Karnataka SSLC 2025 mid-term exams begin today; KSEAB to share question paper only hours before exam

The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) will commence the Karnataka SSLC mid-term exams for Class 10 students from today. The Karnataka SSLC half-yearly exam will be conducted from September 12 to 19 in the respective schools.

As per the exam timings, the Karnataka SSLC 2025 mid-term exams will be held from 10:30 am to 1:45 pm and for some subjects from 2 pm to 5.15 pm. Students will be given 15 minutes reading time to go through the question paper.

Practical and oral examinations for students of JTS subjects (56, 57, 58 and 59 subjects) will be conducted today from 2.30 pm in the respective schools.

“The theoretical examination of Hindustani Music and Carnatic Music will be conducted from 2.00 pm to 3.45 pm and the practical examination will be conducted from 3.45 pm to 5.15 pm in the respective schools,” the KSEAB said.

Students will appear for first language papers - Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, English, English (NCERT), and Sanskrit. On September 13, exams for core subjects – Science and Political Science along with Hindustani and Carnatic Music – will be conducted.

Changes in Karnataka SSLC exam 2025

The KSEAB has introduced several changes in the Karnataka SSLC assessment and exam pattern.

Following complaints on paper leak, the KSEAB announced its decision to share the Karnataka SSLC question paper 2025 for Summative Assessment-1 just a few hours before the exam, instead of sending it before a day.

Accordingly, question papers have been prepared at the board level for all subjects and the question papers will be made available to the login of the school headmaster.

The Karnataka state committee of All India Democratic Students' Organisation (AIDSO) had opposed this introduction of a new question paper for mid-term exam, citing last-minute changes to exams are “undemocratic” and put immense pressure on students.

Taking note of the slump in pass percentage, the minister for school education and literacy, Madhu Bangarappa, last year announced that the 20% grace marks policy has been removed. The Karnataka SSLC grace marks was increased from 10% to 20% during the 2023 board exams in view of the academic disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

Considering the issues faced by the schools and students, the board had proposed to revamp its evaluation criteria in line with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). It had also asked to reduce the passing marks from 35% to 33% and total marks for language papers from 120 to 100.

In subjects with no practical examination or internal assessment, students are required to score 24 out of 80 to pass and in subjects with practical exams, they will have to score at least 21 marks out of 70 to clear the exam.