For the upcoming Board examinations 2025, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will reduce the syllabus by 10-15 per cent across all subjects for both Classes X and XII, as per a report by Money Control.
The CBSE has taken this decision as part of its ongoing efforts to ease academic pressure.
Along with this, several other key changes are expected in the upcoming Board examinations.
These changes, including syllabus reductions, alterations to the assessment structure, and the introduction of new exam formats, were announced by Vikas Kumar Agrawal, CBSE Regional Officer for Bhopal, at the Bridging the Gap principals' summit in Indore.
Agrawal explained that the revised syllabus aims to facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of subjects, enabling students to engage with the material in a more meaningful way.
"The goal is to ensure that students gain a thorough understanding of essential topics, which will ultimately lead to better learning outcomes," he said.
Changes to assessment pattern
In addition to the syllabus reduction, the assessment structure for the 2025 exams will undergo significant changes. Internal assessments will now account for 40 per cent of the final grade, with the remaining 60 per cent based on the final written exams.
This shift aims to support continuous learning and provide students with more opportunities to showcase their understanding over the course of the academic year.
The internal assessments will include projects, assignments, and periodic tests, offering a broader and more holistic evaluation of students' progress.
Another important development is the continued use of digital assessment systems for evaluating answer sheets in certain subjects. This initiative, which CBSE began implementing recently, is intended to enhance the efficiency and transparency of the evaluation process.
Open-book exams
Furthermore, CBSE will experiment with an open-book exam format for select subjects in 2025, including English Literature and Social Science.
This new approach will allow students to refer to their textbooks during the exam, encouraging critical thinking and application-based learning. Rather than simply testing memory recall, the open-book exams will assess students' ability to analyse, interpret, and apply knowledge — skills that are essential for real-world problem-solving.
