Exams, assignments, practicals

Public exams

• NIOS has board exams twice a year: April/May and October/November
• The student does not have to pass all subjects in one exam session.
• A subject that is passed stays passed.

On-Demand Exams

This is the best part of NIOS. On-Demand Exams are also called ODE for some subjects.

This means the student can take a subject when ready, instead of waiting for the next full public exam. That makes NIOS so amazing and allows us to create subject wise learning blocks.

• For our proposed subjects, English, Business Studies, Psychology, Economics (and Home Science) are currently available through ODE.
• Marathi has to be taken in the regular public exam.
• ODEs usually happen in June, July, Aug, Sept, Jan, Feb, March.
• A student is allowed to take only one ODE per month. They can register for ODEs of different subjects in a month if they want. But they cannot take an improvement exam for a subject unless the earlier marks are declared. We will explain this in detail when we come to that juncture.
• Each time the student passes a subject that is added to the record. When the student ends up passing in 5 subjects, they get the Std 10 passed certificate and a single marksheet.
• Official link HERE

This is what the exam year looks like in NIOS

Our plan

For students registering now, we first prepare them properly for one or two subjects for the first public exam. (April 2027) - Marathi - for example and also English.

• They clear those and after that, we can take the remaining subjects one by one through the ODEs.
• This means the student can focus on small targets at a time instead of carrying the pressure of many board subjects together and do well.
• If the student doesn't clear a subject, it's not a disaster. They do not have to repeat everything, they can take that subject the next month - clear it and move on to the next subject.

Marks

• All core theory papers are 100 marks. Home Science is 85 marks + 15 marks practical. Students must score 33% marks in the theory paper.
• NIOS also has Tutor Marked Assignments (TMA) which are submissions. These have to be done on their own (which we will do in school) and have to be submitted online through the student's NIOS account. They carry 20 marks.
• So the final theory marks are scaled to be out of 80 and these TMA are added to it and that total goes onto the report card.
• Earlier question papers are HERE

Contact sessions

NIOS Study Centres conduct required contact sessions.

• These are usually held on weekends or holidays.
• The student must attend the minimum required compulsory sessions at the study centre. This minimum number varies from study centre to study centre. Some study centres may have no minimum attendance requirements at all.

Some subjects have practicals (Data Entry Operations, Home Science)

• For Data Entry Operations, Walnut will prepare the student for the practicals in school but the student will still have to show up for the minimum requirement at the centre for the official practical.
• For Home Science, Walnut will share the activities for practicals which the students can do at home and then attend official practical sessions at the NIOS Study Centre.