With a diverse culture among the nation with 29 states and the 7 territories, India has a wide range of Boards at National & State levels. We can broadly classify the Boards into 2, namely, National (ICSE, CBSE, NIOS, IGCSE) and the State Boards. To help the students and even their parents in selecting the best Board for the education, we have made a complete analysis and compared the boards at the root level.

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)

CBSE is a National level Board of education which is adapted by Public and Private schools in India. There are approximately 22,000 + schools in India and over 200 schools abroad that are affiliated to the CBSE Board. CBSE follows the curriculum that has been decided by the NCERT and the Union government is the regulating authority in the CBSE Board.

Features of CBSE Board

• The mode of delivery of education is primarily English & Hindi.
• The syllabus is more structured and is acceptable across the globe.
• The NCERT syllabus followed by the CBSE board is also considered for conducting various national level entrance exams.
• CBSE conducts exams for 10th and 12th Boards every year in the month of February/March.
• The passing criteria for the candidates is a minimum of 33% overall and 33% in each subject (considering both theory and practicals).

NOTE: For 12th std., candidates have to score a minimum of 33 % in both the components i.e. theory and practicals.

Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE)

ICSE is a privately-held education board at the National level. The Board is regulated by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination, also known as CISCE. There are over 2300+ schools affiliated to the Board across the globe. The Board has been set up with the objective of conducting a basic education analysis that is compliant with the New Education Policy 1986 of India. The ICSE Board has its own set of syllabus which is followed by all the schools.

The fees for the ICSE Board schools can range from INR 65,000 to INR 90,000.

Features of ICSE Board

• The mode of delivery of education is primarily English.
• The Board is set to focus on the overall development of the students.
• ICSE Board focuses on providing more practical knowledge whenever required by proving itself very versatile.
• ICSE emphasizes on all the subjects with an equal balance and also emphasises on providing a basic knowledge about the state’s language.
• The ICSE Board conducts board exams for 10th and 12th Standards once every year in the month of February/March.

National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)

NIOS is a National Board which is regulated directly under the Union government and was also established by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development. The NIOS Board has been set up to provide education to all the sectors of the society where the education cannot be imparted due to various factors, fees being the prime factor. NIOS Board operates in a way different from the other Boards, as it gives the candidates the liberty to choose what subjects they want to study and at what pace. Every year, more than 3,00,000 students enroll with the NIOS Board, making it one of the largest open schooling systems. 

Features of NIOS Board

• NIOS Board offers courses for the secondary and senior secondary levels.
• NIOS Board offers vocational training programmes to the candidates below the age of 14, and those above 14 years of age are considered eligible to sit for NIO Board examinations.
• NIOS Board conducts board exams twice every year - in the months of February/March and September/October.
• The board gives the liberty to the students to choose what they want to learn and when to learn.
• Students are given the liberty to study from anywhere and at their own pace. The maximum time a student can take to complete the selected course is 5 years.
• Candidates can study from the textbooks provided by the NIOS Board on their official websites, or can also refer to the NCERT Text books.

International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) Board

IGCSE Board is a part of Cambridge University and the IGCSE Board exams are conducted and regulated by Cambridge International Education. There are more than 10,000 schools affiliated to the IGCSE Board across the globe. The faculties teaching the curriculum of the IGCSE Board are provided with a lot of resources that are helpful for imparting practical knowledge to the students and students are given the liberty to learn not only the classroom but also outside of it. 

The Board offers over 70 subjects at the IGCSE levels which makes the IGCSE Board one of the more flexible Boards over other prevalent Boards. 

The fees for the IGCSE Board schools may range from INR 1,35,000 to INR 1,45,000. This could be the main deciding factor for most of the parents as it is more expensive than the other boards.

Features of the IGCSE Board

• Creativity is encouraged making it easy for the students to learn outside of the classroom. 
• Students who have their history of schooling from the IGCSE Board will have more acceptance priority in the colleges / Universities abroad, such as the UK, Canada, Middle East, and the European Union. 
• The mode of delivery of education of the IGCSE Board is English.
• Students are given an opportunity to learn a new foreign language which can be helpful in their further studies abroad.
• Students are given the liberty to study from the textbooks that are available to them and are not restricted to follow any particular textbooks.

State Boards

State Boards are individually run by the state government. The state boards follow a separate syllabus and a ranking criteria owing to the state. These are not regulated centrally but at state levels and hence may have a different educational strategy. The Board focuses more on the subjects which are related to the state and prepares the candidates for the state-level engineering or medical entrance examinations. One of the major drawbacks of the state boards can be that they believe in the mode of delivery in the regional language making it difficult for the candidates to grasp other languages in their further studies. 

NOTE:  Some of the state Boards have started to accept the CBSE course curriculum and are also readily moving towards shifting the syllabus from state level to the national level by accepting NCERT courses.

Features of the State Boards.

• More regional approach than the national approach.
• Candidates who wish to appear for the regional Civil services examination are advised to opt for the State board as it gives them the right approach and the dedicated knowledge.
• The mode of delivery of education is primarily the regional language.
• Students who wish to study in a University closer to their home can opt for State Boards.

Check Detailed HSC Curriculum of All the State Boards in India 

Check Detailed SSC Curriculum of All the State Boards in India 

Frequently Asked Question

Ques: Which out of the 2: National or State Board should I opt for?

Ans: Dear candidate, you can opt for any of the boards depending on the future requirements. You can consider reading the differentiating factors in the article above.

Ques: I want to learn certain subjects but not sure if I can clear them in the 1st attempt, which Board should I opt for?

Ans: You can consider enrolling in the NIOS National Board as it gives you the liberty to choose a subject and a time of 5 years(from the date of enrollment) to complete the examination.

Ques: What is the subject selection criteria in the ICSE Board?

Ans: Candidates who have cleared the 10th std. from the ICSE board will have 3 options to choose from: Science Group I (PCM Group), Science Group II (PCB Group), and Commerce.

Ques: Which is a better option among CBSE, ICSE, and the IGCSE Boards?

Ans: The opinion may vary from person-to-person. The final decision about selecting the suitable Board, parents of the candidate will have to go through the thorough details of the boards and also consider the fees as the deciding criteria.

Ques: I have experience in teaching the State board for quite some time, which Board can I consider for my future teaching?

Ans: You can consider teaching the CBSE Board as most of the state boards are now on the verge of shifting to the CBSE board. Also, CBSE has a vast acceptance rate across the country with the maximum number of affiliated schools.