CBSE Class 12 Board Exam 2025: ‘Read the question paper thoroughly for better comprehension’

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced that the Class XII board exams for 2025 will take place from February 15 to April 4, following the conventional pen-and-paper format. The exam schedule begins with Entrepreneurship and concludes with Psychology. Additionally, CBSE has published the official syllabus for 2025, highlighting essential topics and chapters for students to prioritise in their preparation. A thorough understanding of the exam pattern is vital, as it offers clarity on the marking scheme, question formats, and time allocation for each subject.

Ms Malini Sridhar, Middle School Coordinator and PGT Biology, Apeejay School, Pitampura, besides sharing the format of the Biology question paper that students must be familiar with, also shared a few mistakes that they need to avoid during the exam.

Format of the question paper

The question paper comprises five sections A, B, C, D, and E.

Section A: Comprises 16 objective-type questions, which include 14 MCQs and 4 assertion-reason questions. This section has source-based, diagram-based, graph-based, and information-based questions that have to be answered after analysing and interpreting the content. The strands of Assertion and Reason questions should be read very carefully, as slight misinterpretation might lead to wrong answers.

Section B: It has 5 questions of short answer type I of 2 marks each. One question has an internal choice.

Section C: Comprises 7 questions of shorter answer type II of 3 marks each. One question has an internal choice.

Section D: Comprises two sets of case-based questions of 4 marks each. This section has information on high-order thinking skills, which requires a thorough reading of the content, and it has to be correlated with the content learnt for precision in writing answers.

Section E: It has three questions of long answer type questions 5 marks each with internal choices in all three questions.

Study tips for the students

·         To answer the questions, it is mandatory to stick to NCERT Biology textbooks as they form the base of all questions.

·         Prepare flow charts for example Megasporogenesis, gametogenesis in humans, recombinant DNA technology, and Sewage Treatment to mention a few, for better understanding, which will help in fast revision

·         Practice drawing and labeling diagrams, as they carry significant weightage.

·         Prepare mind map notes of important concepts for revision, which will serve as a ready reckoner.

·         Carefully go through sample papers issued by CBSE and previous years’ question papers to understand exam patterns.

·         Answer section-wise, being mindful of time during the exam to ensure all questions are attempted. Attempt all sub-parts of a question together.

·         Ray diagrams or well-labelled diagrams can be drawn to complement your answers instead of writing elaborate answers, especially for questions on topics like Human Physiology, Plant Anatomy, and Genetics.

·         Write precisely and to the point; underline the keywords with a pencil.

·         Write point-wise or by using bullet points.

·         Avoid overwriting, especially the answers of MCQs to avoid confusion, and if time permits, write the correct strand.