After students across the country complained about the error in the CBSE Class 10 English Paper earlier in the day, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Saturday issued a clarification saying the question did not have any error and clear instruction was given about the questions. Some students expressed disappointment saying CBSE Class 10 English Paper 2021 went without proper questions.

CBSE Exam Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said the matter was unnecessarily highlighted as the instructions were given at the beginning of the questions, and there are no errors in question numbers 13 and 14 in the paper today. He added that question numbers 13 and 14 are part of Section A, passage number II.As per the feedback from the students, question numbers 13 and 14 in the second comprehension of the English paper didn’t have any proper questions and only had the MCQ answer options. 

Copy of CBSE Class 10 English Paper 2021:

It must be noted that questions numbers 11 and 12 started with an instruction- study the following statements, there are no instructions in questions numbers 13 and 14. However, the passage started with the following statement- “Read the passage given below and answer the questions/ complete the statements that follow by choosing the most appropriate option out of the given ones.”

In the clarification, the CBSE said both the questions numbers 13 and 14 are correct and there is no ambiguity.

Moreover, in question number- 43, C and D carry similar meaning of options given, however, option B was correct. “Questions are to be replied as per the instructions given and not in isolation,” the CBSE added.

CBSE Exam Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said he reviewed the English paper as balanced and followed the pattern of NCERT and sample papers.

He said that he saw some review quoting principals and teachers saying the options were ambiguous, identical, tricky and confusing.

However, he admitted that few papers went a bit difficult, and there were some mistakes. “But there were no mistakes in both the papers of today- 10th English and 12th Psychology,” he clarified.

On the other hand, CBSE spokesperson Rama Sharma clarified that the instructions were clear and no such extra marks will be awarded to students. She said that both the questions are correct and there is no ambiguity. She also added that questions were to be replied as per the instructions given and not in isolation.