New Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS): Students should have a minimum 75 per cent attendance to be able to appear for the 10th and 12th examinations to be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

The CBSE in its latest notice has directed all schools to calculate attendance of students who have to appear for class 10 and class 12 board exams this year as on January 1, 2020.

Students whose attendance will be calculated less than 75 per cent will not be allowed to appear for the exams, as per the rule mandated by the CBSE.

The CBSE board exams will commence from February 15 and admit cards will be released only for students who are eligible by all means including that of mandatory attendance. The list of candidates with short attendance will reach regional offices and the final decision will be taken on or before January 7.

If a candidate has a genuine reason behind the shortage of attendance, they will have to submit the supporting documents with the authorities by January 7. As per the circular, no case will be considered post the deadline and all the standard operating procedures for calculation of attendance will have to be followed.

Several new methods will kick in the CBSE board exams from 2020 including two-level maths to a lesser number of questions.

The question paper will also have 33 per cent options and more questions on higher-order thinking skills in comparison to questions based on rote memorisation. Instead of being of 100 marks, the theory exams will be for 80 marks. Internal assessment will amount to 20 marks in total in subjects where there is no practical assessment.