CONTINUOUS AND COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION is an education system newly introduced by Central Board of Secondary Education in India, for the students of sixth to tenth grades. The main aim of CCE is to evaluate every aspect of the child during their presence at the school. This is believed to help reduce the pressure on the child during/before examinations as a student will have to sit for multiple tests throughout the year, of which no test or the syllabus covered will be repeated at the end of the year.

As a part of this new system, student’s marks will be replaced by grades which will be evaluated through a series of curricular and extra-curricular evaluations along with academics. The aim is to decrease the workload on the students by means of continuous evaluation by taking number of small tests throughout the year in place of a single test at the end of academic program.

The Grades are awarded to students based on work experience skills, dexterity, innovation, steadiness, teamwork, public speaking, behavior, etc. to evaluate and present an overall measure of the student’s ability. This helps the students who are not good in academics to show their talent in other fields such as arts, humanities, sports, athletics, music, and theatre.

Under this System there are two different types of tests, namely, the formative and the summative. Formative tests comprise of the student’s work in class and at home, the student’s performance in oral tests and quizzes and the quality of the projects or assignments submitted by the child. Formative tests are conducted four times in an academic session, and they will carry a 40% weightage for the aggregate.

The summative assessment is a three-hour long written test conducted twice a year. The first Summative or Summative Assessment 1 (SA-1) is conducted after the first two formatives are completed. The second (SA-2) is conducted after the next two formatives. Each summative carries a 30% weightage and both together carry 60% weightage for the aggregate. The summative assessment are conducted by the school itself. However, the question papers will be partially prepared by the CBSE and evaluation of the answer sheets is also strictly monitored by the CBSE. Once completed, the syllabus of the one summative will not be repeated in the next. A student will have to concentrate on totally new topics for the next summative.

At the end of the year, for class X, the CBSE processes the result by adding the formative score to the summative score, i.e. 40% + 60% = 100%. Depending upon the percentage obtained, the board will deduce the CGPA and thereby the grade obtained. In addition to the summative assessment, the board will offer an optional online aptitude test that may also be used as a tool along with the grades obtained in the CCE to help students to decide the choice of subjects in further studies.

CCE helps in improving student’s performance by identifying his/her learning difficulties at regular time intervals right from the beginning of the academic session and employing suitable remedial measures for enhancing their learning performance.

Scheme of CCE is expected to help the child make informed choice of subjects in class XI, based on his aptitude, interests, liking, and academic performance. With CCE aiming at all round development of the child’s personality it is expected that a student will be able to take up competitive examinations in right earnest. It may be clearly understood that introduction of CCE does not mean less emphasis on academic attainment. Students will still be required to do well in studies. However, due to acquisition of additional life skills, like thinking and emotional skills, they are expected to meet different life situations with greater maturity.