Proficiency Test

The broad objectives of the optional Proficiency test include benchmarking of skills and higher mental abilities of students, providing motivation to students for academic excellence in the respective subjects, providing feedback to schools on levels of learning of their students and setting goals, priorities and targets in their future educational plans.

What is a Proficiency Test?

A Proficiency Test measures an individual’s abilities and skills in a domain or subject to know how well he/she has learned, understood and internalised the related concepts and principles. Such a test in language e.g. may assess a student’s skills in reading, writing or vocabulary. Similarly a test in Science may focus on assessing students’ abilities to apply concepts and principles to analyse a given situation, solve a given problem and conduct practical work efficiently. A test in Mathematics may similarly assess problem solving abilities and skills of mathematical thinking, mathematical reasoning and procedural techniques followed by students. Thus, the proposed Proficiency Test will mainly focus on assessing students’ abilities and skills to apply knowledge and understanding of any subject to new and unfamiliar everyday life situations.

The core testing element of such a test will include observing, comparing, classifying, solving, translating, interpreting, analyzing, synthesising, creating, composing, deducing, justifying and judging/evaluating.

Salient Features of the Test

It is optional in nature. Only those students who wish to take this test willingly may appear.
It will be conducted in the month of April, 2014 as per the following schedule.

Day	Date	Subject
Monday	14th April, 2014	English
Tuesday	15th April, 2014	Mathematics
Wednesday	16th April, 2014	Science
Thursday	17th April, 2014	Social Science
Friday	18th April, 2014	Hindi

It will be conducted in all the five main subjects studied by a student in class-X. However, a student may appear in one or more subjects depending upon his/her choice.
There will be a separate test in every subject one test will be held on a single day.
It will be a paper-pen test to be administered on the same day across all willing schools in the country.
- Students wishing to appear in the test will be required to pay separate examination fee for the same. The amount of fee to be paid by a student is as under:

One subject	Rs. Three hundred only
Two subjects	Rs. Four hundred only
Three subjects	Rs. Five hundred only
Four or five subjects	Rs. Six hundred only

The registration fee has to be submitted in the form of a Demand Draft in favour of “Secretary, CBSE, Delhi” payable at Delhi.
Any student studying in secondary or senior secondary school affiliated to CBSE and appearing in

March, 2014 final examination (School conducted or Board Conducted) is eligible to appear in this test.

Every student appearing in the test will be issued a certificate by the Board indicating percentile rank.

Format of the Question Paper

All questions will be of multiple choice type with only single correct answer. A student will be required to mark the answers on a given OMR sheet.
Question paper in every subject will carry 100 marks.
The duration of the test in every subject will be 2½ hours.
The test will be based on classes IX-X syllabus in the subject prescribed by CBSE.
The questions included in the question paper will be of varying difficulty level.
- The typology of questions will be different from the type of questions asked in conventional final examination conducted by the Board at the end of Class-X. The test will not include any direct recall, information-based or memory –based questions. It will only include questions to assess students’ skills and abilities to apply understanding of concepts to analyse a given situation or an unfamiliar everyday life problem.
- Negative marks will be awarded for wrong answers. More than one answer indicated against a question

will also be deemed as incorrect response and will be negatively marked.

The willing schools are required to submit the related information to the Board through online filling up of the

registration form available on CBSE website www.cbse.nic.in

Procedure for online submission of List of candidates shall be available on the website shortly. The last date for submitting the online information is 31st December, 2013.

The print out of filled in online registration form (Hard copy) duly signed and attested by the Principal of the school alongwith the registration fee in the form of a draft in favour of “Secretary, CBSE, Delhi” payable at Delhi, may be submitted to the Sh. Ram Shankar, Assistant Professor & Joint Director (A&V), Central Board of Secondary Education, 17 Rouse Avenue, New Delhi-110 002 by 15th January, 2014.

The following salient points for taking the tests may be taken note of:

a) Only those students are allowed to take the proposed test (s) who have applied through the schools and paid requisite fee.

b) A student will have to appear from the same city/place where his/her school is located. .The examination will be conducted only at pre-decided centres as per Class-X Board examination.

c) The timings of the test will be from 10.30 A.M. to 1.00 P.M. in every subject.

The above information may be brought to the notice of all concerned. For any further information in this regard, the schools may contact Sh. Ram Shankar, Assistant Professor & Joint Director (A&V), CBSE at jdcbse@gmail.com or Consultant CBSE at science.cbse@gmail.com .