Class 10 Board Exams: Students appearing in the CBSE board exams in 2020 will now sit for an easier paper. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), in a tweet yesterday, said that the number of descriptive questions in class 10th question papers in many subjects have been reduced. Lesser number of descriptive questions imply that the paper will less lengthy and time-taking than it used to be.

The number of descriptive questions has been reduced for subjects like Hindi, English, Science, Mathematics, Social Science, Home Science, and Sanskrit.

“It is a necessity now that ‘assessment of learning’ must be augmented with ‘assessment as learning’ and ‘assessment for learning'”, said CBSE.

The change proposed the inclusion of objective questions in the question paper. A minimum of 25% questions was proposed to be objective in nature including multiple-choice questions.

At the beginning of this year, CBSE had announced some major changes in the assessment methods citing the gap between learning outcomes and assessment methods.

Subjective questions are to comprise 75% of the paper and the number of subjective questions are to be reduced to allow students time to think and write more creative answers ‘without stress’.

Class 10 Board Exams: Things to know



  • The new exam pattern will be two-leveled instead of a single 100-mark paper that was the norm for Class 10 students up until now.
  • An internal examination will be held in schools to determine whether a student can appear for the written exam.
  • This internal exam will carry 20 marks, and subsequently, the common CBSE written exam will be of 80 marks instead of the usual 100 marks.
  • The new pattern will apply to Mathematics, Hindi, Science, Social Science, Home Science, Sanskrit and English papers.
  • Only those students who pass the school-conducted internal exams will be qualified for the final written exams.

The board had implemented several changes in the board exams held this year as well. This included 33% internal options and subject-wise format

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has introduced two levels of examination for Class 10 students in 2020 to cater to different kinds of learners. The nomenclature for the two examinations will be – Standard, for the existing level of examination, and Basic, for the easier level, according to a circular issued by the CBSE.