Contents
- What to bring on exam day
- What you cannot bring into the hall
- When to arrive, and what happens if you are late
- When the paper is in front of you
- Objective answer sheets: JOB and JOTB
- Extra tools for particular papers
- If you miss a paper, a speaking test or a practical
- Wrong details on your registration statement
- Extra time for candidates with special educational needs
- Misconduct and what it costs
- The candidate declaration form
- Frequently asked questions
Most SPM rules hold no surprises: phones and notes stay outside, and nobody talks during a paper. A few are easier to get wrong on the morning itself. Pencil cases are banned from the hall along with bags, your identity card has to stay on the desk for the whole paper, and missing a speaking test or a practical can cost you the whole subject.
Everything below comes from the guidelines and instructions printed in Lembaga Peperiksaan's Jadual Waktu Peperiksaan SPM 2026, [?] Lembaga Peperiksaan, Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, Jadual Waktu Peperiksaan Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia 2026 (LP/SPM/2026), Bahagian D (instructions, warnings and prohibitions for candidates) and Bahagian E (special instructions by paper), with the extra-time tables for candidates with special educational needs. which every candidate reads before signing a declaration form. Where this page and the official document differ, the document wins.
What to bring on exam day
- Your identity card (Kad Pengenalan), or another accepted document: an identity document, the candidate identity form (Borang Pengenalan Diri Calon, LP/Am 118) or a letter certifying your identity (Surat Perakuan Pengenalan Diri).
- Black or blue ballpoint pens for your answers. Pencils, and pens in other colours, are for diagrams and maps only.
- A 2B or BB pencil and a soft eraser for objective answer sheets.
- A calculator, for the papers where calculators are allowed.
- Any extra tools your subject requires (see the table further down).
Two documents are missing from that list on purpose. Your exam registration statement (Pernyataan Pendaftaran Peperiksaan) and your own copy of the timetable are both on the banned list, so check the statement at home and leave both outside the hall. If you are sitting at a centre other than your own, show the registration statement to that centre's Chief Invigilator before the exam.
What you cannot bring into the hall
The banned list covers the waiting room, the reporting room, the hall, the test room, the exam lab and the quarantine room. Apart from the tools a paper allows, candidates may not bring in:
- notes of any kind, including notes written on clothing or skin;
- books, drawings, graphics, newspapers, dictionaries or loose paper;
- question papers, the exam timetable or the exam registration statement;
- mobile phones, communication devices or any other electronic device;
- pencil cases and bags.
Writing notes on your clothes, your skin, the walls or the desk is banned too.
When to arrive, and what happens if you are late
| Situation | Rule |
|---|---|
| Written papers and listening tests | Be in your seat 20 minutes before the paper starts. The timetable's Calon Hadir time, when candidates should be present, is 30 minutes before. |
| Speaking tests and science practicals | Be in the waiting room or reporting room 10 minutes before the activities there begin. |
| Arriving late to a written paper | If you arrive up to 30 minutes after the start, the Chief Invigilator may let you sit the paper, but only with a strong reason. You do not get the lost time back. |
| Leaving early | Not allowed in the first 30 minutes or the last 10 minutes of a written paper, except with the Chief Invigilator's permission. |
Leaving the waiting room, test room, exam lab or quarantine room during a speaking test or practical also needs permission from the person running it. The Calon Hadir time for every paper is in our SPM 2026 timetable.
When the paper is in front of you
Before you start, check the front of the question paper: your details, the paper code, the paper name, the time allowed and the instructions. If you have the wrong paper or pages are missing, tell the invigilator straight away. Read the instructions on the front, and on the back if there are any, before the exam begins.
On the answer paper, write your identity card number, your index number Definition Angka Giliran: your candidate number, printed on your exam registration statement. and the paper code clearly where required. Check the printed label with your details, and never write on it. Write each answer in the space provided, in Bahasa Melayu unless the paper allows or requires another language, and number every answer clearly. You do not need to copy out the question.
When you are told to stop writing, check that your identity card number, index number, paper code and question numbers are all on the paper, then stay in your seat while the scripts are collected. Folding or crumpling answer paper, used or unused, is not allowed.
