CBSE vs ICSE – The Pros and Cons

To understand about the boards, let us first list down the basic facts and then analyse the pros and cons of both the curriculums.

CBSE – The Central Board of Secondary Education

CBSE board conducts All India Senior School Examination (AISSE), and All India Senior School Certificate Examination (AISSCE) for grades X and XII every year at national level.

ICSE – Indian Certificate of Secondary Education

ICSE is conducted by Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE). CISCE conducts ICSE and ISC (Indian School Certificate) examinations at national level for grades X and XII.

Having stated about the exams conducted by the boards, let us now analyse the pros and cons of the boards.

Pros & Cons of CBSE Board

Pros

• Category A competitive exams like JEE, AIEEE and AIPMT are based on the CBSE syllabus, so opting for CBSE board will get you a competitive edge over others to crack these exams.

• Compared to ICSE, CBSE is believed to be easier and compact. ICSE on the other hand has more in-depth content and is considered to be tougher and more effort consuming.
• CBSE board is recognized by the government of India, while ICSE is not. CBSE also has a chain of central schools – Kendriya Vidyalaya - forwards of government employees.
• CBSE has a wide presence in India – the number of CBSE affiliated schools is far more than that of ICSE affiliated schools.
• NCERT text books and their solutions are sufficient to get high score in CBSE Board Exams.

Cons

• CBSE board approves both English and Hindi as the mediums of communication, but focuses on science to empower students to crack competitive exams. Hence, not much emphasis is laid on English language.
• The teaching approach is designed in a theoretical manner which prevents students from understanding the real-life applications of the content in the topics.

ICSE

Pros

• ICSE has an all-round focus on all the subjects – English, Science, Arts and Maths, while the focus of CBSE is majorly on science in order to empower students to crack competitive exams. Hence, ICSE is good for students who are still exploring or have an off-beat interest in humanities, management, law etc.
• More focus on English gives ICSE student better command over the language and hence, they are in a better position to crack exams like GRE, GMAT, TOEFL etc, which are language focused.
• ICSE board is a derivative of the Cambridge Board (IGCSE) and hence, is well acknowledged across the globe.
• ICSE board has more emphasis on lab work, so it is good for students who see their career in research work.

Cons

• As the content delivered against each topic is in-depth, an average student may find it very difficult to understand and cope-up with the syllabus compared to his/her counterpart in CBSE.
• ICSE board is not recognized by the Indian government while CBSE is.

Hence, both the boards have their own sets of pros and cons and none of them is better than those of the other one. Choice of board depends on your interest and career goal. School selection also plays a pivotal role. Analysis of approach of the school in execution and delivery of the content should be done thoroughly. So, analyse the pros and cons of the board well, know your interest, and then go ahead with selecting a school which understands and inculcates the expected attributes of the curriculum.

Useful Resources for CBSE Board Exams

• NCERT Solution for Class 10 Maths
• NCERT Solution for Class 10 Science

• Sample Papers for CBSE Class 10

Umesh Kumar is a marketing expert by profession and writer by choice. He loves to share exam preparation strategy for various exams that help to improve student chances of getting score.