CBSE Board Exam 2020: Importance of word limit in exam writing

Writing answers appropriately in CBSE Board Exams requires a proper planning. Each word in an answer should convey the precise information. Some students believe in the myth that longer the answers, more you score in the exam.

However, long and irrelevant sentences included in the answers not only waste your time during the exam but also brings your score down. We have discussed below a few important points on adhering to the proper word limit for short and long answer type questions in CBSE Class 10 and Class 12 Board Exams.

Q. Is it important to adhere to the word limit that is prescribed in the CBSE exam papers?

Ans. There is a reason for why word limit has been assigned to every question in CBSE board exams. Actually, they want you to write a crisp and a precise answer, but not the meaningless stories. Try to stay as close to it as it's all subjective. I mean, if you have finished your word limit, you can still continue for another 4-5 lines to reflect the extent of your knowledge of the topic.

Though the examiner is not going to count the number of words and penalize you for crossing the word limit. But sometimes crossing it with a few more words can get your marks cut if the teacher is not in the right mood. The same may happen in case if you write too less. It is all subjective and is upto the teacher. The teacher/examiner always looks for the right keywords in context with the question. So, any information beyond the requirement of given question or problem in the paper will not fetch you any extra marks.

It’s still okay if you overshoot the word limit or are short of a few words, just make sure it isn't noticeable enough. Thus, as per the official guidelines outlined by CBSE for teachers checking the answer copies of board exams, no marks should be deducted for crossing the word limit. The only things to be emphasized on while checking the answer scripts are, concise, logical and organised answers.

In addition to this, it’s important for you to not cross the word limit as writing more words will take away more of the time allotted for writing the exam and you would be left with insufficient time to complete the remaining questions, losing those important marks for you.