Value points

CBSE's instructions to examiners for the 2026 board exams say marking must follow the "value points for each answer as given in the Marking Scheme". The 2026 schemes print the marks beside each point. CBSE's Examination Bye-Laws, from 1995 and last updated in 2004, set out the same idea. So a 3-mark answer is not marked as one block. Each point you make can earn its part.

An example from Science

Question 16(B) of CBSE's 2026-27 Science sample paper asks about breathing in. Naming it earns 1 mark. Then four points earn half a mark each:

• The ribs are lifted.
• The diaphragm flattens.
• The chest gets bigger.
• Air is drawn in.

Leave one point out, and that half mark is lost. The rest of the answer still earns its marks. In Maths, the same idea shows up as step marking.

Do the exact words matter?

No. The instructions on CBSE's 2026 board schemes call them "suggested value points". They say students "can have their own expression". If the meaning is correct, the examiner should give the marks. CISCE's yearly reports on ICSE papers also print a marking scheme for each question.

Our guide to what a CBSE marking scheme contains shows how to find the value points for any subject.

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