CBSE Moderation Policy Explained: What Students Need to Know

One such unexplained rule that you might have heard about in past years in CBSE board exams is moderation. 

It is not a magic wand, but rather an instrument by which the board tried to equalize the differences in the difficulty of the exams or the marking levels. 

Within the framework of this paper we are going to find what the moderation policy at CBSE was, how it functioned, where applicable or not, and whether it is comparable to the concept of grace marks. 

We will also discuss the most recent changes and its impact on the Classes 10 and 12.

What is CBSE Moderation Policy?

To put it bluntly, moderation was the strategy adopted by CBSE to correct any differences in the work of testing students of varying abilities, different assessor bias, or variations among combinations of exams. 

The rationale is to create a feeling of equity and standardization in such a way such that students in different schools (or test sets) are checked on a more equal playing field.

It is more than simply giving bonus marks to everybody, by being more organizationally structured and rules direct.

Moderation in CBSE and other boards in India has been practised long to ensure fairness even to the high stakes exams such as Class 10 and Class 12 board exams.

Key Features of the CBSE Moderation Policy

The characteristics of the policy will include the following major features of the CBSE policy of moderation.

• Moderation in Response to Levels of Difficulty: In situations where a paper has been discovered to be unusually difficult the moderation will then be used to normalize scores.
• Homogenous assessment: Equilibrium of inconsistencies when comparing assessment centers.
• Regional standardization: By doing so students in all zones are given the level playing field.
• Equal reference to the Class 10 and 12: Finds application in high school and sends static or board examination.
• Not a Grace Marks System: It is not the same thing as the awarding of grace marks, which are awarded to close-failing students.
• Discretionary Character: CBSE implements the policy just in limited selective conditions that are justified.

How Does CBSE Moderation Work?

Evidently, CBSE employs a well supervised moderation system. It includes data analytics, performance standards, and business insights to facilitate the process as competitive and fair.

1. Step-by-Step Moderation Process

• Detection of Inequality: CBSE gathers the student performance details after exams, and it finds the anomalies.
• Comparison of Paper Difficulty: Question papers are inspected by expert committees and their difficulty levels are checked.
• Statistical Analysis: Statistics of the previous years are compared against trends of the ongoing years to be able to make sense of deviations.
• Decision Moderation: Decisions according to findings are moderated subjects or questions.
• Mark Adjustment: Marks gets added onto the scores of the affected candidates in a controlled way.
• Final Review: The results are only finalized once the process of moderation is done.

2. Calculation Method

CBSE does not publish the exact formula that is majorly used to estimate the moderation though the general concept of moderating is to ensure that there is parity between years and regions. Here’s how it broadly works:

• The marks are scaled between a range (typically up to 15 marks per subject).
• Moderation can be used in all the boards or simply in students, whose performance is at a specific threshold.
• Moderation was also not allowed on some subjects in some years, in particular those that had more subjective assessment.

3. When Moderation is Applied

Moderated marks is only done in certain cases:

• Imbalanced Paper: Occurs when students of the entire board have difficulties in handling a subject.
• Inequalities of Evaluation: In case some of the evaluation centers present anomalously low scores.
• State/Regional Differences: In order to ensure balance amongst students across zones.
• Comparison with Previous Years: In case the average performance decreases drastically without an apparent cause.

CBSE Moderation Policy 2025: Latest Updates

CBSE scrapped its moderation policy in April 2017, and the Delhi High Court forced them to retain it for 2017. The moderation was actually applied in 2018 and 2019, with subjects receiving offsets of +9 to +11 marks.

Students petitioned to bring back the moderation policy in 2019 because CBSE had stopped it, indicating it isn’t an active policy in recent years.

CBSE Moderation Policy for Class 10 and Class 12

The basic assessment principles of moderation are the same, but slightly different between Class 10 and Class 12:

1. Class 10 Moderation

Used selectively in subject areas like Maths, Science and English at the core level.

CBSE is also focused on using questions based on competence which has affected the implementation of moderation.

School based and internal assessments are not typically moderated.

