New Pattern of Class 12 Bihar Board Exams

Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has not announced any major change in the pattern of class 12 Board Exam for the last three years. And it is a major achievement for the board. In 2017, 7.19 lakh students out of 12.6 lakh failed in the Intermediate or class 12 Bihar Board Exams. It means approximately 64 percent students could not clear their exam. It prompted BSEB to revise the question paper pattern. In 2021, the last major change was implemented. In this post, we will discuss about the existing pattern of class 12 Bihar Board Exams. 

 

Question Paper Pattern of Bihar Board Intermediate Exams 

After poor performance of students in 2017 class 12 board exams, BSEB had set up a committee to suggest new changes in the question paper pattern. Changes were then also introduced in the copy evaluation rules. New changes that BSEB introduced in Intermediate Question Paper few years back have been given below. Bihar Board Exam 2024 will be based on the same pattern. 

 

• In theory paper of each subject, objective questions or MCQs will now carry 50 percent marks. 100 marks question paper will contain 100 MCQs, students need to answer just 50 of them. 70 marks question paper will contain 70 MCQs, students need to answer just 35. While, out of 50 MCQs, 25 need to be answered in a 50 marks question paper. 

 

• Number of 2 marks questions has been increased. In theory paper of 70 marks, 20 two marks questions will be asked. you need to answer only 10 out of them. 100 marks question paper will contain 30 short answer questions, students need to answer only 15.  Also Read: Blueprint of Bihar Board Class 12 Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths

 

• 8 and 6 long answer type questions for 5 marks will be asked in 100 marks and 70 marks question paper respectively. Students need to answer just 4 and 3 long answer type questions out of 8 and 6 questions. 

 

• In language papers like Hindi, English, etc., questions carrying more than 5-marks will also be asked.  

 

• Sent-up examinations will be conducted which must be cleared before appearing in the annual class 12 Bihar board exams. 

 

 

New Changes in Class 12 Bihar Board Exams from 2021 Onwards 

 

• Addition Subject as Game Changer: If a student passes in additional subject and fails in one of his main subjects; additional subject will be swapped with that subject and candidate would be declared pass.
  

   

• Two Language Papers of 100 Marks each: Now students need to appear in only two language papers, each carrying 100 marks. It will replace existing language paper of NRB and MB of 50-50 marks each. 

 

• Language Paper Rules: Paper 1 could be either Hindi or English. In Paper 2, students can choose from Hindi or English (Not selected in Paper 1) or from 10 languages like Sanskrit, Urdu, Maithili, Prakrit, Bhojpuri, Arabic, Persian, Pali, Bengali or Maghi.  

 

• Apart from Paper 1 and Paper 2, students are free to choose third language as additional subject. Students must pass in any one language paper to be able to replace the other with the additional subject. 

                                      

• More options in Additional Subject Choice: Bihar Board has increased the number of subjects that can be chosen as additional subject. For example- earlier in science stream, only Maths, Computer Science or Multi Media could be chosen as additional subject. Now PCM students can choose Biology too as additional subject. Also Read: "Fee Structure of Private Medical Colleges in Bihar"
  

 

• It should be noted that students are still free to appear in just 5 main subjects. It means that choice of additional subject is optional. Students can appear in 2 language papers and 3 optional subjects and choose not to have additional subject.      

 

BSEB has introduced new pattern of intermediate or class 12 board exams to increase passing percentage. It expects that the new pattern will now help meritorious students in scoring above 90 percent easily. BSEB also aims to be ranked among Top 3 examination boards of the country by doing drastic reforms in its functioning.

 

 

How many Objective Questions or MCQs will be asked? 

Number of objective questions, carrying 1-mark each, will vary in different subjects of science, Arts and commerce stream. Theory paper of Physics, Chemistry or Biology carries 70 marks. Out of 70 marks, MCQs will carry 35 marks. In subjects like Mathematics, Accountancy etc., question paper carries 100 marks. In these subjects, MCQs carry 50 marks. A table has been given below which indicates number of objective questions or MCQs that will be asked in different subjects.     

Subjects	Theory	MCQs
Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Entrepreneurship, Psychology, Geography, Home Science, Agriculture, Computer Science, Multimedia & Web Technology, Yoga & Physical Education	70 Marks	35 (70)
Mathematics, Accountancy, Business Studies, Economics, History, Political Science, Philosophy, Sociology	100 Marks	50 (100)
Hindi, English, Sanskrit, Urdu, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Maithili and other language	100 Marks	50 (100)

BSEB has directed every school to conduct sent-up examination based on the new pattern. Students must qualify in it to become eligible for appearing in the annual intermediate exams. BSEB will initially issue dummy admit card in December. Candidates can verify their details before the release of final admit card.