Odisha Plus-2 exam: Decoding the new question & marking pattern

Students who will appear in the Plus 2 examination in 2025 under the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) will face a new pattern of questions and mark distribution.

Examinations will be conducted for 80 marks instead of 100 marks and the internal examination will be 20 marks. The students will have to score a minimum of 24 Marks out of 80 as passing marks (i.e. 30% of full marks) irrespective of their marks obtained in the internal examination. The CHSE has reportedly taken the decision to reduce pressure on the students.

The scores in the internal examination will be added to the main exam marks. However, it will not be considered for passing marks following the addition of the theory paper score. For example, if a student fetches 15 marks from a total of 20 in an internal examination and scores 19 marks out of a total of 80, he will not be able to pass.

As CHSE has decided to conduct examinations as per the CBSE pattern, students will not have to write essays in their mother tongue or English in the examination. They will also have to face long questions of 10 marks.

Several students have welcomed the move by the CHSE.

“Though we have to work hard for internal examinations, it is definitely a welcome step. Had it been announced a bit earlier, we would have been more prepared,” said Debasmita Patra, a student of Fakir Mohan Junior College in Balasore.

“We will be able to score higher marks with the new pattern of examination. We will also get ample time to answer all the questions as we don’t have to write essays anymore,” said A Nag, a student of Vikram Deb Junior College in Jeypore.

In the new pattern of examination, at least 20 marks of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) will be compulsory. Students will not have to answer 10-mark long questions in any subjects anymore. They will have to answer eight-mark long questions only in Arts subjects. In Science and Commerce subjects, the students will have to answer a maximum of five mark questions.

Students have to write 40 to 50 words in two-mark questions and 60-80 words in three-mark questions. Similarly, they have to write 120-150 words in five-mark questions and 300-350 words in eight-mark questions. However, the examination will be of three hours duration as per the earlier pattern.

As per the new pattern of the examination, subjects with practicals will have 70 marks for theory and 30 marks for practical examinations. Similarly, in the case of subjects with projects, there will be 80 marks in theory and 20 marks for projects.

Apart from reducing pressure on students, the change in the pattern of the examination has been done by keeping an eye on the competitive examinations. MCQ has been made compulsory for this purpose.

Meanwhile, the development has evoked mixed reactions from the educationists.

“We have split the examinations. We are observing the national boards and framing our own syllabus and structures,” said Prasanta Kumar Parida, Examination Controller of CHSE.

“The new pattern is not bad. However, we have to consider our resources before starting a new system. We should have enough infrastructure and teachers in our educational institutions for proper implementation of the new pattern. We should not imitate CBSE blindly. The new examination pattern can’t be implemented in all the educational institutions properly,” said educationist Satyakam Mishra.