2. Class 12 Moderation

Of greater importance because of the effect on university admissions.

Subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Accountancy and Economics are for example moderated.

To have fairness, low average scoring subjects were given special attention.

The intention of moderation is to ensure that there is integrity in the evaluation in both classes and that students are not disadvantaged unnecessarily.

CBSE Moderation vs Grace Marks

Moderation and grace signs should be differentiated because they are used according to different purposes and according to different rules.

Aspect	CBSE Moderation	Grace Marks
Purpose	To ensure fairness in difficulty level and evaluation	To help students pass who narrowly miss the passing mark
Applied to	All or selected students based on statistical data	Individual students only
Subjects	Usually academic subjects with large student numbers	Any subject where the student narrowly fails
Marks Given	Typically up to 15 marks, depending on the situation	Grace marks are given for tough questions (as per CBSE rules)
Official Policy	Yes, applied systematically based on guidelines	Yes, but only under failure-risk situations
Transparency	Moderation details are not usually shared individually	Students may not know if grace marks were given

The two systems seek to deter students against drastic punishment, although, moderation concerns standardization, whereas, the grace marks adverts concerns passing.

Types of Moderation in CBSE

Moderation of various kinds is used depending on the nature of the discrepancy or approach that was available during evaluation. 

These types of moderation ensure that students will not be restricted by factors not under their control, including excessively difficult questions, subjective interpretation of the assessors, irregularities in practical exams, etc.

All forms of moderation are well thought and put in place through an analysis of data, advice of an expert and through historical precedent.

1. Grace Marks Moderation

1.1 Definition and Criteria

Grace Marks Moderation is given to those students who are very close to the required minimum marks of a subject. 

It is a remedial step, which enables students to achieve passing without infringing on academic integrity.

To qualify for grace marks:

• A student should have tried the paper earnestly (i.e. not left blank).
• The deficit must be limited to some allowable margin
• Grace marks are added when the student fails in one or two subjects but not all the subjects.

1.2 Maximum Marks Allowed

As per CBSE guidelines between 1 and a maximum of 5 grace marks may be granted on a subject.

Under extremely rare considerations (yet at the direction of the boards), the same can be eased with respect to special provisions such as students with disabilities, or those due to COVID.

Also have a look at coding for students with disabilities and how they are taught this.

1.3 Subjects Covered

Grace marks may be given in any subject, although they are more usually found in:

• Mathematics
• Science (Physics, Chemistry)
• Economics
• Accountancy

This is one of those subject areas that most students perform poorly by close margin.

1.4 Application Process

Students need not request a grace mark. CBSE automatically implements them on the basis of:

• Exam performance data
• Classified qualifying levels
• Rule-based eligibility

This is done in a way that gives discretion and fairness but retains the dignity of the students.

2. Difficulty Level Moderation

Paper Difficulty can be the measure of the degree of difficulty involved in reading a paper. 

2.1 Assessment of Paper Difficulty 

Students and teachers complain in certain years that a specific paper was exceptionally difficult. CBSE uses this feedback based on:

• Subject matter expert committees.
• Student performance data.
• Comparisons with pre-board exam scores/internal exam scores.

2.2 Comparative Analysis

CBSE makes a comparison of the current year paper in a level of difficulty:

• Previous years’ papers
• Sample papers and blue prints.
• Some of the trends of performance in certain types of questions.

2.3 Adjustment Calculations

In case it has been established that the difficulty is higher level:

• Moderation marks (1, normally, 8 marks on average) are given.
• They can either be used on a standard basis or as question based (e.g. +2 because the question was so difficult).
• Depending on the subject and paper set (A, B, C, etc.), there are differences in adjustments.

2.4 Historical Examples 

The 2015 and 2016 mathematics papers were indeed tough and controversial, with reported moderation of +16 marks (+15 for Delhi) Central Board of Secondary Education.

Proceeding with this, in 2018 the similar situation arose but moderation policies were scrapped, decreasing from what was in 2016-17.

