No spiking of marks in class 10, 12: HRD Advisory to states & CBSE

New Delhi: The HRD Ministry on Friday issued an advisory to states and the CBSE to stop the practice of spiking of marks in class 10 and 12 board exams from next year. However, there has been no decision yet on the moderation policy and the practice is likely to continue.

The practice of awarding grace marks will continue for the students who need just a few marks to pass their exams, but this information has to be disclosed on the school and the state board's websites.

"Bunching of marks and their spiking should be completely avoided. The practice of awarding grace marks should continue to pass their borderline cases (students who are failing by a few marks)," the advisory issued by School Education Secretary Anil Swarup said.

Moderation policy refers to a practice in which students get extra marks in subjects regarded as 'unusually difficult', or if there have been differences in the sets of question papers.

Spiking, on the other hand, refers to inflation of marks by boards in order to bring parity in pass percentage with respect to the previous year's statistics.