CBSE full form: Central Board of Secondary Education

How to say it: letter by letter.

CBSE stands for Central Board of Secondary Education. It is a national-level board of school education in India, working under the Ministry of Education of the Government of India, with its head office in New Delhi.

What CBSE does

• It affiliates schools. Thousands of schools in India, and Indian schools in other countries, follow its scheme. They include the Kendriya Vidyalayas and the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas as well as many private schools.
• It lays down the curriculum for classes 9 to 12 and publishes the syllabus for each subject every year.
• It conducts two public examinations: the Secondary School Examination at the end of class 10 and the Senior School Certificate Examination at the end of class 12.
• It also conducts the Central Teacher Eligibility Test, CTET.

CBSE and NCERT are different

Students often mix up the two. NCERT, the National Council of Educational Research and Training, writes textbooks and the curriculum framework. CBSE is the board that affiliates schools and holds the examinations. CBSE schools mostly use NCERT textbooks, which is why the two names appear together.

CBSE and other boards

India has several kinds of school board. CBSE and CISCE (which holds the ICSE and ISC examinations) are national boards. Each state also has its own board, such as the Punjab School Education Board or the Maharashtra State Board. NIOS is the national open school. A class 10 or 12 certificate from any recognised board is valid for admission to colleges across the country.

Where to find official information

The syllabus, sample papers, date sheets and results are published on the board's own websites. Always take dates, pass rules and the current syllabus from there and not from memory or forwarded messages, because they are revised from year to year.

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All school, boards and exams Next: NEET explained

Check what matters. These pages explain names and terms in general. Rules, dates, fees and limits change: take them from the official body. Read on 12 November 2026.