How to choose a primary Science practice platform
Written by MCQ.SG, a learning-platform supplier, for schools to adapt.
A Science practice platform can help pupils revisit difficult topics and give teachers a clearer view of their work. Start with how you want to use it: class assignments, practice at home, follow-up for individual pupils, or a mix of these.
This guide explains the features worth considering. At the bottom, you can expand a full sample requirements document and an optional prompt for adapting it. Choose the parts that fit your school.
1. Science content and useful feedback
Look for content that follows the current MOE Primary Science syllabus for the levels and topics you need, with questions suited to your pupils' ages and learning needs. Be clear whether you want coverage across those levels or practice on selected topics.
Consider the kinds of questions pupils will work on, including multiple-choice and open-ended questions. For example, practice might ask pupils to apply a concept, explain their reasoning or interpret a diagram, table or graph. After answering, pupils should have feedback they can learn from, such as an explanation or model answer. Teachers also need a way to flag an incorrect question or answer for correction.
Help when pupils get stuck
Some pupils need more help after reading an explanation. You may want them to ask follow-up questions and receive guidance about the question they are working on. An AI tutor is one way to provide this support. Consider whether this would help your pupils and how teachers would control its availability.
2. Personalised follow-up
Pupils may need different practice after completing the same work. You might want the platform to help identify weaker topics and offer suitable follow-up.
Teachers can choose that follow-up, or the platform can recommend it. If you want recommendations to change automatically as pupils complete more work, say so. Teachers should be able to see the follow-up given and its results. If your programme only needs teacher-set class assignments, you can leave personalised follow-up out.
3. Teacher and classroom tools
Think about the everyday job of setting work and reviewing it. Teachers should be able to find suitable questions by level and topic, assign practice to classes, and see each pupil's completion, answers and results.
Pupils need a clear view of their assigned work, including what is finished and what is still outstanding. If you also need to assign work to groups or individual pupils, include that in your requirements.
4. Reports and access to records
Reports are most useful when they answer practical questions: who is participating, who has completed the work, and which topics need another look in class. Consider what teachers need to see for each pupil and for the class.
If a regular school usage summary would help, say what it should cover and how often, for example a monthly participation summary. The school should also be able to obtain its learning records in a reusable format, during the service and when it ends. The supplier can help provide the records; you can agree a suitable format without requiring a particular spreadsheet or download feature.
5. Login and devices
Pupils need a login they can manage, and pupils and teachers need a way to recover access when they forget their details. Ask how accounts are set up and who can help with recovery.
Include the computers or tablets pupils will use, whether access is needed at home, and any accessibility needs.
6. Setup training and support
Getting started includes setting up accounts and classes, showing teachers how to use the platform, and providing notes they can return to. The supplier should also help with pupil additions, removal of school access and class changes during the year.
Agree the initial training and weekday support arrangements, including contact methods and support hours. These details help teachers know where to turn when access or use problems arise.
7. Pupil data and school materials
Ask what pupil information the platform needs, who can access it, where it is stored or processed, and whether other providers handle it. Include the school's applicable security and data terms alongside the requirements.
It also helps to be clear about what happens to pupil data when the service ends, the rights to content supplied with the platform, and the school's rights in materials it uploads. These arrangements should fit the school's terms.
Putting your requirements together
Keep the features your pupils and teachers will use. Decide which are essential and which would be useful to have, then fill in the levels, topics, user numbers, dates and service arrangements.
The sample below is a starting point you can copy and edit. It sets out recommended requirements, with space for your school's details and assessment criteria. The school decides the final wording. The optional prompt can help make changes, but you can use the sample directly.
Questions about your Science programme
Have a question about learning-platform features or how to describe what your school needs? Email hello@mcq.sg.
Full sample requirements
Use this starting scope to describe the Science practice and classroom support your school needs. Copy the sections from “School details” through “Submission request” into your working document, then change the details or remove parts you do not need. The school chooses the final requirements and assessment criteria. You can edit the sample directly; the AI prompt further down is optional.
The sample uses “should” for recommendations. Before issuing an invitation, identify the things every acceptable offer must meet and express those as “shall” requirements. Fill in the quantities, dates and service details, and attach the school’s own terms.
