Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (abbreviated as CISCE) is a national level, private Board of School education in India.

• ICSE conducts the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and the Indian School Certificate (ISC) examinations for Class X and Class XII respectively
• It was established in 1958
• Before 1986, it was affiliated to the French Board Examination, a fact that gives it great credibility among foreign schools and universities
• ICSE and ISC exams are known for their extensive and voluminous syllabus
• Since the course structure lays heavy importance on giving equal attention to each subjects it demands that students develop an in-depth understanding and dedicate equal time to each of these subjects, including humanities

1. The School must obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the state government for affiliation of the school to the council.
2. The school should be run by a registered society, trust or company registered under Section 25 (1)(a) of the Companies Act, 1956 and one of the principal purposes of the society, trust or company must be educational.
3. Each school must have a properly constituted governing body and managing committee.
4. The society, trust or company must be financially stable.
5. The medium of instruction in the school must be English and the scheme of studies must be in accordance with the scheme laid down by the council for secondary and higher secondary stages.
6. The staff must be qualified and trained in accordance with the qualifications prescribed by the council.
7. There should be a compulsory provident fund scheme.
8. The school infrastructure should be adequate for accommodating the numbers and gender of pupils attending the school.
9. The playing fields and/or other facilities for extra-curricular and co-curricular activities must be adequate.
10. 10. The equipment should be adequate to enable all subjects to be taught efficiently and must include apparatus for practical work.
11. The number of working days and hours should conform to those prescribed by the council from time to time.
12. The Certificate of Land is a mandatory document to be submitted electronically in a prescribed format for provisional affiliation.

Apply for affiliation online and know more about it in detail.

The council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations conducts three examinations, namely, the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE – Class X); The Indian School Certificate (ISC – Class XII) and the Certificate in Vocational Education (CVE - Year 12).

The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education has been designed to provide an examination in a course of general education, in accordance with the recommendations of the New Education Policy, 1986, in English. Private candidates are not permitted to appear for this examination.

The Indian School Certificate Examination is an examination, in English, designed in accordance with the recommendations of the New Education Policy 1986, after a two-year course of studies beyond the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (Year 10) examination or its equivalent examination.

The Certificate of Vocational Education Examination (CVE - 12) has been created as an examination in accordance with the recommendations of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) through the Joint Council of Vocational Education (JCVE) established under the National Policy of Education, 1986. This examination can be taken by candidates after a two year course of studies beyond the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (Year 10) examination or its equivalent examination, in English.

• 01. English – I (2 hours)

  There will be 4 broad questions. First is a composition of 450 to 500 words, second is a letter, third is an unseen passage and related questions and fourth would be a question to test your grammar. In essay and letter section you are given a choice.

• 02. English – II (2 hours)
  • Section A: 2 questions from As You Like It.
  • Section B: 2 questions from Golden Lyre.
  • Section C: 2 questions from Treasure Trove Of short stories.
• 03. Maths (2 ½ hours)
  • Section A: 4 questions of 10 marks each = 40 marks.
  • Section B: 7 questions out of which 4 are to be solved for obtaining 40 marks.
• 04. Hindi (3 hours)

  First section deals with Hindi Language. It has 3 major parts:

  1. Essay of around 250 words
  2. Letter
  3. Unseen passage

• 05. Physics (1.5 hours)
  • Section A: Short compulsory questions worth 40 marks.
  • Section B: 6 questions out of which any 4 are to be solved worth 40 marks.
• 06. Chemistry (1.5 hours)
  • Section A: Short compulsory questions worth 40 marks.
  • Section B: 6 questions out of which any 4 are to be solved worth 40 marks.
• 07. Biology (1.5 hours)
  • Section A: Short compulsory questions worth 40 marks.
  • Section B: 6 questions out of which any 4 are to be solved worth 40 marks.
• 08. History and Civics (2 hours)
  • Section A: The first part deals with small answer type questions from civics part (10 marks).
    The second part deals with small answer type questions from history part (20 marks).
  • Section B: The first part has 3 long answer type questions from civics out of which any 2 are to be solved (20 marks).
    The second part has 5 long answer type questions from history out of which any 3 are to be solved (30 marks).
• 09.Geography (2 hours)

  The First part has 2 questions:

  1. Map of India (10 marks).
  2. Survey map and its interpretation (20 marks).

  The Second part has 9 questions out of which 5 are to be solved (50 marks). (Each question deals with a single chapter or has a combination of maximum 2 chapters).

