No more selective study importance to be given to five subjects, ISC pupils told
Telegraph | 2 December 2025
Several ISC (Class XII) schools are instructing Class XI students to give equal attention to all five subjects instead of emphasising only four.
The Class XI students who will write their boards in 2027 will be the first batch that will have to pass in English and four subjects to clear the ISC exams.
Till 2026, students will have to pass in English and three subjects.
Schools are also making changes to their internal exams because the pass and promotion criteria for Class XI will change in accordance with the rules of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE).
"We have made the change in our half-yearly examination because the promotion is based on the consolidated score of both the half-yearly and final examination. This will be applicable from the 2027 board examination, but we have to prepare them from Class XI," said Terence John, director of education and development, Julien Day Schools.
"We are telling them not to take any subject lightly because it might impact their percentage," said John.
Many schools would insist that students take up six subjects instead of four or five till last year.
"Earlier, students had the liberty of excluding two subjects when their percentage would be calculated, but now it is only one, and that too when they have taken six subjects," said John.
The batch of 2027 will also be the first to appear for applied math and modern English. The council gave schools the option for students to choose applied maths instead of mathematics and modern English instead of English.
With English plus four subjects to pass, there shall be no scope for "selective study," schools are telling students.
"Students were a little apprehensive because they felt they had to study a little more. Earlier, they could have gone for a selective study and focused more on three subjects besides English. But now we have been telling them that they have to distribute their attention equally on all four subjects besides English," said Tapashi Sengupta, principal, Shaw Public School.
The tendency to pick and choose is more pronounced among science students.
"Students in the science stream would concentrate more on three papers. But they cannot do so anymore, and we are telling them that. In fact, with more higher-order thinking questions in the board exams, students will have to be thorough with the text and cannot afford to do selective study," said Keya Sinha, director (academic), National Gems Higher Secondary School.
"We have encouraged students to take up six subjects instead of five. In science, about 70 per cent of students have opted for six subjects," said Anil Jha, academic coordinator (Class XI and XII) of The Heritage School.