Explore the PSLE Companion microsite for more insights and tips.

SINGAPORE – A soothing voice with the calm cadence of an expert narrator to benchmark against, a curated bank of annotated passages for reading practice, and comprehensive scorecards with personalised feedback to help students improve.

These are the key features offered by cher.ai, one of several AI platforms that have emerged to help pupils prepare for the PSLE English oral exam, now worth 20 per cent of the overall grade, up from 15 per cent since 2025.

Built by Mr Moses Soh, 33, deputy chief executive and head of academic innovation at Mind Stretcher, cher.ai allows students to practise independently and receive detailed feedback as part of the education group’s suite of PSLE preparation tools.

Mr Soh, who studied artificial intelligence at Stanford University, believes technology opens up new possibilities and helps level the playing field.

He last worked at Open Government Products, where he led the development of Pair, the Government’s secure AI platform for public servants.

Mr Soh says: “Even in the best schools, students might get only two to four oral practice sessions a year and the feedback might not be very detailed. Private one-on-one tutoring for oral practice is expensive. Technology offers solutions that were not possible in my generation.”

On cher.ai, students can begin their practice by listening to a model audio recording of a selected passage or by reviewing reading tips.

For instance, before reading a passage about preparing food for Hari Raya, students are encouraged to adopt a light, animated tone for the casual in-text kitchen chatter before shifting to a thoughtful, reflective cadence as the passage concludes with a short discussion on family and tradition.