Examiner and head examiner

In CBSE, the person who marks a Class 10 paper is a teacher of that subject. The rules are in CBSE's Examination Bye-Laws, from 1995 and last updated in 2004. Under them, a Class 10 examiner must hold a degree in the subject. They need at least three years of teaching. They must teach the subject now, or be a retired teacher under 65. Nobody may examine two subjects at the same time. CBSE's circular of 17 September 2026 on exam forms still tells schools to follow these Bye-Laws.

What does a head examiner do?

Under the same Bye-Laws, a head examiner leads a group of ten to fifteen examiners. This is a senior person, such as a principal or a senior teacher. Their job is to keep the marking the same across the group. The Bye-Laws add an additional head examiner if more than five examiners mark on a day.

CBSE's 2026 marking schemes ask the head examiner to read the first five answer books each examiner marks on day one. Examiners get the rest only when there is no large gap in marking.

What does the examiner see?

A coded answer book, not a name. That is anonymous marking. The marks come from the marking scheme, step by step. Our post on how your answer sheet is actually checked follows the full path.

Examiners in ICSE

CISCE uses examiners too. Its yearly reports on ICSE papers print the "Comments of Examiners" on each question. Those comments show what the examiners saw in real answers. Two examiners can still read one answer a little differently, as why two examiners can give different marks explains.

About the author

Mohit Sardana

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