3. Evaluator Variation Moderation

3.1 Addressing Marking Differences

Thousands of teachers throughout India assess CBSE exams. Although there is training and guidelines, there can be variations to be marked due to:

• Biases when the evaluation process is conducted out of personal decisions.
• Loose definition of marking schemes.
• Human error or fatigue

3.2 Quality Control Measures

To counter this, CBSE employs:

• Triangulation by senior assessors (head examiners).
• Evaluating papers picked at random.
• Incidents of low/high scoring centers, which are abnormal, will be reviewed.

3.3 Standardization Process

In case some large variances are discovered, the marks are modulated by CBSE:

• Remarking/correcting marks to national averages.
• Re-boarding some loads of scripts.
• Statistical standard deviation model is used.

3.4 Checks and Balances

The assessment centres are digitally monitored and evaluation of training is mandatory.

Systems of AI are becoming more popular (since 2024) to help with detection of anomalies.

This moderation is to avoid any evaluation injustices irrespective of the person marking the paper.

4. Subject-Specific Moderation

Every subject is a challenge of its own. CBSE occasionally uses some form of selective moderation using recognizable patterns in student performance and paper design.

4.1 Mathematics Moderation

The content area is scored poorly based on abstract thinking.

Lengthy paperwork, application based challenges.

Higher on high difficulty sections up to 6-8 marks could be awarded.

4.2 Science Subjects Moderation

• Physics: Concept heavy with numericals – is usually moderated when there are complex derivations.
• Chemistry: In case the numericals or organic chemistry curriculum is uncharacteristically difficult, moderation is also a possibility.
• Biology: Biography questions can be subjective and subject to moderation in case they were not clear or when they are open ended.

4.3 Language Papers Moderation

English and Hindi are tested on content, grammar and coherence, and subjectivity also comes into play.

Comprehension or grammar sections are abnormally complicated, or essays are graded excessively.

4.4 Practical Examination Moderation

Topics include Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science, Home Science, and so on.

Issues lie in that the school-based assessments are dynamic. Another looser attitude of external examiners is also a problem.

Amendment in case of a school awarding excessively forgiving or admonishing marks in contrast to norms.

Who is Eligible for CBSE Moderation Policy?

The universality of the Moderation Policy of CBSE only is for a particular section of students. 

It also has very rigid criteria on eligibility on the basis of academic performance, subject requirements and certain circumstances. 

The idea is to provide the student with fairness, who may have been penalized after disparities in examination.

1. Score Range Requirements

This is normally moderated to the students in some range of marks:

• From High to Moderate or Moderate to Low: The students in the middle of key grade levels (e.g., 90 with an additional + or -) can be moderate so there won’t be the same level of variation each year.

• Borderline Failures: Students near failure can be given grace marks (a sort of moderation).

• Subject Toppers: High scorers can be given subject topper marks in a case where the paper is known to be more or less challenging and it is influencing the upper range of marks.

Note however that very low scorers (e.g., 10/100 or lower) do not usually qualify except in peculiar circumstances.

2. Subject-Specific Criteria

CBSE provides other moderations depending on the nature and skill-level of specific subject:

• Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Accountancy: Often into the medium since they are more difficult and problem based.

• Young (English, Hindi etc) Language: Moderation is put to partial on of the occasions that we find considerably subjective comprehension or essay part.

• Subject to Pragmatics: You can moderate as long as the internal evaluation in the schools differs significantly.

Those that temp on such topics have a high variance in performance or there may be a reason to know that there is a challenge of evaluation then such are likely to be subjected to moderate.

3. Overall Eligibility Conditions 

Normally, students are eligible to moderation in the event that:

• They treated the exam seriously and tried all the necessary parts.
• An average standard of their marks is within the level of moderation (determined annually by CBSE).
• Paper difficulty or evaluation discrepancy or systemic variance is present.

There is an automatic area of moderation, so students do not need to apply to it. CBSE selects the eligible cases based on the analysis of data and suggestions of experts.

