English taught in Indian boards CBSE and CISCE

English taught in the Indian boards across the country primarily through schools where the medium of instruction is in English has created a wonderful opportunity for students to learn and speak the global standard for communication. While teaching any language it is important to revise the syllabus over time to keep up with the evolution of the language. Both the CBSE and the CISCE boards change and update the syllabus every few years with the aim of keeping teaching content fresh and stimulating for both teachers and students.

English in CBSE Class 10 and CBSE Class 12 examinations

The Central Board of Secondary Education (http://www.cbse.nic.in/) is the primary board governing education across India for all levels up to the higher secondary (Class 12) level. The aim is to have a standardised education level for students across the country. The English curriculum and level of competence expected in CBSE is of an intermediate to moderate level of difficulty. From an comparability perspective, students need to focus on the fundamentals to be successful in international English language examinations. The English Core paper for Class 12 is divided into a general English reading and writing skills test worth 60 marks out of 100 marks. The English Language and Literature paper for Class 10 carries 50 marks out of 80 for comprehension and grammar and writing skills.

English in ICSE and ISC examinations

Both the compulsory English papers in the class X level ICSE and the class XII level ISC examinations conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi (https://www.cisce.org) are of a moderate difficulty level. The ISCE and ISC English papers test both language and literature, and count towards a single mandatory subject used in the calculation of the final score of a student. From a practical perspective, the level of English taught at the ISCE and ISC levels is sufficient to support good scores at international level English language examinations. The ICSE and the ISC English papers are comparable to the UK GSCE O-Level (Ordinary-Level, taken at around 15-16 years of age) and the subsequent A-Level (Advanced-Level, taken at around 17-18 years of age).

Having taught English to students from both the CBSE and CISCE boards over the years, I have built up a repository of notes, example questions and sample question papers, which are available for use. While there is no substitute for classroom teaching, I hope the resources you have available on this website will help you practice and improve your English skills. The aim should not be to try and complete everything at one go, but to have a short practice session every day. I hope to put up new practice material, guides, tips and tricks every few weeks to help sustain the steady level of practice needed.

This website is arranged with separate sections junior classes and then board curriculum and examination pattern oriented sections for CBSE class 10, CBSE class 12, ICSE and ISC. The sections for the junior classes focus on the fundamentals with lots of practice materials. The board examination focused senior class sections contain material for general practice as well as complete practice papers. You are encouraged to first complete the practice sessions and then use the practice papers.

Disclaimers:

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi (http://www.cisce.org) and their copyrights and trademarks are their own.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (http://www.cbse.nic.in/) and their copyrights and trademarks are their own.

Copyright:

The copyright for all material on this website belongs to me. You may view this website and download and print material (including web pages, documents, files and images) from it for personal and individual use only. You are not permitted to republish, reuse, edit, copy, sell, sub-licence any portion of this website for any other use.

Affiliate links disclosure:

This website has links to 3rd party websites such as Amazon with recommendations for product purchase. I stand to earn a small advertising commission if you purchase items recommended. This helps me meet the expenses of preparing the material and running this website.