects.
There are 2 papers involved in this subject namely Kertas 1 (Paper 1) and Kertas 2 (Paper 2). In Paper 1, you are given 1 hour and 15 minutes where you will have to answer 40 questions. The questions are in the multiple choice format which carries 40 marks in total. In Paper 2, you are given more time where in 1 hour and 45 minutes, you will have to answer questions which are more open ended as compared to Paper 1 where you can choose the right or most accurate answer. Here is where you will need to show that you know how you derived the answer. This paper requires you to answer the questions by providing the ‘workings’ of the calculations. You are not allowed to bring in any calculators into this examination which carries a total of 60 marks.
PMR English
The English Language is one of the 2 major language subjects in the Malaysian secondary school syllabus. Like the Bahasa Melayu paper, students in the PMR level will also have to undergo an oral examination where you will be tested on listening and comprehension and speaking of the language. The marks you gathered from this examination will then be accumulated and contributed to the final grade of this subject. The oral examination takes place before the actual written examination of the PMR.
In the written examination, the English Language subject comes in 2 papers. In Paper 1, you will be required to answer 40 questions in the multiple choice format in 1 hour. This is where you will need to identify the best answer where you will be tested on areas like grammar, vocabulary and others.
The second paper (2), where you are given 1 hour and 30 minutes requires you to write essays which will test you more on your ability to describe and illustrate ideas using the language. In the first section of Paper 2, you will have to write an essay which could be in a form of a formal or informal letter or a narrative. This is often regarded as one of the toughest parts of this subject. You will then be required to write a summary in the next session from an article given while the literature section is where you will be tested based on the literature books you studied in school that include ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ or ‘Robinson Crusoe’.
Form 3 (PMR) Bahasa Melayu
In the Penilaian Menengah Rendah or PMR, the Bahasa Melayu or Malay language is a compulsory subject which means that you must pass this paper in order to advance. Before the written PMR examination which takes place in the month of October, you will first have to undergo the oral and listening tests where the assessment will contribute to the final BM grade after it is added to the written examination. Take note that it is very important that you pass this subject because otherwise no matter what your other results are, you do not qualify for the PMR certificate.
There are 2 papers involved in BM known simply is Kertas 1 (Paper 1) and Kertas 2 (Paper 2). In Paper 1, there are 40 questions in the multiple choice format where you are given 1 hour to answer and you will be testing on the comprehension skills. Paper 2 is a bit tougher and it is for a 2 hour duration. There are in total 4 sections where in the first section you will need to write a summary (ringkasan) of an article. You will then have to write a 120 word essay in the next session based on visual aids like graphs and charts. The third session requires you to write a 180 word essay on a specific topic while the last section is where you have to write a description on a specific novel you studied.