The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations will conduct board exams for classes 10 and 12 from May 5 and April 8 respectively, officials announced on Monday. The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), which is a class 10 exam, will be conducted from May 5 to June 7. The Indian School Certificate Examination (ISC), which is a class 12 exam, will be conducted from April 8 to June 16.
The class 12 exams will begin with Computer Science (Practical)-Planning Session, which will be a 90-minutes paper, instead of three hours time scheduled for other subjects starting April 9.
Here are three things to know for students appearing for the ICSE board exams this year.
Results in July
Results will be issued through the convenors to the heads of schools by July. “The results will not be available from the office of council in New Delhi and no queries will be entertained from candidates, parents or guardians,” said Gerry Arathoon, CICSE's Chief Executive and Secretary.
Reverification and second attempt
"Applications for recheck of answer scripts must be submitted online and must be received by the Council's office not later than seven days from the day of declaration of the ISC Year 2021 Examination results," Arathoon said.
Those willing to reappear for the examinations in 2022, or candidates who will have to appear for a compartmental examination (a second attempt in case of students who failed the first time) also need to fill up their applications online, he added.
COVID-19 protocol
The council also issued a set of protocols to be followed at examination centres to ensure safety from the coronavirus, including maintaining physical distance, as well as mandatory use of face mask and hand sanitiser.
It instructed students to arrive early at the examination centre to "ensure staggered movement and smooth entry into the school, to avoid overcrowding".
Sharing of food, water and stationery supplies would be prohibited.
Usually, the CICSE board exams are conducted in February-March. However, the exams have been delayed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the CICSE had to cancel its pending exams because of the spike in COVID-19 cases and the result was announced on the basis of an alternative assessment scheme decided by the board.
As per the scheme, candidates were assessed based on the best three percentage marks obtained in subjects for which board exams were conducted and the marks of their internal assessment as well as project work was taken into account.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which conducts board exams around the same time every year, has also deferred its exams to May-June this year. Practical exams for CBSE students appearing for board exams began March 1.
For class 12 students in ICSE board, the date and time for practical examinations of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Biotechnology, Indian Music (Hindustani), Fashion Designing, Physical Education, Computer Science (Examination Session) and Home Science (Examination Session), will be provided by the school concerned.
(With PTI inputs)