CBSE to Conduct of Optional Proficiency Test for Class-X

As a part of ongoing examination reforms, the Board has initiated series of measures related to strengthening of school education and aligning the assessment practices with
international standards. One such measure relates to conduct of Proficiency Test at the end of Class-X in all the five main subjects from next year. The related information has already been included in Board’s earlier circulars No.39, 40 dated September, 2009 on Scheme of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation and Grading system.

Broad objectives of the test

The proposed Proficiency Test is being conducted with the broad objectives of :

• acting as a benchmark in testing of skills and higher mental abilities of students
• providing motivation to students for academic excellence in the respective subject
• providing feedback to students and parents on how well the students have achieved the desired learning objectives.
• providing feedback to schools on levels of learning of their students and setting goals, priorities and targets in their future educational plan.

Specific objectives

Some of the specific objectives of the proposed test include assessing students;

• abilities and skills to apply concepts and principles of the subject to everyday life situations.
• abilities to apply understanding of concepts to interpret data, diagrams, maps, graph etc.
• skills to create and devise methods for solving subject related problems.
• abilities to analyse, synthesise and evaluate a given situation on the basis of learning in the subject.

What is a Proficiency Test?

A proficiency Test measures an individual’s abilities and skills in a domain or subject to know how well he/she has learned, understood and internalised the related concepts and principles. Such a test in language e.g may assess a student’s skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking or vocabulary. Similarly a test in Science may focus on assessing students’ abilities to apply concepts and principles to analyse a given situation, solve a given problem and conduct practical work efficiently. A test in Mathematics may similarly assess problem solving abilities and skills of mathematical thinking, mathematical reasoning and procedural techniques followed by students. Thus, the proposed Proficiency Test will mainly focus on assessing students’ abilities and skills to apply knowledge and understanding of any subject to new and unfamiliar everyday life situations.

The core testing element of such a test will include observing, comparing, classifying, solving, translating, interpreting, analyzing, synthesising, creating, composing, deducing, justifying and judging/evaluating.

General Features of the Test

• It will be optional in nature. Only those students who wish to take this test willingly may appear.
• There will be separate test in each of the five main subjects viz English, Hindi, Social Science, Mathematics and Science.
• A student may appear in one or more subject (s) according to his/her choice. One test will be held on a single day.
• It will be a paper-pen test to be administered on the same day across all willing schools in the country.
• The proposed test is likely to be conducted in the month of May/June next year (2011).The exact schedule will be notified later.
• Students wishing to appear in the test will have to pay separate examination fee for the same. This fee is likely to be in the range of Rs.500/- to Rs.1000/- for all
• the subjects. The schools will be informed about the exact amount of fee and its submission mode at a later stage.
• Any student studying in Secondary or Senior secondary school affiliated to CBSE and has appeared in Class-X final examination (School conducted or Board
• conducted ) is eligible for this test.
• Students appearing in the test will be issued a joint certificate by CBSE and the collaborating agency indicating percentile rank.

Design of the Question Paper

• The duration of the test in every subject will be 2½ hours.
• Question paper in every subject will carry 100 marks
• All questions will be of multiple choice type with only single correct answer.
• The test will be based on classes IX-X syllabus in the subject prescribed by CBSE
• The typology of questions will be different from the type of questions asked in conventional final examination conducted by the Board at the end of Class-X. The test will not include any direct recall, information-based or memory –based questions. It will only include questions to assess students’ skills and abilities to apply understanding of concepts to analyse a given situation or an unfamiliar everyday life problem.
• The total number of questions may vary from one subject to another.
• The questions included in the question paper will be of varying difficulty level.
• Negative marks will be awarded for wrong answers

The willing schools will be required to submit the related information to the CBSE Board in advance through online filling up of the registration form available on CBSE website
www.cbse.nic.in under CCE corner. The last date for submitting the online information is October 31, 2010.