CBSE Class 12 Board Exam Analysis: ‘Paper was easy, but lengthy’ 

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) scheduled the Class XII exams for 2025 to be conducted from February 15, 2025, to April 4, 2025, in the traditional pen-and-paper format. The exams opened with the subject of Entrepreneurship and will conclude with Psychology. The Board had also released the 2025 syllabus, outlining the critical chapters and topics that students must focus on.

The Board conducted the Class XII English exam on March 11, 2025. The three-hour exam commenced at 10:30 am and concluded at 1:30 pm, marking the completion of this year’s CBSE Board exams. Students were allotted 15 minutes, from 10:15 am to 10:30 am, to thoroughly review the question paper before beginning the test.

The Board had declared the date sheet in November last year. This year, approximately 44 lakh students from 26 countries appeared for the Board exams.

·         Format of the question paper: Maximum Marks: 80; Duration: 3 hours

·         The Question paper contains 13 questions.

·         All questions are compulsory. This Question paper is divided into three Sections – A, B, and C.

Section A: Reading skills was for 22 marks.

Section B: Creative writing skills was for 18 marks. There was internal choice for the students

Section C: Literature was for 40 marks. Again, there was an internal choice for the students

According to Ms Neha Agarwal, HoD, English, Apeejay International School, Greater Noida, everything in the question paper was from the CBSE syllabus.

“I found that the paper was comparatively easier than last year. I had the opportunity to glance at Set 1 and noticed that the internal choices provided in the questions were basic and easy to attempt from a student’s perspective. These changes made the paper more approachable and less stressful for examinees,” the educator said.

All questions were strictly based on the CBSE syllabus, ensuring that students were tested only on what they had studied. The exam featured a variety of question formats, including assertion and reasoning-based questions, case-based questions (CBQs), extract-based questions, short-answer questions, and a long-answer question.

Sharing the student feedback, Ms Agarwal said, “Despite its simplicity, the exam was lengthy. As expected from a language subject, students had to write extensively, making the paper more time-consuming compared to practical subjects. The exam included sections on advertisements and notices, adding to the overall length. But they were able to complete the paper within the allotted three hours. Overall, the exam was well-structured, covering all necessary components,” she added.