Every SPM 2026 paper except the Visual Arts drawing paper (2611/2) is handled as a closed paper, and the rules forbid taking a closed paper out of the exam rooms. Do not plan on bringing question papers home.
Objective answer sheets: JOB and JOTB
Objective papers use one of two answer sheets. A JOB Definition Jawapan Objektif Bermaklumat: the objective answer sheet that arrives with your details already printed on it. comes with your details printed, while a JOTB (Jawapan Objektif Tidak Bermaklumat) is blank and you fill in the details yourself.
- On a JOB, check your identity card number, index number, subject name and paper code. Do not change anything printed in Sections A and B, and leave Sections C, D and E blank. Report a wrong or incomplete JOB to the Chief Invigilator at once.
- On a JOTB, fill in your identity card number, index number, subject name and paper code, and leave Sections B, C, D and E blank.
- Use a 2B or BB pencil only, and shade each answer space completely.
- Erase unwanted marks cleanly with a soft eraser. Liquid, chemical and adhesive erasers are not allowed.
- Do not fold, roll or crumple the sheet, and do not punch holes or make stray marks on it.
Extra tools for particular papers
Some papers allow or require equipment of their own. Everything else on the banned list still applies.
| Paper | What to bring |
|---|---|
| Geografi Paper 2 (2280/2) | Geometry tools (a 180° or 360° protractor, a ruler, dividers and compasses) and suitable string. Map stencils are not allowed. |
| Pendidikan Seni Visual Paper 2 (2611/2) | Your own drawing and painting tools and media, such as brushes, a palette, watercolour or acrylic paint, pastels, inks and charcoal. Use only the drawing paper Lembaga Peperiksaan supplies. Airbrush tools, aerosol spray paint and any paper with sketches on it are not allowed. |
| Pertanian Paper 1 (3729/1) | Colour pencils. |
| Lukisan Kejuruteraan (3759/1) and Grafik Komunikasi Teknikal (3771/1) | All the engineering drawing tools you need, such as a T-square, a scale ruler and an A3 drawing board (297 mm by 420 mm). |
| Reka Cipta Paper 1 (3763/1) | Your own drawing and colouring tools. |
| Pembuatan Perabot Paper 1 (7110/1) | Drawing tools and colour pencils. |
| Penjagaan Muka dan Penggayaan Rambut Paper 1 (7207/1) | Colour pencils and a make-up kit. |
| Landskap dan Nurseri (7301/1) and Tanaman Makanan (7303/1) | Engineering drawing tools, such as a T-square, a scale ruler and an A3 drawing board. |
| Other vocational Paper 1s: 7101/1, 7103/1 to 7109/1, 7201/1 to 7203/1, 7205/1, 7208/1, 7302/1, 7403/1, 7405/1, 7406/1 and 7407/1 | Colour pencils. |
Visual Arts candidates collect their 2611/2 question paper from the Chief Invigilator on Tuesday, 24 November 2026, and may bring it into the hall on the day of the paper as long as it carries no sketches, scribbles or notes.
Calculators are allowed for the papers where they apply. Private candidates registered for Prinsip Perakaunan (3756) or Perniagaan (3766) must also sit Paper 4 of that subject (3756/4 or 3766/4).
If you miss a paper, a speaking test or a practical
Candidates must sit every paper of every subject they registered for, at their assigned centre. Missing any written paper, or a subject's speaking test, listening test, oral test, science practical or coursework, marks you absent (Tidak Hadir) for that whole subject.
If illness or an emergency keeps you away, hand in supporting documents, such as a certificate from a government hospital doctor or a special permission letter from the Director of Examinations. They go to the officer in charge of what you missed (the Chief Invigilator for a written paper), and they must be handed in before SPM 2026 ends.
Wrong details on your registration statement
Check your exam registration statement as soon as you receive it. If anything is wrong, inform your state education department (JPN) by filling in the candidate information correction form (Borang Pembetulan Maklumat Calon). The correction costs RM30.00, paid to the JPN by money order or postal order made out to Akauntan Negara Malaysia.
