The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), India has announced a new assessment model for classes 10 and 12 board examinations (roughly equivalent to GCSE and A-level respectively) for the academic year 2021-22. It will have two end term exams.The academic year will be divided into two terms and at the end of each term, the exam would be conducted. The first term is likely to be in November/ December and the second in March/April.

The first term will be completely multiple-choice question (MCQ) based including case based and assertion-reasoning type MCQs. It will be for 90 minutes duration. The second term exam will be for two hours and more subjective in nature. It will include case based, situation based, open ended question as well as short and long-term questions. If the situation appears unfavourable with resurgence of coronavirus, flexibility has been built in to switch the exams to the MCQ format of 90 minutes duration.

The overall score of the student will be based on the two-term score and internal assessment.This contrasts with the previous format of the CBSE exams which was based on a single final examination combined with internal school-based assessment. Under the new digital initiative of Indian government called the National Education Technology Forum (NETF), schools will create student profile for all assessments undertaken over the year and save it in a digital format.

CBSE is one of India’s national board of examinations and over 1 million students each year from class 12 (final year of school) appear for their school leaving exams.

Comments from the British Council:

The new model is a big shift from the old assessment system of CBSE which has been in practice for decades. The challenge posed by Covid 19 during the last two years has made it review and introduce progressive and flexible assessment that is student-centric, transparent, technology-driven and is able to adapt to different future scenarios. Similar pattern of two-term boards exams pattern will also be used by the other national examination board - the Council for Indian School Certification Examination. Students from these two national boards are usually the potential applicants for higher education studies in the UK.

From the perspective of UK higher education institutions, the changes are unlikely to have a major effect on the application process for Indian students. Schools will continue to conduct internal assessments and provide predicted scores for their students, and the transition to the new format is expected to be smooth as the announcement and the plans have been made before the start of the academic year. However, HEIs should bear in mind that the assessment format has changed and might like to make their own checks. The British Council will also share any information that is made available in the coming weeks

If you have any questions, please write to Sandeepa Sahay

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