Change in question pattern pulls up CBSE Class 10 grades
Times of India | 14 May 2025
123 Kolkata: For students who had appeared for their CBSE Class 10 exams, half the questions were competency-based and higher-order-thinking. Principals at several institutes in the city pointed out that the change in the question pattern and the gradual shift towards analytical questionshelped board candidates perform better. From Bengal, 41,711 students appeared for the Class 10 exams. Of them, 39,595 students or 94.9% cleared the boards, registering a higher pass-percentage than the national figure of 93.7%. Girls outperformed boys, with 2% more girls succeeding than boys. Among the high-scorers were Siddhant Pal from The Newtown School, who secured 499 out of 500 (99.8%), Angel Agarwal from the same school, who secured 498 out of 500 (99.6%) and Ainesh Banerjee from DPS Ruby Park, who also scored 498 (99.6%).CBSE has been increasing the weightage ofcompetency-based questions, and this time, half the total number of questions were such. "It is helping those who can apply their knowledge and can think critically. They can go for a blended curriculum, which is making them future-ready," said The Newtown School principal Satabdi BattacharjeeDPS Ruby Park principal Joyoti Chaudhuri said, "Among 467 Class 10 students, 312 scored above 90%. This remarkable feat was matched by the stupendous result of Class 12 students.Among 894 Class 12 students, 273 scored 90% and above. The academic achievement is a testament to their hard work, competency-based learning and regular assessment." Several principals reiterated that the shift from rote learning to analysis-based learning had been helping students think before writing answers. Angel from The Newtown School said, "I believe in conceptual learning—memorization just doesn't work. I completed my syllabus by July and kept revising after that."At Abhinav Bharati, among the 67 Class 10 exam candidates, 14 scored above 90%. At South Point High School, 741 students appeared for the exam, and 311 scored above 90%. At Sushila Birla Girls School, 114 students appeared for the exam, among of whom 66 scored above 90%. A total of 715 students appeared for the exam from BDM International School, and 246 scored 90% or above.A near similar trend of students scoring higher after changed question patterns was witnessed in ICSE exams, too. The CISCE Class 10 students had to answer 25% questions in the critical-thinking format (up from 10% last time).Bengal has 435 ICSE schools. In the ICSE exams, 43,784 students appeared from Bengal, and 98.8% of them cleared the exams. While CBSE and ICSE gained from the question paper rejig, Madhyamik, which did not make many changes, saw a comparatively lower pass percentage. This year, Madhyamik pass percentage was 86.6, slightly higher than last year's 86.4.