Best of five subjects
Best of five is a percentage worked out from five of a student's subject marks, chosen by the college or school admitting them, not by CBSE.
A CBSE Class 10 mark sheet shows marks and a grade for each subject. It does not show a total, a percentage or a division. CBSE said so in a notice of 30 November 2023.
"No overall division/distinction/aggregate shall be awarded."
The same CBSE notice on calculating percentage covers a student with more than five subjects. The college, school or employer that needs a percentage decides which five subjects count. It also does the sum.
A small example
Say your child has six subjects: 82, 75, 90, 88, 79 and 95. The lowest is 75. Leave it out and add the other five: 434 out of 500. That is 86.8%. A school admitting your child to Class 11 may use a sum like this. Its own rule decides which subjects may be left out, so read its admission notice.
Not the same as passing
Best of five is about a percentage, not about passing. Passing has its own rules - see passing marks. There, an optional extra subject can take the place of Science, Maths or Social Science if one is not passed. CBSE's scheme adds conditions about the languages studied. What the passing rules actually say explains that rule.
Sources
Facts last checked against these sources on 30 September 2026.
About the author
Chief Architect
An engineer (B.Tech, Computer Science) with over 20 years of preparing students for entrance exams, including as Dean at FIITJEE and Vice-President at Aakash. He is the chief architect of the TRUpreBoards evaluation engine.
Mohit Sardana on LinkedIn