School details
Scroll sideways to see the full table →
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Subject and levels | Primary Science for [levels] |
| Coverage | [Agreed topics or full coverage for the stated levels] |
| Users | [Number] pupils and [number] teachers |
| Service period | [Start date] to [end date] |
| Devices | [Agreed school computers or tablets and home access needs] |
Requirements
A Science content and practice
A1. Content should be up to date, in accordance with the current MOE Primary Science syllabus for the agreed levels and topics, and suitable for pupils' ages and different learning needs.
A2. The portal should provide a range of multiple-choice and structured questions, including open-ended responses, for practice in class and at home.
A3. Pupils should receive feedback on their answers, preferably with explanations or model answers to support review of their work.
A4. Teachers should have a way to report incorrect questions or answers, and the Contractor should correct reported content errors.
B Personalised follow-up
B1. The portal should use each pupil's earlier work and results to identify areas needing further practice and provide or enable suitable follow-up practice.
B2. Teachers should be able to review the follow-up given and its results to inform further teaching.
B3. Follow-up may be selected by teachers or recommended by the platform. Automatic adaptation and any particular algorithm or AI are not required by this sample.
C Teacher and classroom tools
C1. Teachers should be able to choose suitable questions or resources by level and topic and assign practice to their classes.
C2. Teachers should be able to monitor individual pupils' completion and progress by name and class, and view answers and results to identify areas needing attention.
C3. Pupils should be able to find their assigned work and see what they have completed and what remains unfinished.
D Reports and records
D1. Teachers should be able to view pupil and class usage and performance information, including participation and completion of assigned work.
D2. The School should be able to obtain its learning records in a commonly used, reusable format during the service and at its end. Supplier-assisted provision may qualify; a particular spreadsheet format or self-service download is not required.
E Access and account administration
E1. The portal should provide pupil and teacher accounts with access appropriate to their roles and a suitable login process for primary-school pupils.
E2. Password reset or account recovery should be available for pupils and teachers.
E3. The portal should work on the school's agreed devices and through home web browsers where home access is required.
F Setup training and support
F1. The Contractor should help set up accounts and classes before planned use, and support pupil additions, removal of school access and class changes during the service.
F2. The Contractor should provide initial teacher training with notes or practical guidance.
F3. The Contractor should provide phone or email support on weekdays for access and use problems. Training duration, support hours and contact arrangements are to be agreed with the School.
G Security data and school materials
G1. Access to pupil and school information should be limited to authorised users according to their roles.
G2. The supplier should state what pupil information is needed, where it is stored or processed and which other providers handle it.
G3. The School should retain its rights in any materials it uploads.
School review note: attach the school's applicable security and data terms, identified by their exact title. These terms govern matters such as permitted data locations, retention and removal.
Assessment
Mandatory requirements: [The School to identify its must-haves and applicable terms before issuing the invitation.]
The following are possible quality criteria. Keep only criteria relevant to the retained scope and set their weights before inviting offers. These cover quality only; use them within the school's full evaluation method, including price.
Scroll sideways to see the full table →
| Quality criterion | What to compare | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Content and practice | Syllabus fit, question and feedback quality, and suitability of follow-up where retained | [ ] |
| Teacher tools and reports | Usefulness and ease of setting work, monitoring pupils and accessing records | [ ] |
| Access, service and data | Ease of access, practical support and suitability of the proposed data arrangements | [ ] |
Submission request
Please provide trial access or screenshots, plus sample Science questions with feedback, covering the retained scope. [Include school response forms if applicable.]
Optional help when pupils get stuck
This clause is outside the default sample. If your school wants this support, add it to “Science content and practice”. If you use the optional prompt, paste the clause under “Our details or changes”.
Pupils should be able to ask follow-up questions about their practice and receive guidance relevant to the question and their response.
Choosing what to keep
Start with the parts your pupils and teachers will use. Including both multiple-choice and structured questions with open-ended responses is useful for some programmes; others need only one type. Personalised follow-up can be removed if you only want whole-class assignments. Asking for every feature can make a smaller, otherwise suitable service harder to compare.
