CBSE Board Exams 2024: How experts see the changes in exam pattern and marking scheme

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced some major changes in the exam pattern and marking scheme of classes 10 and 12 board exams for the 2024 session. These changes are in line with the New Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) and aim to reduce the study pressure on students and curb the coaching culture. The CBSE board exams 2024 will start from February 15, 2023, and will include more competency-based questions, internal assessment, and practical exams. Here are some of the key features of the new exam pattern and marking scheme that you need to know:

More Competency-Based Questions

The CBSE board exams 2024 will have more competency-based questions or case-based questions that will test the student’s understanding and application of concepts rather than rote memorization. These questions will be in the form of multiple choice questions (MCQs), assertion and reason type questions, and case study-based questions.

In class 10, there will be 50% competency-based questions or other types of questions. In class 12, there will be up to 40% competency-based questions or other types of questions.

The remaining questions will be response-type questions, short-answer-type questions, and long-answer-type questions. The number of questions in each paper will vary from 15 to 35 depending on the subject and the marks allotted to each question. The duration of each paper will be three hours.

More Internal Assessment

The CBSE board exams 2024 will also have more internal assessments for both class 10 and class 12 students. The internal assessment will cover marks for unit tests, exploratory activities, practical exams, and projects.

In class 10, there will be 20% internal assessment for all subjects except Mathematics, Science, and Social Science, which will have 10% internal assessment each. In class 12, there will be different weights of internal assessment for different subjects ranging from 10% to 30%.

The internal assessment will be conducted throughout the year by the schools as per the guidelines issued by the CBSE.

More Practical Exams

The CBSE board exams 2024 will also have more practical exams for both class 10 and class 12 students. The practical exams will be conducted by the schools before the theory exams as per the schedule given by the CBSE. The practical exams will include experiments, activities, projects, viva voce, etc.

Sharing his views on this, Anil Ahlawat, CEO of MTG Learning Media, said, “The changes in the CBSE Board Exam 2024 pattern and marking scheme are a positive step towards better learning of today’s students. They focus on understanding and using knowledge, rather than just memorizing facts. Now, students will see more questions that need critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This helps them apply what they've learned in real-life situations. The shift towards objective-type questions is good too. It means a fairer assessment of what students know.”

“Also, the idea of internal assessments and project-based learning is great. It means students are evaluated on what they do over time, not just one big exam. This helps them really understand the subjects and be creative. Allowing students to choose subjects from different areas is another good move. It lets them explore what they're interested in. This makes for a more well-rounded education,” he added.

Speaking on this, Neelima Kamrah, Principal of KIIT World School, Gurugram, said, “The board intends to implement Competency Education, with more competency-based questions to assess students' application of concepts in real-life situations. The question paper in year-end board examinations will have an increased number of application-based questions in the form of MCQs, Case-Based Questions, Source-based Integrated Questions, or any other format.”

According to Pratibha Sharma, Academic Director, Bhai Parmanand Vidya Mandir, East Delhi, “It would be a great step if taken by CBSE. Such a step would be extremely important as it will give an opportunity to students to express their understanding of concepts at a deeper level. It will also help the overall learning experience of students as it will reduce dependence on rote learning while increasing focus on the application of concepts. Most importantly, it will also lead to the pressure on students being reduced as the syllabus is split and also the student gets the opportunity to improve their result.”