Decoded: CBSE’s revised exam scheme for 2022 exams

In light of the cancellation of 2021 board exams for classes 10 and 12 due to the COVID crisis, CBSE has announced a new scheme for conducting exams and assessments for the 2021-2022 batch. The syllabus for the new academic year will be rationalised on the lines of what was done in the last year, and split in half across two terms. Instead of one culminating exam at the end of the year, the academic session has been bifurcated into two terms. The Board will conduct exams at the end of each term. 

Term I  
The exams for the first term will be held around November-December in 2021 following a flexible schedule with a window period of 4-8 weeks for schools situated in different parts of country. These exams will have a Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) pattern. The duration will be 90 minutes. 

Term II 
These end of year exams will be covering the second half of the rationalised syllabus and be held in March-April of 2022 at the examination centres fixed by the Board. They will span through 2 hours with questions in different formats if the conditions allow. Otherwise, Term II exams will also be 90-minute MCQ papers. 

Exam Assessment 
The Board has described four scenarios considering the variability of the conditions over the span of the following year and how that will affect the assessment of the exams. 

• If both the term examinations can be held at centres, they will carry equal marks and weightage for theory questions. 
• If Term I exams are shifted to online mode or offline-but-from-home mode, while Term II exams are held at centres, the weightage of Term I exam for the final score would be reduced, and weightage of Term II exams will be increased for declaration of final result. 
• If the Term I exams are held in school but conditions don’t allow for Term II exams to be held at centres, results would be based on the performance of students on Term I MCQ-based examination and internal assessments. The weightage of marks of Term I examination will be increased to provide year-end results. 
• If neither of the exams can be held offline at schools and centres, the results will be based on the analysis of internal assessments and practicals. The theory marks from term exams taken from home will be subject to moderation or other measures to ensure validity and reliability of the assessment. 

Internal assessments and student’s profile 
In case the fourth scenario comes into play, the focus will increase on internal assessments and practicals. The Board has stated that for classes 9 and 10, three periodic tests in addition to student enrichment, portfolio and practical work/ speaking listening activities/ project will be carried out throughout the year, irrespective of the term exams. For classes 11 and 12, the internal assessment would include end of topic tests or unit tests/ exploratory activities/ practicals/ projects. 

To keep track of these assessments and activities, schools will maintain student profile over the year on the CBSE IT platform. Detailed guidelines for internal assessment for all subjects will also be released along with the rationalized term-wise divided syllabus for the session 2021-22