The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) follows a grading system aimed at reducing academic pressure and offering a more holistic evaluation of student performance. Instead of awarding raw marks, the board assigns grades that reflect a student’s relative standing within their peer group. This system is used in both Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations.

What is the CBSE grading system?
CBSE uses a 9-point grading scale for each subject. Students do not receive marks on the final result sheet; instead, they are awarded letter grades that correspond to grade points based on percentile ranks. Unlike absolute grading (which uses fixed cut-off marks), CBSE uses a relative grading system. Here, grades are distributed based on a student's performance relative to peers in that subject.

For instance, instead of assigning A1 to everyone scoring 91–100, CBSE awards A1 to the top 1/8th of passed candidates. This ensures fairness despite subject difficulty or annual performance variations.

Class 12 evaluation
In Class 12, CBSE follows a marks-based system, but grades are displayed alongside marks in the result sheet. These grades are assigned subject-wise using a relative grading method, based on the overall performance of all candidates in each subject. 

Class 10 evaluation
In Class 10, CBSE also provides a CGPA — the average of grade points obtained in five main subjects (excluding additional subjects).

Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)

• CGPA = Total grade points in 5 subjects ÷ 5
• Percentage = CGPA × 9.5
• Example:
• If a student has a CGPA of 8.2, their percentage is:
• 8.2 × 9.5 = 77.9%

Grade Distribution Pattern
All passed candidates in a subject are divided into the following grade brackets:

• A1 – Top 1/8th
• A2 – Next 1/8th
• B1 – Next 1/8th
• B2 – Next 1/8th
• C1 – Next 1/8th
• C2 – Next 1/8th
• D1 – Next 1/8th
• D2 – Next 1/8th
• E – Essential Repeat (did not pass)

Adjustments and Exceptions

• Minor adjustments are allowed to accommodate ties or borderline cases.
• The grading system is applicable only if more than 500 candidates have passed a subject.
• For subjects with fewer than 500 passed candidates, grading is done by comparing performance with similar subjects.

Examples of Grading Allocation
From CBSE’s data:

Hindi (159,052 passed):
Top 19,882 students receive A1
Next 19,882 get A2, and so on.

Economics (383,647 passed):
Top 47,956 students receive A1
Next 47,956 get A2, and so on.

NCC (304 passed):
Only 38 students receive each grade level.