Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations or CISCE was established as a private and non-governmental body in 1956 to administer the education syllabus in India, in adherence with the education standard of the famous University of Cambridge in the UK.

Even though it is not sponsored by the Indian government, ICSE and ISC board are quite popular in many schools across India. Most of the Anglo-Indian schools in India follow CISCE board.

• CISCE conducts two board exams in India:

1) The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education or ICSE board examination for Class X students, and

2) The Indian School Certificate or ISC board examination for Class XII students.

• ICSE

The ICSE board exams are conducted as Class 10 board exams. ICSE syllabus is designed under the general education category. It uses English as medium of instruction in India, in accordance with the New Education Policy, 1986.

ICSE exam does not allow private students to appear for the exam. Students of schools with ICSE affiliation (affiliated with CISCE) are only eligible for the exam.

Find ICSE guide here including ICSE syllabus and date sheet of ICSE board exam 2016!

According to the ICSE exam pattern, students must appear for seven subjects, one of which should be English and one should be second language. Students need to secure pass marks in ICSE question papers of at least 5 subjects to pass the exam.

The pass marks in each subject is 35% of the total marks of the exam.

• ISC

The ISC board exams are conducted as Class 12 board exams. Students are eligible for ISC board exams only if they have cleared their Class 10 board exams (or the ICSE board exams). Like ICSE exam, private students are not allowed to sit for ISC exam too.

Students can choose from their subjects from a wide range of streams such as biology, fashion design, biology and more.

ISC exam results are acceptable by many countries worldwide.

Find ISC guide here including ISC syllabus and date sheet of ISC board exam 2016!

According to the ISC exam pattern, students must achieve pass marks in four or more subjects of their choice. Students also need to achieve pass marks in social productive work and community service, which are assessed internally by their respective schools.