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Ahead of Inter and HS exams, UP Board orders step-marking for maths, science answer sheets
UP Board secretary Bhagwati Singh has directed examiners to check language errors only in language subjects and adopt a lenient approach while evaluating other subjects.
The Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UP Board) has instructed High School and Intermediate examiners to adopt step marking while evaluating Mathematics and Science answer sheets and to ensure that answers written on the left-hand pages are also properly assessed.
UP Board secretary Bhagwati Singh has also directed examiners to check language errors only in language subjects and adopt a lenient approach while evaluating other subjects.
Step marking is an evaluation method commonly used by CBSE and several other boards, in which partial credit is awarded for each correct step, formula, or method used in solving a problem, rather than assessing only the final answer. The system encourages accuracy in problem-solving, reduces exam anxiety, and ensures fair assessment even if a calculation error occurs in the final step.
The directions come ahead of the evaluation of answer sheets for the ongoing UP Board High School and Intermediate Examinations 2026. The assessment process will begin on March 18, after the examinations conclude on March 12.
A total of 249 evaluation centres have been set up across the state.
For High School examinations, 20 marks of the 70-mark written paper are being conducted through objective-type OMR sheets, while the remaining 50 marks will be assessed through written answer sheets.
Board officials said the guidelines aim to ensure fairness, transparency, and accuracy in evaluating students’ performance across the state.
According to the March 7 directive, examiners must ensure that in High School answer sheets the marks awarded do not exceed the prescribed maximum of 50 under any circumstances. Special care should also be taken to ensure that no question remains unevaluated and that answers are not assessed incorrectly.
The Board Secretary has further directed that the practice of checking an excessive number of answer sheets merely to increase remuneration should be stopped, stressing that the evaluation process must not become a mere formality.
For teachers of government and government-aided schools, a minimum number of answer sheets to be evaluated per day will be mandatorily fixed—50 for High School and 45 for Intermediate.
To maintain quality in evaluation, the deputy head examiner will not personally assess more than 10 answer sheets per day.
At every evaluation centre, the process will be conducted under CCTV surveillance, and live feeds will be transmitted to state-level and district-level control rooms through webcasting, the guidelines state.
The directive also warns that any breach of confidentiality in the evaluation process will invite action under relevant departmental rules and the Uttar Pradesh Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.
