Mock test

"Mock test" is an everyday name, not a board term. It can be taken at home, with a tutor or online. A pre-board exam is a kind of mock that the school itself sets and marks.

Do mock test marks count?

Not as mock marks. CBSE's Secondary Curriculum for 2026-27 builds the result from two parts: the board exam and the school's internal assessment. A mock at home or with a tutor is not either part. A school may use its own tests inside internal assessment, so ask the school. A mock test is practice, and its value is in what it shows.

What makes a useful mock test?

• The board's own paper. CBSE's sample papers are released to support "effective preparation". CISCE calls its ICSE specimen paper "a practice tool".
• The real time limit. The 2026-27 Maths Standard sample paper is 80 marks in 3 hours.
• Marking against the marking scheme, step by step, not against an answer key.

Here is why the last point matters. Say a 3-mark answer ends on a wrong number. An answer key gives it nothing. The marking scheme may still give marks for the correct steps before the slip. That tells you whether to work on method or on care.

Read the marked paper for where each mark went. What a pre-board exam is, and whether it counts explains how to use a practice result.

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