The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to introduce a nine-point grading scale for class 10 students without letting them worry about being marked "failed. The new system will be effective from the year 2008.

The nine-point scale grading system will require students to get qualifying grades in four of the five subjects to get promoted to the next level. The students' marksheet will not carry "pass" or "fail" remark and they will have four options to improve on their grades within a period of two subsequent years.

The reforms in internal assessment and examination will begin to take shape from the coming Board examinations in 2006. Besides giving an extra 15 minute grace time to students to read and comprehend the questions, efforts are on to redesign the format of Class X and XII papers to ensure that students solve it in 30 minutes before the three-hour time.

Another important change from the coming Board examinations of 2006 will be the Board's decision to let students give the improvement exams for even additional subjects in Class X and XII.