Central Board of Secondary Education, commonly known as CBSE, is one the national level educational boards in India.

The board looks into the education system of all affiliated schools and takes the responsibility of the planning, administering and conducting the board examinations of classes 10 and 12.

It also plays a big role in guiding the students in their preparation process by releasing tips and sample papers.

In the last few months, CBSE released the sample papers for different subjects for both classes 10 and 12.

These sample papers will help the students prepare for CBSE 2020 exams. However, if schools or students were planning to emphasize on other reference material more than the sample papers, they must take note of a recent direction given by CBSE.

CBSE provides all its affiliates schools with a curriculum every year. However, for CBSE 2020 board exams, CBSE has directed schools to guide the students by using the sample papers that it has released rather than sticking to the design given in its curriculum.

Such an announcement was made because, according to the Board, while chalking out the sample papers, it has made certain modifications in the design which do not reflect in the design given in the curriculum.

Moreover, CBSE has introduced several changes in several question paper patterns. The use of sample papers will also familiarise and prepare students for any such changes.

Here are a few steps to guide students and schools to download the sample papers released by CBSE –

• Step-1: Log on to the official website of CBSE Academics, which is, http://cbseacademic.nic.in/ Sample papers will not be available on any other website as the official website is the most authentic link.
• Step-2 : On the top of the page, click on the ‘Sample Question Paper’ tab.
• Step-3 : A drop-down menu will open up. From the menu, click on the option that states ‘SQP 2019-2020.’
• Step-4 : One will then be given the option to select the class, that is X or XII. Click on either of the class whose question papers you want to download.
• Step-5 : The CBSE Sample Question Paper will appear on the page for all the subjects of the selected class.
• Step-6 : Click on the link of the subject that you would want to download. The sample question paper will be downloaded in a pdf format.
• Step-7 : One can also take a print out of the question papers for easy referring.
• Step-8 : Carefully go through the sample question paper to understand the paper pattern, marking scheme and make a note of the changes.

Students can also use the Sample Question Paper to give mock tests or practise writing answers to the given questions.

The CBSE board exams are all set to be conducted in the next year. For classes 10 and 12, the exams will begin from the 15^th of February, 2020. Practical examinations will be conducted by the board between 1^st January and 7^th February 2020.