The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning to change its exam paper pattern for class X and XII exams from the year 2020, according to a Times of India report. As part of the revamp in the CBSE exam paper pattern, vocational subject tests will be held earlier – in February each year – and results will also be declared earlier, the report claims.

A senior HRD Ministry official has reportedly dished out details about the new exam pattern, which is said to test students on their analytical abilities. The new CBSE exam pattern will also focus less on rote learning.

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“The questions will be more in the nature of problem-solving. There will be more short questions (between 1 to 5 marks). The stress would be on probing the critical thinking abilities of students and test actual learning outcomes rather than allow students to score high marks by virtue of rote,” the HRD Ministry official reportedly said to the ToI.

And, citing HRD Ministry sources, the Times of India also reports that the CBSE is considering whether it should schedule its board exams in two parts: vocational and non-vocational subjects.

Since the number of students who opt for vocational subjects is considerably lower than the number of students who select non-vocational subjects, vocational exams could be conducted in February. This means that exams for other subjects can be completed in around 15 days in March, as per the report.