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NIOS board vs. CBSE board

cbse board

They are two different boards for passing 10th and 12th. Many students, parents and teachers come up with questions like “which board is better CBSE or NIOS. First, we will learn some basic facts about all the three boards:

CBSE founded in 1952, this board is regular and the student enrolled in this board has to attend classes at his/her school. The syllabus is designed by NCERT. NCERT constantly update the syllabus to keep it updated with the latest trend in education. Click here to get a list of cbse schools in foreign countries.

NIOS founded on 3 November 1989 now it has been one of the most prominent boards of India. It gives the freedom to the students to study from home But, to be honest it might affect in your near future studying from NIOS as it is a correspondent /distance mode.


CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) – CBSE is a regular board and the students enrolled in this board has to attend classes at school. The main purpose of bringing this board into existence was to bring all schools and Colleges across India under one board so that every student has the same knowledge at a certain level.

The CBSE syllabus is well designed for the students it keeps up to date by constantly revising the syllabus. The syllabus is however designed by NCERT in view of updating the latest trend in education. Click here to get best cbse schools list in india.

  • CBSE is a national level board of education in India, managed by Union Government of India.
  • CBSE affiliates all Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVS), all Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNV), private schools and most of the schools approved by central government of India.
  • More than 19 thousand schools in India and about 211 schools in 25 foreign countries are affiliated to the CBSE.
  • CBSE conducts the final examinations (or board exams) for Class 10 and Class 12 every year (usually in the month of March) and announce the result till the end of May.
  • Besides board exams for Class 10 and Class 12, CBSE also conducts some important competitive exams like JEE Main, NEET, UGC Net etc.
  • CBSE prescribe NCERT textbooks to its affiliated schools.
  • In CBSE, students have to attend school and the examinations are conducted in regular intervals for getting the pass certificate.

NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) – NIOS has now been one of the most prominent boards in India. The board has to be approved and funded by Ministry of Human Resource and Development. It gives the freedom to students to study from home.

NIOS syllabus is also designed by NCERT, which makes the syllabus equivalent to CBSE board. NIOS is mostly preferred by students as it gives the freedom to candidates to be able to study from home and is most prominent for those candidates who do prepare for competitive examinations. Even in terms of curriculum, it is identical to CBSE.

The NIOS is a national board that administers the Secondary and Senior Secondary examinations of open schools similar to the CBSE and the CISCE/ ICSE.

  • In NIOS, students have to prepare from home and give the examination for the whole syllabus at mentioned dates.
  • Officially, Nios is considered same as any other board.
  • You will be able to give most entrance exams like JEE mains, advance etc.  But some universities do not accept nios.
  • You will face some problem during a job interview. People will always ask why you chose this board. People from normal boards are always preferred. Actually, the aim of nios was to provide education in rural areas, where there is no infrastructure. So people will always assume that you are not as smart as the other people.
  • The syllabus is not harder, but you have won’t have anyone to guide you.
  • The mission of this board is to increase literacy and provide education to rural areas.

Till now you must have learned about both boards. It doesn’t matter whether someone has passed 10th & 12th from CBSE or NIOS.

If a student is planning to appear for competitive exams like JEE Main, NEET etc, then that student should prefer CBSE board because syllabus of this board is almost similar to the syllabus of a number of competitive exams (likes JEE Main, NEET etc).

To sum up, both boards (CBSE & NIOS) have equal recognition and student can choose the board as per their requirements and convenience.

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