If you registered for a subject during the registration period but its paper code appears on none of your documents, you can lodge an objection. Show the registration statement from Lembaga Peperiksaan with the paper code, paper name and exam type as proof. There is no fee, but Lembaga Peperiksaan may withhold results where there is no proof of registration.
Extra time for candidates with special educational needs
Candidates with special educational needs get extra time on every written paper, in two categories.
Category A
Learning disabilities, visual impairment (blind or low vision), multiple disabilities and physical disabilities. Candidates hurt in an accident qualify when they cannot write with the hand they normally write with, and other injuries may be considered on the advice of the state education director.
| Paper length | Extra time |
|---|---|
| Up to 1 hr 30 min | 30 min |
| More than 1 hr 30 min, up to 2 hr 30 min | 1 hr |
| More than 2 hr 30 min | 1 hr 30 min |
Category B
Hearing or speech impairment.
| Paper length | Extra time |
|---|---|
| 1 hr | 15 min |
| 1 hr 15 min | 20 min |
| 1 hr 30 min | 25 min |
| 1 hr 45 min | 30 min |
| 2 hr | 30 min |
| 2 hr 15 min | 35 min |
| 2 hr 30 min | 40 min |
| 3 hr | 45 min |
For the Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Additional Science practicals, the extra time is 10 minutes.
Misconduct and what it costs
Breaking any of the prohibitions counts as misconduct. Under the Education (Assessment and Examination) Regulations 1997, made under the Education Act 1996 (Act 550), misconduct means cheating, impersonation, smuggling in anything not allowed, or anything else Lembaga Peperiksaan treats as serious misconduct. [?] Peraturan-Peraturan Pendidikan (Penilaian dan Peperiksaan) 1997, P.U.(A) 533/97, made under the Akta Pendidikan 1996 (Act 550), as cited in the warning to candidates printed in the SPM 2026 timetable. The prohibited acts also include showing your paper or answers to other candidates, giving or getting help, swapping papers, changing seats without permission, consulting anything outside the hall during the exam, taking question papers or answer scripts out, and trying to bribe an invigilator or examiner.
A candidate found guilty of misconduct can face:
- cancelled results for any paper;
- every result from an exam centre declared void;
- results suspended while an investigation runs;
- a one-year ban from sitting the exam, for candidates whose results are cancelled for impersonation or bribery.
Conduct rules apply as well: no smoking, no disturbing other candidates, and no indecent or garish clothing in any of the exam rooms.
The candidate declaration form
Every candidate reads the exam warnings and signs the candidate declaration form (Borang Pengakuan Calon) printed at the back of the timetable. School candidates hand it to their principal; private candidates hand it to their JPN. The form is kept until six months after the results are announced.
Frequently asked questions
Can I bring a pencil case into the SPM 2026 exam hall?
No. The rules list pencil cases (bekas alat tulis) and bags among the items candidates may not bring into the hall. Carry your stationery and calculator in by hand.
What do I need to bring to SPM 2026?
Your identity card or another accepted identity document, black or blue ballpoint pens, a 2B or BB pencil with a soft eraser for objective papers, a calculator where allowed, and any tools your subject requires.
What happens if I forget my identity card?
The rules say candidates may not sit the exam without their identity card or another accepted document, such as the candidate identity form (LP/Am 118) or a letter certifying identity. Speak to your school or the Chief Invigilator before the paper starts.
Can I enter the hall if I am late?
For a written paper, the Chief Invigilator may let you in up to 30 minutes after the start if you give a strong reason. You will not get extra time.
Can I leave the exam hall early?
Not in the first 30 minutes or the last 10 minutes of a written paper, unless the Chief Invigilator gives permission.
What happens if I miss the speaking test or a practical?
Missing any component of a subject, including the speaking test, listening test or science practical, marks you absent for that whole subject unless you hand in supporting documents, such as a certificate from a government hospital doctor, before SPM 2026 ends.
Can I take the question paper home after an SPM 2026 paper?
No. Apart from the Visual Arts drawing paper (2611/2), SPM 2026 papers are handled as closed papers, and the rules forbid taking a closed paper out of the exam room.
Which pencil should I use for objective answers?
A 2B or BB pencil only, with a soft eraser. Shade each answer space completely, and do not use correction fluid or any chemical or adhesive eraser.
