Can Your SEC Exam Dictionary Have Highlights or Tabs? | SEAB Annotation Guide

Take a clean dictionary if your SEC paper permits one. SEAB’s 2026 GCE rules prohibited candidate annotations in exam dictionaries, including highlights, handwritten notes, sticky notes and quick tabs. A dictionary that was useful for revision may need to stay at home.

For the 2027 Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC), check the instructions for your exact subject and paper and use SEAB’s list or dictionary requirements for your sitting. The 2026 GCE booklet explains the old rule. Your own SEC instructions determine what is permitted in the exam room.

Check that your exact paper permits a dictionary.
Verify the printed edition or electronic model against the applicable instructions.
Inspect the copy for added marks, notes and tabs.
Arrange a clean permitted copy before exam day if yours is marked.

Check permission, model and condition separately

A dictionary has to pass three checks. First, is a dictionary allowed for this paper? Second, is this particular type, edition or model allowed? Third, is this copy in a condition you can take into the venue? A yes to the model question leaves the other two questions open.

Imagine two papers for the same language subject. Your teacher has confirmed dictionary permission for one of them. Label the permitted paper in your checklist and keep the dictionary out of your exam belongings for the other paper unless its own instructions also permit one. Under the 2026 GCE rules, candidates could not have a dictionary with them when its use was prohibited for the paper.

Use the current syllabus and candidate instructions together. A syllabus can identify the component or refer you to the approved list. Check whether the approved-list entry distinguishes print from electronic versions or specifies an edition. A similar cover or familiar brand can hide a different model.

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Spot the marks that make a revision copy unsuitable

A highlighted word, a pencilled translation, a coloured strip on a page edge and an unlabeled sticky tab all belong on your inspection checklist. The old rule explicitly covered highlighting and quick tabs, so the absence of words on a tab is a poor basis for taking it in.

Check the front and back covers, inside covers and page edges. Fan through the book, then turn to the sections you use most. Look for loose paper between pages, pencil underlines, transferred ink or added labels. A second-hand or borrowed copy needs the same inspection even if you have never written in it.

A guide mark printed as part of the original approved edition is a different question from a mark a reader added later. If you cannot tell which you are looking at, identify the edition and ask your school or SEAB ahead of the paper. Use a clean permitted replacement if you cannot resolve a visible mark in time.

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Prepare a replacement and practise using it

A clean copy of an approved edition is the simplest option when your revision dictionary has permanent highlighting. If borrowing from school, confirm the exact copy and when it will be available. Open it before the exam and run through a few normal lookups so its layout feels familiar.

If your paper allows a specific handheld electronic dictionary, verify the exact model and the current device instructions. The 2026 GCE booklet addressed battery power, silent operation, headphones and external storage. Confirm the equivalent requirements for your SEC sitting. Use a paper checklist while you prepare and follow the centre’s rules about where to leave other devices.

To practise without page markers, pick five words you often look up and find them using the headwords and alphabetical order. Then try an unfamiliar word under a short timer. End the drill by checking the example or definition you actually needed. That builds a faster habit without changing the book.

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Do a final bag check for the correct paper

Keep the dictionary with the items for its permitted paper and check it before leaving home. If your revision copy and exam copy look alike, place them in different locations before the night of the exam. Read the paper instructions once more before packing.

If you discover marks at the venue, alert examination personnel before entering the examination room and follow their directions. A candidate sitting multiple papers should repeat the permission check each time. The 2026 GCE handbook allowed invigilators to remove a dictionary that failed its rules. A last-minute guess can leave you without the book you planned to use.

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Frequently asked questions

Can I bring a dictionary with a blank sticky tab?

Leave added tabs out of the copy you plan to bring. Quick tabs were explicitly prohibited under the 2026 GCE annotation rule.

Can I use a dictionary app if I already own the approved print edition?

Use the type and model that the paper instructions actually permit. An approved print edition does not give permission to use a phone app.

Does a dictionary on the approved list work for every paper?

Check permission for the exact paper first. Approval of a model and permission to use it in a component are separate checks.

Can I erase pencil marks and use the same copy?

If the copy still has visible traces, use a clean permitted copy or get guidance from your school or SEAB before the paper.