Chandigarh: The Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has decided to increase the difficulty level of its board examinations from the 2025–26 academic session, bringing changes to the question paper pattern for Classes 8, 10 and 12.
According to guidelines issued by the board, the share of easy questions in annual examinations has been reduced by 10 per cent, while the proportion of difficult questions has been increased by 10 per cent.
Board officials said the move aims to make question papers more practical, thoughtful and qualitative. The revised pattern has been communicated to the education department as well as principals of private schools across the state.
Under the new system, students will no longer be able to rely only on memorising textbook exercises. Officials said 25 per cent of the questions will now be asked from the middle portions of chapters, making it necessary for students to study entire chapters in detail.
The board said the decision was taken after concerns were raised over students securing full marks in board examinations in recent years. Officials said the consistently high scores had led to questions about the existing examination pattern, prompting the board to raise the difficulty level.
The changes will come into effect from the upcoming academic session and are expected to make scoring high marks more challenging for students appearing in PSEB examinations.