4. Special Exceptions and Cases

CBSE moderates occasionally, sometimes to cases not covered:

• Students who are affected by disasters or emergencies (e.g., natural disasters, during an exam period, due to some serious illness).
• Applicants with different disabilities, in case the policy of an inclusive evaluation is used, which is a part of inclusive education.
• The anomaly of the year, such as year 2020-21 (COVID-19) in which blended assessment and broadened moderation was adopted.

These are one in ones and the board has to be stingy with them.

Subjects Covered Under CBSE Moderation Policy

The board focuses on the fundamental academic disciplines where significant differences on the variation of performance and trends in assessment levels are perceived.

1. Core Subjects List

The most frequent application of moderation may be noted in the following subjects:

• Mathematics
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Biology
• English Core and English Elective
• Core and Elective in Hindi
• Economics
• Accountancy
• Business Studies
• Political Science
• History
• Informatics Practices/Computer Science

These subjects are highly enrolled, are standardized in the form of questions, and are likely to be inconsistent with difficulty.

2. Optional Subjects Inclusion

Moderation may be at times optional or elective, e.g.:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Geography
• Home Science
• Physical Education (in extra rare cases)

Look however, the moderation of such subjects is selective, and rests upon National averages of performance, difficulty level analysis, and opinions of local examiners.

3. Practical Examinations

Moderation is also considered by CBSE in regard to the practical elements, especially on:

• Subjects of science (Physicals, Chemistry, Biology)
• Computer Science
• Home Science
• Engineering Graphics

In case there is disparity in practical marks within some schools (e.g. over-strict or over- lenient), then they are standardized nationally by CBSE so that all schools receive equal importance.

4. Project Work and Assessments

At present, it is uncommon to use moderation during project-based assessment, but it is possible in case:

Read more on project-based learning.

• Marking inconsistency can be clearly observed.
• Reports of external examiners show discrepancies.
• The performance of the subjects differs greatly depending on the regions.
• Individual marks on these portions are normally 20-30, with little moderation (no more than 3 marks).

Exclusions from CBSE Moderation Policy

CBSE moderation has exceptions even despite its unlimited applicability. A number of situations and topics are clearly out-of-lecture or even out-of-administration (because of policy reasons or performance reasons).

1. Cases Where Moderation Doesn’t Apply

Following cases are out of moderation policy:

• Students who have very low scores (e.g. below 15-20) and have not demonstrated any effort.
• Non academic subjects like Work Experience, General Studies or Health and physical Education.
• Unless large-scale anomalies are specified vocational subjects.
• Internal examination, which has not been externally verified or moderated.

The areas are deemed to be too subjective or cannot be moderated.

2. Upper Limit Restrictions

CBSE does restrict the degree of moderation:

• At most 15 points (traditionally) per subject can be moderated.
• The grace marks tend to be limited to 5.
• Students who already have a full mark or very high mark (98-100) are not normally given extra moderation.

This helps to prevent inflation of grades and also makes sure that with the aid of moderation, results are not artificially inflated.

3. Specific Subjects Exclusion

Topics that are not usually moderated include music, dance, painting, yoga, mass media studies, retail, agriculture and other skill/vocational courses.

They are commonly evaluated by way of Practicals, oral or school examinations, in which centralized moderation is inapplicable.

4. Already Passing Students

Pass moderation not usually given to students who have already achieved with good margins except in the cases of:

• Their grade lines are near a grade border (e.g. 89 to 90 to achieve an A1 grade).
• Their performance on the subject influences cutoffs expressed in percentiles (e.g. admissions to colleges).

Conclusion 

The CBSE Moderation Policy eliminates unfairness and inconsistent evaluation of the board exams by modifying the marks of the evaluation based on aspects such as the difficulty of the paper, evaluator variation, and borderline students. 

It is an organized, non-hostile and data-driven system, designed to enforce academic equity within geographical areas and schools. 

CBSE implements this policy very conspicuously and selectively, like concentrating on the key subjects, and areas of performance benchmarks. To students, clarity and confidence about the fairness with which his or her performance will be assessed are provided by understanding this policy, whether the exams are not consistent, or the grading is subjective.

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