Pre-board exam

It copies the board paper: the same subject, the same kind of layout, a similar time. Think of it as a dress rehearsal. The school decides the dates, the paper and the marking.

Does the board run it?

No. The board knows schools hold them. A CBSE circular to schools of 9 December 2025 covered the section-wise answer books in Science and Social Science. It added that schools "can also include these instructions in the Pre-Board examinations". But CBSE does not set the pre-board paper, mark it or publish its results. Its Examination Bye-Laws, last updated in 2004, do not mention pre-boards at all.

Do pre-board marks count?

Not as pre-board marks. CBSE builds the result from two parts: the board exam and the school's internal assessment. The pre-board is not named as either. A school may use its own tests inside internal assessment, so ask the school how it uses them. In ICSE too, the school gives internal assessment marks, and they are added to the marks of the exam CISCE sets.

How to use the result

A pre-board is marked by your child's own teachers, not by board examiners. So read the answer sheet, not just the total. Find where each mark was lost and why. Why pre-board marks can differ from board marks compares the two kinds of marking. What to do after low pre-board marks is written for parents.

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.

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