The Central Board of Secondary Education is a board of school education in India.The CBSE prepares the syllabus for students from Lower Kindergarten (L.K.G) to Class 12, for schools affiliated with it. It conducts two board examinations: the All India Secondary School Examination for Class 10 and the All India Senior School Certificate Examination for Class 12, which is a school-leaving examination. It also prescribes the syllabi for these examinations, whose scores are necessary to gain admission in higher study institues. Many private schools through the country affiliate themselves with the CBSE. The medium for education prescribed by CBSE is either English or Hindi.

CBSE All India Senior School Certificate Examination for Class 12 is widely recognised internationally for direct admission to university undergraduate courses.

CBSE also conducts the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) which is a common entrance examination on all-India basis for admission to engineering and architecture/planning programmes in the country. Similarly Pre-medical and Pre-dental Tests (PMT/PDT) are conducted for medical and dental colleges after the 10+2 exams.

Despite being central boards and following the national curriculum, this board has few students; Most students opt for their respective state boards. For example, Madhyamik (equivalent examination of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education) is taken by around 750,000 candidates while this examination has about 450,000 candidates.

JURISDICTION

The jurisdiction of the Board is extensive and stretches beyond the national geographical

boundaries. As a result of the reconstruction ,the erstwhile "Delhi Board of Secondary Education" was merged with the Central Board and thus all the educational institutions recognised by the Delhi Board also became a part of the Central Board. Subsequently, all the schools located in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and the state of Sikkim got affiliation with the Board. From a group of 309 schools in1962 the Board today has 5119 schools as on 25.9.98 affiliated to it, which include 784 kendriya Vidyalayas,1381 Government Schools, 2486 Independent Schools, 355 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and 13 Adhoc Schools.

CBSE also has Indian schools in the middle-east and the US that are affiliated to it.