Step marking

In a board paper, a long answer is split into steps. The marking scheme fixes the marks for each step. So a wrong final answer does not lose every mark. The steps before it can still earn their share.

A small example

Question 24 of CBSE's 2026-27 Maths Standard sample paper carries 2 marks. It asks for the area of a sector. The board's marking scheme splits it three ways:

• Half a mark for the radius, 14 cm, found from the diameter of 28 cm.
• 1 mark for the formula with the numbers put in.
• Half a mark for the answer line, 154 cm².

A slip in the last line still leaves 1.5 of the 2 marks. An answer with no working leaves the examiner no steps to give marks for.

CBSE and ICSE

CBSE's 2026 rules for examiners say an error should cost marks only once. That rule is called error carried forward. CBSE's 2021 handbook on assessment, a guide for people who set papers, says that quoting a formula alone is not usually enough. It has to be applied to the question.

CISCE does not print a mark for each step in its yearly reports. Its 2025 report on ICSE Maths still asks for "all steps of working". Our guide on how step marking splits a question's marks goes deeper, with more real examples.

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