The sample starts with "should" recommendations. Make an item a "shall" requirement only when every acceptable offer must meet it. Apply these choices consistently in the mandatory checks and scoring. Your school's own contract and security terms keep their meanings.
What personalised practice means here
Section B allows a teacher to choose the follow-up, or a platform to recommend it. That can be enough when you want help identifying and practising weaker topics.
If your programme needs the platform to adjust the practice itself, you could replace B1 and B3 with: "The platform should recommend suitable follow-up practice using each pupil's responses and update its recommendations as the pupil completes further work." Teachers would still be able to review the follow-up under B2. Make this a "shall" requirement only if that behaviour is essential. Different technical methods can meet it.
For general principles on clear requirements, fair treatment and evaluation, see MOF's government procurement overview.
Optional prompt for adapting the sample
If you would like help making changes, copy the prompt below into a school-approved AI tool. Paste the sample from “School details” through “Submission request” into its sample field, then add your changes. You do not need AI to use the sample.
For example, you could ask for Primary 4 only, remove personalised practice, or make pupil account recovery essential. Share only information your school permits, and leave out pupil details and confidential material. Review the adapted draft before using it.
Please adapt the sample Primary Science requirements pasted below. The sample was prepared by MCQ.SG, a learning-platform supplier, for school review. Our school decides the final requirements.
Our details or changes (optional)
[Add levels, coverage, pupil and teacher numbers, dates, devices, features to remove, must-haves or the exact title and text of school terms.]
Sample requirements
[Paste the sample from School details through Submission request.]
Use the pasted sample as the starting point. Give us a complete draft straight away. If we give no changes, keep the sample scope and leave unknown school details as placeholders. End with one optional question about changes; if we already said no changes, omit it. If the sample is missing, ask us to paste it rather than inventing a replacement.
Our changes override the sample:
- Remove excluded features from requirements, scoring and submissions. Do not reintroduce them under another name. If we ask for ONLY a narrow service, keep the stated learning activity, content suitability, devices and applicable supplied terms; omit other sample features unless requested. This also excludes accounts, logins, G1-G3 and content-error workflows unless requested. Pupil/teacher counts alone do not select account features. Missing school terms remain only a review note.
- Preserve current MOE Primary Science syllabus alignment, agreed levels/topics and age suitability. Do not assume full-syllabus coverage when coverage is unknown or topic-limited.
- Keep recommendations as "should". For each stated must-have, write a separate narrow "shall" clause in its functional section and include it in mandatory checks. Do not make surrounding recommended detail mandatory. Preserve every action in the stated must-have. If pupil/class changes are mandatory, pupil additions, removal of school access and class changes must each stay "shall", not become optional examples. State a mandatory action once; do not repeat it in a weaker "should" sentence.
- The sample permits teacher-selected or platform-recommended follow-up. Do not turn it into automatic adaptation unless we ask. If we ask for automatic adaptation, replace the incompatible teacher-selection alternative, describe the requested behaviour and preserve any update-over-time requirement. Do not prescribe an algorithm, AI, automated marking or extra capabilities.
- Keep exact numbers and qualifiers. Do not invent topic lists, quantities, dates, training duration, support hours, response times, login technology, hosting locations, certifications or deletion deadlines. Leave missing school details open. Do not reopen details already supplied or add question/sample-count placeholders.
- If school terms are supplied by exact title, add "The Contractor shall comply with [exact title]" in the data section and mandatory checks. Do not rewrite their conditions or exceptions. Otherwise keep a review note about missing terms, with no placeholder compliance clause or security compliance check.
- Keep the functional sections, removing excluded sections and renumbering where needed. Return the complete revised draft with school details, requirements, separate mandatory checks, up to three relevant quality groups with weights blank unless supplied, and the concise submission request. No mandatory checks are confirmed unless we state must-haves or supply terms.
- Include one brief attribution: "Adapted from an MCQ.SG supplier-prepared sample for school review." Do not add requirements to match MCQ.SG, promotional claims, budgets, purchasing routes or new demands for evidence. State remaining details to confirm briefly, without a questionnaire.
On follow-up, apply our changes and return the complete revised draft.