FAQ: How Will ICSE and ISC Calculate Marks for Board Exam Results?

ICSE will combine scores obtained in three best board papers with internal assessment to mark pending papers. 

(Photo: Arnica Kala/The Quint)

It’s confirmed – results of Class 10 ICSE and Class 12 ISC examinations will be declared at 3 pm on Friday, 10 July.

Days earlier, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) revealed a methodology, devised by statisticians, to calculate the results for the ICSE and ISC board examinations.

Under the new system, students will be marked for pending papers on the basis the average of the best three papers for which exams have been conducted, in combination with existing internal assessment of subjects for which exams have not been conducted.

How will the average of best three subjects be calculated?

Let’s assume that a student has scored 75, 70 and 80 in subject A, B and C. So, the average would be calculated by adding the three scores and then dividing it by the total number of subjects.

Hence, in this case average would be (75+70+80)/3= 75. In this example, the average marks of the best three board papers would be 75 out of 80.

How is the weighted average going to be calculated?

As mentioned earlier, usually, out of a total score of 100, the weightage given to board papers and internal assessment stand at 80 and 20 percent, respectively.

However, in this special methodology, ICSE has decided that the percentage of the remaining board papers will be calculated through ‘predicted percentage board marks in the paper’.

How will the ‘predicted percentage board marks in the paper’ be calculated?

• If 75 is the average from best three subjects, it would be reduced to a weightage of 70 percent in the following way: 0.7 × 75 × (100/80)
• Similarly, if the marks obtained in internal assessment is 19 out of 20, it would be increased to a weightage of 30 in the following way: 0.3 × 19 × (100/20)
• Hence, ‘predicted percentage board marks in the paper’ = 0.7 × 75 × (100/80) + 0.3 × 19 × (100/20) = 94.125
• Since, ICSE wants to bring the ‘predicted percentage board marks in the paper’ to out of ‘80’, the predicted board marks in the paper would be calculated as: 94.125 × 0.8 = 75.3
• Final marks in the paper would be calculated as = 75.3 (predicted board marks out of 80) + 19 (internal assessment of the paper out of 20) = 94.3

What about students who have appeared in three or less papers?

For candidates who have appeared in three papers, take the best two, and for candidates who have appeared for two papers, take the better one. For a candidate who has appeared in only one paper, that paper can be considered.

How will pending ISC papers be graded?

In ISC, too, the best of three subjects will be combined with internal assessment to mark papers for which exams have not been conducted.

For the subjects Geography, Sociology, Psychology, Biology and Home Science, the board marks are out of 70, and hence the weightage for board marks should be 0.7. For the subject Business Studies, the board marks are out of 80, and hence the weightage for board marks should be 0.8.

Assuming that a student’s best of three average is 65 out of 70 and internal assessment for the pending paper is 28 out of 30, here’s how his score in the pending paper would be calculated:

• Predicted percentage board marks in the subject = 0.7 × 65 × (100/70) + 0.3 × 28 × (100/30) = 93
• Predicted board marks in the subject = 93 × 0.7 = 65.1
• Final marks in the subject = 65.1 + 28 = 93.1