State board examinations, variously referred to as Madhyamik, Secondary School Certificate (SSC), and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations, are conducted and managed by the education boards of different states in India. These examinations do not take place simultaneously across states due to differences in syllabi and examination schedules. They are generally held in February and March, with results usually declared in April or May. Students are required to apply for the examinations in November, providing personal details, subjects, and educational status. The examination timetable is released 40–60 days before the start of the examinations. Admit cards for regular candidates are distributed through schools or notified centres about 20–25 days before the commencement of the examination. At the Class 10 level, students typically appear for five core subjects:
English,
Hindi or another
regional language,
Mathematics,
Science, and
Social Studies. In state board examinations, the state language is usually compulsory. Students may also opt for an additional sixth subject, such as
Computer Science,
Information Technology,
Music,
Fine Arts,
Physical Education, or a foreign language. At the Class 12 level, students choose one of three streams—Science, Commerce, or Humanities. • Science stream focuses on natural sciences and mathematics. Core subjects include
English,
Physics, and
Chemistry, along with either
Biology or
Mathematics (or both). Schools may also offer vocational subjects such as
Computer science,
Information Technology,
Artificial Intelligence, Food Nutrition and Dietetics,
Biotechnology, and
Web Application. • Commerce stream is oriented towards business, management, administration, trade, and banking. Core subjects include
English,
Accountancy,
Economics, and
Business Studies. Vocational subjects offered by schools may include
Marketing,
Retail,
Taxation,
Banking,
Entrepreneurship,
Mathematics, and
Computer Science. • Humanities stream covers social sciences and liberal arts. Core subjects generally include
English,
History,
Geography,
Political Science, and
Economics (any two or more depending on school policy). Vocational subjects may include
Mass Media, Fashion Studies,
Legal Studies,
Psychology,
Tourism, Beauty and Wellness,
Home Science, Food Nutrition and Dietetics,
Fine Arts,
Sociology, and
Philosophy. In addition, Hindi may be offered either as a compulsory or optional subject, depending on the school. Certain subjects such as
Business Administration,
Economics,
Music,
Fine Arts,
Physical Education,
National Cadets Corps,
Geography,
Computer Science,
Information Technology,
Artificial Intelligence, and Foreign languages may be offered across all three streams. Examinations are handwritten, and are conducted simultaneously across each state to prevent question paper leaks. Security at examination centres is usually high. The examinations typically begin in February and conclude in March or April. Exams usually start at 10:30 a.m. IST and last for two to three hours. Question papers are distributed by the state boards and are closely guarded until the start of the exam. Multiple sets of question papers may be used. Admit cards (also known as hall tickets or exam passes) are generally issued 14–15 days before the examination. Private candidates are required to download their admit cards from the official website of the respective board. For the academic year 2024–25, CBSE released admit cards on 3 February 2025. Admit cards must be presented at the examination centre for verification, and candidates are checked for barred items. To ensure impartiality, examination centres are usually different from the student’s own school, and candidates must not reveal their identity on answer sheets except through the identity-masking roll number provided. Use of calculation aids other than logarithm tables, which are supplied by the examination centre, is prohibited. In May 2017, the Delhi High Court directed CBSE to follow the moderation policy, which delayed the announcement of results that year. Answer sheets are returned to the respective boards for evaluation. The
CBSE has 18 regional offices across India that coordinate evaluation and revaluation processes. Answer sheets are anonymised using a false roll number before being sent for evaluation, which is conducted on the basis of pre-set marking schemes and example answers. Identity numbers are later matched to the actual roll numbers of candidates to prevent examiner bias. Foreign answer sheets are sent to the Delhi East regional office. The Government of India has also proposed establishing a regional office in
Dubai,
United Arab Emirates to cater to the needs of non-resident Indians (NRIs). After evaluation, the boards issue official mark sheets and certificates of completion. While students usually only receive their final results, they can apply to obtain copies of their evaluated answer sheets or request revaluation upon payment of a fee. Results are declared both online and offline, although heavy traffic on result days often causes websites to slow down or crash. The CBSE Class 10 (AISSE) and Class 12 (AISSCE) results for the 2023–24 batch were declared on 13 May 2024. For the academic year 2024–25, the results were announced on 13 May 2025. ==See also==