CBSE pass marks, grades and compartment

What the CBSE Examination Bye-laws say about passing, grades and compartment, as published on the Board's website. We read them on 12 November 2026.

Pass marks: 33% in each subject

The chapter "Scheme of Examinations and Pass Criteria" of the bye-laws states that the qualifying marks in each subject of external examination shall be 33% at the Secondary (class 10) and Senior School Certificate (class 12) examinations. To be declared as having passed, a candidate must obtain a grade higher than E, that is at least 33% marks, in all five subjects of external examination.

Class 12: theory and practical separately

For the Senior School Certificate Examination the bye-laws add a condition. In a subject involving practical work, a candidate must obtain 33% marks in the theory and 33% marks in the practical separately, in addition to 33% marks in aggregate, in order to qualify in that subject.

Example. In a subject with 70 marks for theory and 30 for practical, 33% of 70 is 23.1 and 33% of 30 is 9.9. A candidate with 21 in theory and 30 in practical has 51 in aggregate but has not reached 33% in theory, and so has not qualified in the subject under this rule.

No overall division or aggregate

The pass criteria for both class 10 and class 12 state: "No overall division/distinction/aggregate shall be awarded." Marks or grades are awarded for individual subjects, and the bye-laws say that aggregate marks shall not be given. This is why a CBSE mark sheet has no printed percentage or first division. A percentage, where needed, is calculated by you or by the institution asking for it, by its own rule. See best of five.

How the grades A1 to D2 are awarded

CBSE's subject grades are not fixed bands of marks. The bye-laws, and the document "Grading System in CBSE for 10th and 12th" on the Board's website, describe a relative method. The Board puts all the passed students in a subject in rank order and awards:

The notes to the rule say that all students with the same score get the same grade, that small variations are made to adjust ties, and that this method is used in subjects where more than 500 candidates have passed. So the marks needed for A1 differ from subject to subject and from year to year. Nobody can tell you in advance that "91 and above is A1" for a board examination under this rule; it depends on how everyone performed.

Merit certificates

The bye-laws provide for a Merit Certificate in each subject to the top 0.1% of candidates passing that subject, provided they have passed the examination.

Compartment

In the bye-laws, a class 12 candidate failing in one of the five subjects of external examination is placed in compartment in that subject, and a class 10 candidate failing in two of the five subjects is placed in compartment in those subjects, provided the subjects of internal assessment are cleared. A candidate placed in compartment may reappear at the compartment examination and is declared to have passed on qualifying in the subject or subjects concerned.

Additional subject

The bye-laws allow an additional subject to replace a failed subject under stated conditions, for example that the candidate still has English or Hindi as one of the languages after the replacement.

The Board revises its schemes. Names of the supplementary examination, the number of chances and the weight of internal assessment have changed over the years. For the examination you are taking, read the current year's circulars on cbse.gov.in.

To see how many marks 33% is for any maximum, use the marks needed calculator.

Check with your board or university. The rules quoted on this site were read in the official documents on 12 November 2026. Boards and universities revise them, and yours may differ. For anything that decides an admission or a job, use the rule printed on your own mark sheet or in your institution's regulations. This is an independent site.

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