As the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Board exams have begun, students naturally have questions about exam methodologies, scoring patterns, and the best way to answer various types of questions.

CBSE Controller of Examinations Sanyam Bhardwaj, in conversation with The Indian Express, offers specific instructions to address these problems.

For instance, he says that students would be awarded partial marks if they get the answer to a mathematics question wrong, but apply the formulae, method, or the desired steps correctly.

“Showing the steps clearly is important. If you write the formula and attempt the subsequent steps (even if you make mistakes in calculation), you could earn partial credit for the effort. Just writing a formula isn’t enough to earn marks,” he explains.

Further, Bharadwaj advises students to stick to the word limits for 10-mark questions. “While marks are not deducted for exceeding the limit, no extra marks will be awarded either. So, there’s no benefit to writing more. Think carefully before writing your answer, keeping the value points in mind,” he says.

In addition, he says that students must be aware of when to use specific quotes from the text for passage-based questions. “While marks are not deducted for exceeding the limit, no extra marks will be awarded either. So, there’s no benefit to writing more. Think carefully before writing your answer, keeping the value points in mind,” he said.

He added that students can also rephrase or paraphrase the passages in some answers, as it displays their reading comprehension, analytical and understanding abilities.