The CBSE will be conducting the examination in theory as well as in practical as per the new prescribed syllabus. The marks or grades will be allotted to individual subjects and aggregate marks would be considered for the final percentage calculation. The marks or grades shall be awarded for individual subjects and aggregate marks will not be given.

Grading:

• Please note that the assessment of theory or practical papers in the external subjects will be in numerical scores. The grades will be indicated on the mark sheet.
• Qualifying marks for external examinations are as follows:

1. 33% at the Secondary or Senior School Certificate Examinations
2. 33% marks in theory
3. 33% marks in the practical separately

• The board shall classify all the passing candidates in rank order and the candidates will be awarded grades in the following order:

1. A1: Top 1/8th of the passing candidates
2. A2: Next 1/8th of the passing candidates
3. B1: Next 1/8th of the passing candidates
4. B2: Next 1/8th of the passing candidates
5. C1: Next 1/8th of the passing candidates
6. C2: Next 1/8th of the passing candidates
7. D1: Next 1/8th of the passing candidates
8. D2: Next 1/8th of the passing candidates
9. E: Failed Candidates

Passing Criteria:

• You will be given a passing certificate if you get a grade higher than E in all subjects.
• If you score less than E, then your result will be withheld for less than a year.
• You must score a minimum on 33% in all subjects in both theory and practical in order to be declared as passed.
• No overall division, distinction and aggregate would be awarded.

The very first step to be successful at anything is to get focused. You should have a plan and a fixed routine, in which you strike a balance between everything, depending on your strengths and weaknesses. Be judicious in deciding the time you put for your preparation, your sleep and other daily activities. You should be diligent, remember that there are thousands of students preparing along with you, thus to ensure that you are a step ahead, you should be industrious and focused: it will help you to secure grades in your final exam.  Here are some subject wise tips that could be helpful during preparation:

Biology:

• You must remember the biological terms, practice diagrams and be well-versed with different processes.
• Revision is the key to succeed in this examination.
• You can make flash cards to improve your retention.

Physics:

• You are advised to practise derivations. Magnetism, Optics and Electrostatics are important here.
• Solve the sample question papers.
• You are advised to solve conceptual questions on these derivations to enhance your understanding of the concepts.

Chemistry:

• You are advised to make formula sheets and thoroughly memorise them.
• Make your fundamentals strong.
• Study, Raoult’s law, Adsoption Isotherm, Nernst Equation, Molar Mass Determination, Packing Fraction etc. as they are important and have a good weightage.  
• Solve sample papers.
• Pay attention to numerical, which are often ignored by many.

English:

• Pay attention to grammar, especially tenses, your understanding matters here.
• Read a few books, for the reading section, so that you would be used to reading.
• Solve previous year’s paper and attempt all grammar based questions.
• For the writing section, remember to not exceed the word limit and you must stick to the format.
• For, Literature section, read the lessons multiple times and try to mention all the necessary points in the prescribed word limit. Also, make short summaries of the poems and extracts.

Other Exams:

1. 1. Olympiads: IMO, INO, NSO, IEO etc. These are national and international level Olympiads spanning across various subjects.
   2. KVPY: Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) is a national level fellowship programme in the field of Basic Sciences. This exam is conducted by IISc, Bangalore.