http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_year_series
"Ten year series (TYS)" is a colloquial term
used by Singaporeans, in particular students, to refer to
official compilation books of examination papers in past years for
the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Normal
Level (N-level), Ordinary Level (O-level) and Advanced Level (A-level), approved by the
Ministry of Education and University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate
(UCLES).
In Singapore schools, these books are known to be used
extensively by teachers and students both inside and outside the
classrooms, in preparation for similar questions that may be asked
in future examinations.[1] Most
students review these past examination papers in order to seek to
reveal applications of concepts as well as encounter the forms of
various new concepts which would be covered in examinations but not
explicitly in the syllabus.[2]
Critics of the education system claim this phenomenon to be
signs of rote
learning, that goes against the emphasis for creative thinking by the government in
recent[when?]
years.[3][4][5]
Until 2007 the term is not always truly literal since some of
these books have compilations containing papers from more than two
decades worth of examinations, which means that students will thus
often be doing practice papers that are set even before they were
born.[2] The
Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board
(SEAB) has since implemented a new rule limited the publication of
papers to the past ten years, which resulting in a spike of demand
for older ten-year series.[2] Ten-year
series should not be confused with assessment books (books
containing questions on specific subjects for students to
practise), which serve as an additional practice, or as a form of
enrichment. The latter are privately authored and sold in
bookstores.[6]