CBSE Class XII Term 2: Smart planning key to benefitting from sample papers, scoring high

A robust revision plan can help make students prepare better ahead of board exams. Educators recommend “smart planning” to make the most of the last few days in the run-up to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class XII Term 2 exams.

Most teachers suggest solving sample question papers (SQP) released on the CBSE board website.

“In today’s competitive world, students have to resort to smart planning in their studies to excel in examinations. We all know that our anxiety grows manifold during exams if we are uncertain about the question pattern,” said Susmita Majumdar, head of the Science department (senior section) at Mahadevi Birla World Academy.

Quoting former US secretary of state Colin Powell, Majumdar added, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.”

Suparna Roy, head of the Business Department at Mahadevi Birla World Academy, also pointed out that rote learning was no longer enough to do well in the CBSE board examinations. Questions for the exam are set based on Bloom's taxonomy, which requires memory, understanding and application. High Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions are also a part of the paper and they can help students gain crucial marks, she said.

“Utilise the full 15-minute reading time to read the question paper. Read each question three times before attempting them,” she said.

The board provides a clear blueprint in the form of the SQP for every subject and solving them builds familiarity with the exam. “These questions are an important tool to understand the marking key, marks division, type of questions asked and develop a familiarity with the exam pattern,” she said.

Time management is another key factor that can be addressed by practising with SQP. “Solving sample papers is very important for board exam preparations as it helps students with writing practice, proper framing of answers as well as time management,” said Anuradha Niyogi Basu, academic coordinator at Mahadevi Birla World Academy.

Here is how you can get the sample question papers from the CBSE website:

• Go to cbseacademic.nic.in or go to cbse.gov.in and then click on “Academic Website”

• Drag the mouse cursor to the “Sample Question Paper” option

• On the drop-down menu drag your mouse cursor to the year of the SQP you want to see

• Click on the “Class XII” option

• A page with all the SQP for all the subjects will open

• Click on the SQP that you want to see or download it

All subjects SQP for Term 1 and Term 2 of 2021-22 can be directly accessed from the following link:

https://cbseacademic.nic.in/SQP_CLASSXII_2021-22.html