CBSE Vs ICSE: Difference and which is better for Future

CSE Vs CBSE: Which board should I opt for my children, CBSE or ICSE? Which board is better, CBSE or ICSE? Read the article to know in detail.

CBSE vs ICSE

CBSE Vs ICSE: Difference and which is better for Future? With different board schools around, parents become confused about where they should admit their children. It becomes even more confusing for the parents when they think about admitting their children to the schools affiliated with the best board because parents and students always want to study in the best available schools. In India, the CBSE and ICSE are considered the most prestigious boards. Hence, no wonder that ‘which is better CBSE or ICSE’ and ‘what is the difference between CBSE and ICSE’ have become the most sought-after topics among the students and parents in India.

The full form of CBSE and ICSE is the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Indian School Certificate Examinations respectively. Through this article, we will try to find out CBSE and ICSE differences and give you an idea about which board is best, CBSE or ICSE.

Every year, both CBSE and ICSE hold the class 10 and 12 board exams in February, March and April, and results for the same are also declared around the same time in May.

CBSE vs ICSE: About ICSE

Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations commonly referred to as CISCE, is a national level private board that affiliates schools across the country. The board has also affiliated with thousands of schools in the country. The board mainly aim to serve children in India by ensuring them a quality education. CISCE conduct the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (class 10) exam which is also known as the ICSE 10th exam and the Indian School Certificate 12th (ISC exam).

CBSE vs ICSE: About CBSE

The Central Board of Secondary Education, commonly known as CBSE, is the national education board of the country. With thousands of private and public schools are affiliated, CBSE is recognized worldwide. CBSE is an autonomous body of the government of India that works under the supervision of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The Board provides affiliations to various schools across the country and ensures all of them follow the NCERT curriculum. Since its establishment, CBSE has witnessed remarkable growth and expansion at the Secondary education level. CBSE conduct CBSE 10th examination and CBSE 12th examinations annually. From the year 2026 onwards, the CBSE class 10th board examinations will be held twice a year, the main exams in Feb & March while the second main exams in June and July. 

CBSE vs ICSE: Difference between CBSE and ICSE

Parents always want to enrol their children in the best schools to provide them with a better education. The education system in India is divided into three segments, which are Primary, Secondary and Senior Secondary Levels. Both CBSE and ICSE cater to the development and growth of children in these three segments of education. However, these two boards have both pros and cons. Hence, the parents are suggested to do proper homework about the board and schools before admitting their children to any CBSE and ICSE school. To help you find out the common difference between CBSE and ICSE, we are comparing both boards on some other important points.  

CBSE vs ICSE: Syllabus

After analyzing both the CBSE 10th syllabus and CBSE 12th syllabus, we found that the CBSE board follows the all India curriculum. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) recognize the CBSE syllabus. On the other hand, the CISCE board creates the ICSE syllabus and ISC syllabus. The CBSE syllabus is more focused on theoretical concepts while the ICSE syllabus is more focused on practical knowledge. CBSE syllabus is considered easy and compact that offers fewer subjects while ICSE offers a wide range of language subjects to study including Hindi, Kannada, English, Tamil, Telugu and many more.

CBSE Vs ICSE: Exam Pattern

In the CBSE board, the students have two types of assessment which are formative and summative. In class 10, the full marks distributed in each paper is 100. Out of 100, 80 marks are for theory and 20 marks are for internal assessment and practical exams. The students are given three hours to solve the papers.

As per the ICSE exam pattern, students of class 10 exams are given 2.5 hours to write Maths paper in the exam while 2 hours for other papers like Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Question papers are divided into two parts- part A and part B. Both parts carry 40 marks each.

CBSE Vs ICSE: Marking Scheme

ICSE class 10 marking scheme is based on three groups which are:

• Group 1: All the subjects included in group 1 are compulsory
• Group 2: Students can choose any two subjects in this group
• Group 3: In group 3, the students are bound to select only one subject

On the other hand, CBSE has only one grading system which is furnished in the table below:

CBSE Vs ICSE: Instruction of Medium

The CBSE board does not prefer a single language as the medium of instruction. However, in a large number of CBSE schools, English is the medium of instruction. On the other hand, ICSE prefers English as the medium of instruction.

The above-mentioned points might help you find out which board is best, CBSE or ICSE.