What are co-scholastic areas?
The report-card grades for work education, art, and health and physical education, given beside the marks for subjects.
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What co-scholastic areas mean
Co-scholastic areas are the parts of a student’s work that a CBSE report card grades separately from the subject marks. CBSE’s 2017 report-card scheme names three: Work Education, Art Education, and Health and Physical Education. Each gets a grade, not marks.1
Discipline is graded on the same report card, but in its own row, not as a co-scholastic area. For classes 6 to 8, CBSE bases it on factors such as attendance, sincerity, behaviour, values, tidiness and respect for rules.1
The term itself is older than NEP 2020, which says there will be “no hard separation” among curricular, extracurricular and co-curricular areas.2 CBSE’s current secondary curriculum still grades these areas apart from subjects, but calls them by name, such as Art Education, rather than as “co-scholastic”.3
Where the school office meets them
The office meets them on the report card, and on the grade data a CBSE school fills in. The scale depends on the class.
| Classes | Areas graded | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| 6 to 8 | Work Education, Art Education, Health and Physical Education, graded term-wise; Discipline in its own row | 3-point: A Outstanding, B Very Good, C Fair1 |
| 9 and 10 | Art Education, and Health and Physical Education with Work Experience included in it; values and behaviour graded by the class teacher | 5-point: A to E3 |
| 11 and 12 | Health and Physical Education, Work Experience and General Studies, as internal-assessment subjects for every regular student | Graded, as set out in the senior secondary curriculum4 |
For Art Education in classes 9 and 10, the grades mean: A Exemplary, B Proficient, C Developing, D Emerging, E Beginner.3
What the school has to do
- Use the format and scale for the class. CBSE’s 2017 circular gave separate report-card formats for class 9 and for classes 6 to 8.1
- Collect each teacher’s grades at the end of the term or year, from the record the teacher has kept. CBSE asks the physical education teacher to keep a record of the health and physical education activities each child takes part in.3
- For classes 9 and 10, enter the grades CBSE asks for when you fill its online data: Health and Physical Education on the A to E scale, and the SEWA grade against Work Experience.3
- Print the grades exactly as given. The secondary curriculum says “No up scaling of grades will be done.”3
Common mistakes
- Using one scale for every class. Classes 6 to 8 use three grades; classes 9 and 10 use five.
- Giving everyone an A. CBSE asks for an objective assessment of each student’s level across the year.3 A row of A grades tells parents nothing.
- Folding discipline into the co-scholastic grades. It has its own row.1
- Reusing an old report-card template. CCE, the earlier scheme, had its own areas and labels. Check the template against the current curriculum each year.
- Assuming every board grades the same way. These are CBSE’s rules. State boards set their own report cards.
Sources
- CBSE, uniform system of assessment, examination and report card for classes VI to IX from 2017-18, Circular No. Acad-14/2017, 21 March 2017, paragraphs 5, 6 and 8 and the annexed formats. Back to the text
- Ministry of Human Resource Development, National Education Policy 2020, paragraph 4.9. Back to the text
- CBSE, Secondary School Curriculum 2025-26, sections 4.4, 4.5 and 4.8. Back to the text
- CBSE, Senior Secondary Curriculum 2025-26, sections 1.3 and 4.3. Back to the text