• 10. Computer(2 hours)

  The first section has short answer type questions worth 40 marks and the second section deals with program writing (worth 60 marks).

• 11. E.V.S (2 hours)

  The first part has 4 compulsory questions and second part has 5 long answer type questions out of which any 4 are to be solved.

• The ISC board exams are conducted as Class 12 board exams
• You are eligible for ISC board exams only if you have cleared your Class 10 board exams (or the ICSE board exams).Like ICSE exam, private students are not allowed to sit for ISC exam too
• You can choose from their subjects from a wide range of streams such as biology, fashion design, biology and more
• ISC exam results are acceptable by many countries worldwide
• According to the ISC exam pattern, you must achieve pass marks in four or more subjects of their choice
• You also need to achieve pass marks in social productive work and community service, which are assessed internally by your school

You can find sample question papers for your reference.

The marking scheme of ICSE is given below. Group 1 is compulsory but you can select any 2 subjects from group 2 and any 1 subject from group 3.

The grading system for ISC is far more uniform for all subjects as compared to ICSE

• The marking scheme in both written and practical segment of Computer Science, Fashion Designing, Physical Education, Indian Classical Music (Hindustani), Indian Classical Music (Carnatic style) and Western Music have 70 % (theory) – 30 % (practical) weightage scheme.
• The duration of both theory and practical examinations would be three hours each

Focus and hard work are the key to cracking the exams and olympiads. However, all subjects require some special and specific tips. Take a look at some of these below

• English: Focus on grammar and writing sections, as these are the sections where students tend to lose maximum marks. Practice writing sections and practice papers along with grammar questions such as editing paragraphs. These require intensive practice.
• Mathematics: Stick to concept building first. Be thorough with your textbooks and only then move to R.S. Aggarwal books for Olympiads' preparation. Its conceptual question will help you build a strong base.
• Science: These are the formative years and hence you should pay attention to chapters relating to Physics and chemistry. Since Biology is mostly theoretical at this stage, it doesn't require much practice. For Physics and Chemistry, make sure you understand all the concepts well, and solve numericals if any.
• Social Science: Contrary to common belief, don’t mug up social science. The concept matter will be so much clearer to you once you try to understand how the government works, or what happened during the independence period in India. Understanding the subject will give you less to swallow and you will retain more during the exams. Plus, you will be able to relate it to current events and pinpoint historical trends.
• Hindi: This subject is very scoring, but demands writing practice. Collect several practice papers and make sure you practice till you are thorough.

Overall, you can find some very helpful tips right here that will help you prepare for your board examinations!

ICSE Board only specifies the syllabus to be covered during the academic year. It does not recommend any particular publication as a standard textbook for any subject except for languages. The recommendation of the textbooks to be referred differs from school to school. However, the most common publications used in various schools are:

• Class 10
• Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Biology and others
1. Selina Publications
2. CISCE

• Class 12
• Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Biology and others
1. Nageen Prakashan Publications: ISC Biology by Prof. V. Singh and Dr. D.K. Jain
2. S.Chand Publications: ISC Mathematics by O.P. Malhotra, S.K. Gupta and Anubhuti Gangal
3. CISCE

Solving sample papers is equally important as solving previous years' papers. Not only does it give you an idea of the question pattern but also prepares you for questions which have never been asked in the actual examinations. You can read all about the importance of solving sample papers over here!

You must consult your teachers, seniors, and friends for advice before you decide which sample paper to follow.

Previous years' papers are important to practice because they help you simulate the real exam. Make sure that you practice more and more so that you can memorise all the formulae and solve problems easily on the day of the exam.

The process of preparing for an entrance exam requires a rigorous amount of practice, concept-building, problem solving and error rectification. This complete cycle is so delicate that there is absolutely no room for wrong decisions and choices. The textbooks are best known for their simplicity and putting out concepts as they are without diving deep into more complex theories.

Solutions to all the textbooks prescribed by the board are available over the internet. Just be careful about referring to only the right ones.