CBSE Students 6-10 Times More Likely to Succeed in CLAT, JEE – The Shocking Truth Behind the Success Gap

Schools in India

According to the UDSIE report, India currently has 14.71 lakh schools. Of these, 12.22 lakh schools are government-aided and the remaining 3.31 lakh are private.

Of all these government and private schools, approximately 1.50 lakh schools offer senior secondary education. A further breakdown of this data and the 2023 CBSE annual report shows, that only 28,135, or 18% of these schools are affiliated to the CBSE. The remaining 81% of schools are affiliated to non-CBSE boards, which include state boards, Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), International Baccalaureate (IB) boards and others.

The JEE Case: 2018 Report by IIT Kanpur

In 2018, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur conducted the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). The institute later released a detailed report on how students from different school boards performed in the examination. Of the 10.43 Lakh students who appeared in JEE, 1.14 Lakh or 11% were from CBSE board schools, while 9.28 Lakh constituting 89% of the total candidates appeared from other boards.

Of these 1.14 Lakh CBSE students, over 62.24% qualified in the JEE examination. Whereas, only 10% of the candidates from non-CBSE board schools could clear the exam.

This huge disparity in the success rate of CBSE and non-CBSE school students doesn’t stop here. The report further revealed that 6,600 seats in IITs were eventually acquired by students who studied in CBSE board schools. Whereas, 9.82 Lakh students from all other non-CBSE school boards could claim just 5,371 seats. This effectively meant the chances of a CBSE student succeeding in JEE stood at 10 times higher than any other student in India.

Advantage CBSE: Why a higher success rate for CBSE students?

The CBSE is one of the national boards of school education in India and has a nationwide presence. Most of the schools approved by the central government in India are affiliated to CBSE. These include Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs), government/aided schools, private schools, Jawahar Novodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) and Central Tibetan Schools. All schools affiliated to the CBSE follow the curriculum developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

Here are four major reasons why students studying in CBSE schools have a huge advantage over others in the competitive exams.

1. Curriculum Alignment with Entrance Exams

CBSE's curriculum is designed with a focus on conceptual clarity and, aligning closely with the syllabi of national-level entrance exams like JEE, CLAT and NEET.

2. Focus on NCERT Textbooks

CBSE extensively uses NCERT textbooks, which are also the primary source for questions in exams like JEE, NEET, and CUET.

3. Assessment Pattern

CBSE assessments emphasise multiple-choice questions, reasoning, and problem-solving skills, which mimic the pattern of competitive exams.

4. Access to Better Resources and Guidance

CBSE students typically have access to better study materials, coaching centres, and guidance specifically targeted at entrance exams. These resources are often tailored to CBSE's curriculum

The Other Side of CBSE Schools: Accessibility and Cost

The latest RTI responses on CLAT accessed by Careers360 along with the 2018 IIT Kanpur report on JEE establish that the CBSE offers a huge advantage to students wanting to crack the competitive exams. These exams are the gateways to top universities in India such as IITs, NITs, NLUs, NIDs and medical colleges.

But how accessible are the CBSE board schools? Of the 14.71 lakh schools in India, only 28,135 schools are CBSE schools. Among the schools offering Senior Secondary education, CBSE schools constitute just around 18%. Compare this with the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP) which alone has around 25 lakh students appearing in Class 12th in a year. This is much higher than the 16.21 lakh students who appeared in the Class 12the exam from all CBSE board schools in the country.

As per the CBSE annual report, of 28,135 affiliated schools, over 75% of schools are private owned. The cost of education in these private schools in India is much higher than in government schools, making many of them unaffordable for lower and middle-class families.

Need for Reforms in State Board School Curricula

Education is listed as the concurrent subject in the seventh schedule of the Indian Constitution. All states have separate school education boards and they will continue to exist in the spirit of federalism. However, Unlike CBSE board schools, state board syllabi are less uniform and often lack the focus required for national-level competitive exams. The syllabi in many of these boards are designed around theory and rote learning rather than aptitude and problem-solving skills.

The students in the state board schools also face limited access to high-quality study materials and specialised coaching. This resource disparity eventually puts them at a relative disadvantage especially when they have to compete at national-level competitions and leave behind the schooling boards.

A major reform and curriculum overhaul is the need of the hour to keep state board schools relevant and prevent students from migrating to CBSE board schools. At least the subjects that lead students to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) courses should be kept uniform across the schools, while the assessment methods need to be changed for improved focus on reasoning, aptitude and problem-solving skills.

For students, if their objective is to crack any of the national-level entrance exams and if the state board schools are not offering the quality required to compete at the national level, it is time to move to the CBSE board schools. The success rate of students from these schools in entrance examinations is six to ten times higher than all other school boards in India.