CBSE will Administer Open-Book Examinations for Six Subjects of Classes 9th and 11th

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has launched a pilot program involving an open-book examination for students in Classes IX and XI. The open-book examination approach for many courses throughout Classes IX to XII was first accepted by the board’s governing body during a meeting in December, which led to this decision.

As per the CBSE pilot document, the goal is to evaluate several features of this assessment system. These include determining how long it takes students to finish the exam, whether it is appropriate for both formative and summative purposes, and getting feedback from stakeholders.

Subjects including English, Science, and Mathematics for Classes IX and X, and English, Mathematics, and Biology for Classes XI and XII, were initially supposed to be covered in the pilot. Now, though, the pilot’s scope has been more focused.

The board secretary, Himanshu Gupta, explained the existing arrangement: “It has been determined to run the pilot program for open-book examinations exclusively for Classes IX and XI. For Classes X and XII, there won’t be any open-book exams in the next academic year. The trial program will launch in a few schools this year, with a larger rollout scheduled for the 2025–2026 school year.”

The goal, as Gupta underlined, is to move toward competency-based evaluation. “To promote critical thinking over memorization, we have begun giving these questions more weight in recent years. The ultimate objective is to have approximately 50% of the assessments for Classes X and XII consist of competency-based questions.”

Open-book exams represent a major shift from conventional assessment procedures, with the goal of encouraging students to apply and comprehend material more deeply. This project is a reflection of ongoing efforts made by educational institutions to update their evaluation procedures to better align with changing educational objectives.

The effectiveness of the pilot program will be evaluated, and feedback from parents, teachers, and students will be gathered. The results of this pilot could have an impact on future assessment plans across the country as CBSE looks into new educational initiatives.

This action by CBSE highlights a larger trend toward redefining evaluations in education to better prepare students for problems outside of the classroom by highlighting abilities that are becoming more and more important in the quickly changing world of today.

As CBSE moves forward with its pilot program for open-book exams, stay tuned for further information.