Mita Mukherjee

The Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has announced that the duration for ICSE (Class X) math paper will be three hours from 2025. Till this year the paper was for two and a half hours.

The number of questions in the math exam will remain the same and there will be no changes to the format of the paper, the council said in a circular to heads of all its affiliated schools on Friday.

“….. The CISCE has decided to extend the duration of the ICSE (Class X) Mathematics Examination from 2.5 hours to 3 hours…. While the examination duration has been extended, there will be no changes to the number of questions or the format of the Mathematics Question Paper. The Paper will continue to follow the same structure as outlined in the Specimen Question Paper for the Year 2025…” the circular read.

A copy of the specimen question paper was sent to the schools along with the circular.

The duration for all subjects in ICSE is two hours, except for second language and math. Students are given three hours for writing the second language paper and 2.5 hours for math.

Schools in Kolkata welcomed the council’s decision to increase the duration of the math paper. They said this would help students to perform better in the subject.

“Most students experience anxiety while answering math papers. We welcome the council move. The extra time will reduce the stress and anxiety of students and help them to perform better in the subject,” Sujoy Biswas, principal of Rammohan Mission School said.

The CISCE had announced last month that it would give 25 percent weightage to higher order thinking questions in ICSE and ISC (Class XII) examinations for 2025.

Principals said the extra 30 minutes time will help students to understand the questions better.   

The council has asked the schools to disseminate the information to all their teachers and students.