CBSE Class 10th and 12th Results 2017: Grace marks and moderation policy - everything you need to know

There has been a furore about the CBSE No Moderation Policy. Many students have been anxious about their class 12 CBSE results. They were worried after hearing that students would be getting lower percentages in class 10 and 12 in 2017. The lack of dissemination of true information has added to the stress of the students. The Delhi High court has intervened and it has been decided that the board will be adding grace marks for the CBSE Class 10th and 12th Results 2017. 

While this has come as a breather for the students and parents both, we will explain the moderation policy of CBSE and other state boards and how it is implemented. Moderation policy can be defined as a standardisation policy used by school boards to provide some extra marks to the students in context of a specific set of questions. This policy is also loosely referred to as giving grace marks. 

CBSE and many other boards use the system of allocating grace marks to students who do get the required pass percentage of 33 marks out of 100. This was done keeping in mind that class 10 and 12 board exams were proving to be very stressful for the students and to skew the results of the board examinations. While grace marks are awarded to students so that they do not fail in the e exams, moderation is a practice to organize the grace marks given to the students. This is done to ensure that every student benefits equally.

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The moderation Policy can said to work in the following manner. CBSE gets the answer sheets examined by the teachers with the help of marking scheme and are not allowed to allocate grace marks. The teachers however have the freedom to mark the answer sheets according to their knowledge of the subject. These answer sheets are then cross verified by Exam Coordinator in charge of that particular exam centre. The coordinator then again discusses with the teachers and according to their decision, a few grace marks may be awarded, on the teachers discretion. These marks given and the answer sheets are returned to the board subsequently.

CBSE, after that feeds the data into the respective systems. The exam is then analyzed properly and experts give the advice for moderation marks for a specific set. They have to consider two factors--- the committee analyzes the set of questions which were found to be very tough by around 75% of the students. 

Let us suppose that the majority of the students found 10 marks worth of questions to be difficult. The CBSE panel then decides to allocate 6 extra or grace marks to students to make up for the difficult questions. The other factor that they have to consider is whether the general set of marks is in keeping with the boards’ average. In case it deviates widely, the results are then moderated to be in accordance with the standard deviation for the entire data set.

While the issue remains sub judice and is the subject of debate, what is important to remember that moderation is not done arbitrarily.  The core CBSE committee thoroughly analyses the question papers and the results searches for discrepancies. 

The CBSE sometimes may decide to improve grades throughout the exam or may also decide to provide concession in marks to only a particular set of students. There is no well-defined rule for moderation and thinking that removing the system of moderation will decrease the total average of students is a misnomer.

The teachers when questioned about the moderation policy said that they are not aware of the actual method, the decision for the same is taken about a thorough examination and taking into account all considerations. Standardizations are used only after duly understanding all aspects of the results. Advanced software is employed for the process. 

The decision of CBSE regarding the use of moderation is only taken when it is perceived that there might be a standard dip when comparing the results across the boards. There is no cause of concern for a student who is getting a high percentage.

So even if a student has not performed well and has committed mistakes, the normal procedure in marking is to be relaxed while allocating the marks. The teachers add further that the board has given standing instructions to give the students the benefit of doubt when marking the answer sheets. The correction by the teachers id further cross verified by Head Examiners who rule out human error in checking and moderate the entire process. 

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Some people said that moderation does not ensure that passing of students in the exams.  However, there is a basic need for grace marks to be given to students. An overall poor performance by the student cannot be left out. A senior teacher was quoted as saying that the purpose of an examination was not to compare students with each other but to check the learning outcome. 

Examinations are much talked about and made into a big thing because of lack of proper information and societal attitude. The day we stop looking down on students who score 50 percent or lower in the exams, and start assessing their capabilities in a holistic way, moderation would cease to be an issue for the exams. 

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Therefore in spite of differing views on the subject, it is safe to note that at present CBSE will be awarding grace marks to the students. It is still uncertain till which year this will be done and the legality of the same. Delhi HC will further decide on its next hearing on July 20. Till then, the students can get rid of their apprehensions and trust on their performance in the exam. CBSE Class 12th Board Results are expected to be released by May 27, 2017 as per latest updates. Actual notification is still awaited.