CBSE/DIR(A&T)/PT/2012

Circular No. Acad-81/20

All Heads of Institutions Affiliated to the Board

Conduct of Optional Proficiency Test for Class-X.

Dear Principal,

As a part of ongoing educational reforms and assessment procedures, the Board has been conducting optional proficiency Test for class-X students in all the five main subjects of English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science and Social Science. Keeping in mind the convenience and comfort of students and schools, the next proficiency test will be held in the month of April,2013 for students appearing in March,2013 Class-X examination. The broad objectives of the proposed test include benchmarking of skills and higher mental abilities of students, providing motivation to students for academic excellence in the respective subjects, providing feedback to schools on levels of learning of their students and setting goals, priorities and targets in their future educational plans.

What is a Proficiency Test?

A proficiency Test measures an individual’s abilities and skills in a domain or subject to know how well he/she has learned, understood and internalised the related concepts and principles. Such a test in language e.g may assess a student’s skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking or vocabulary. Similarly a test in Science may focus on assessing students’ abilities to apply concepts and principles to analyse a given situation, solve a given problem and conduct practical work efficiently. A test in Mathematics may, similarly, assess problem solving abilities and skills of mathematical thinking, mathematical reasoning and procedural techniques followed by students. Thus, the proposed Proficiency Test will mainly focus on assessing students’ abilities and skills to apply knowledge and understanding of the respective subject to new and unfamiliar everyday life situations.

The core testing element of such a test will include observing, comparing, classifying, solving, translating, interpreting, analysing, synthesising, creating, composing, deducing, justifying and judging/evaluating.

Salient Features of the Test

It is optional in nature. Only those students who wish to take this test willingly may appear.

It will be conducted in the month of April, 2013 as per the following schedule.

Students wishing to appear in the test will be required to pay separate examination fee for the same. The amount of fee to be paid by a student is as under:

• One subject Rs. Three hundred only
• Two subjects Rs. Four hundred only
• Three subjects Rs. Five hundred only
• Four or five subjects Rs. Six hundred only

The registration fee has to be submitted in the form of a Demand Draft in favour of Secretary CBSE, Delhi payable at Delhi.

Format of the Question Paper

• All questions will be of multiple choice type with only single correct answer.A student will be required to mark the answers on a given OMR sheet.
• Question paper in every subject will carry 100 marks.
• The duration of the test in every subject will be 2½ hours.
• The test will be based on classes IX-X syllabus in the subject prescribed by CBSE
• The questions included in the question paper will be of varying difficulty level.
• The typology of questions will be different from the type of questions asked in conventional final examination conducted by the Board at the end of Class-X. The test will not include any direct recall, information-based or memory –based questions. It will only include questions to assess students’ skills and abilities to apply understanding of concepts to analyse a given situation or an unfamiliar everyday life problem.
• Negative marks will be awarded for wrong answers. More than one answer indicated against a question will also be deemed as incorrect response and will be negatively marked.

The willing schools are required to submit the related information to the Board through online filling up of the registration form available on CBSE website www.cbse.nic.in. Procedure for online submission of List of candidates shall be available on the website shortly. The last date for submitting the online information is 30th November,2012.

Online Submission of List of Candidates (LOC) For Proficiency Test - 2013 Click Here

Courtesy: CBSE