New Delhi, February 20 2009: There will be no change this year in the question pattern from last year in class-X and class-XII exams of Central Board of Secondary education (CBSE) beginning from 2nd March.

Over 14.5 lakh students will appear in the exams, an increase of nearly 1.5 lakh from 2008 .

The CBSE has decided to stick to the same pattern introduced last year in which the focus was more on understanding and analysis rather than memorising ability of the students.

The board had introduced 20 percent questions on 'high-order thinking skills'.

"There will be no change in the pattern of questions this year.

It will be the same as last year.

We have already put out sample papers on the website for referral of students," CBSE Examination Controller M C Sharma said.

However, the answer sheets will thinner than last year, the examination controller said.

"The answer sheets for class-XII will be reduced from 48 to 40 while for class-X, it will be reduced from 40 to 32.The reason is that most of the students are not able to complete the answer sheets.

They are leaving blank pages," he said.

While 6,32,322 students have registered for class-XII, the number of candidates for class-X is 8,23,887, he said.

The number of candidates has increased from nearly 13 lakh last year to over 14.5 lakh this year in the exams for both the classes.

The candidates include 20,329 students studying in CBSE-affiliated schools in foreign countries, Sharma said.

CBSE will set up 2,509 examination centres, including 555 in Delhi, for class-XII and 2,713 examination centres, including 568 in Delhi, for class-X students, he said.

"All arrangements are being made to ensure smooth conduct of the examinations," he said.

The CBSE has been providing 15 minutes cool-off time to students to go through questions properly.

The cool-off time will continue as before, he said.

The CBSE has also started providing counselling to students on exam related issues.

While the class-X examination will continue till 30th March, the class-XII test will be over on 2nd April.

In class-X, students are supposed to appear in five compulsory subjects while class-XII students would appear in one compulsory subject and four electives.

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