In a major step to alleviate student stress and improve accessibility, the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has chosen to combine the pass certificate and marksheet into one comprehensive document. This change will affect students in Class XII (ISC) and Class X (ICSE) beginning in the 2025 academic year. 

Traditionally, students taking the ICSE and ISC exams received their academic results as two separate documents: a marksheet showing their marks and percentage, and a pass certificate listing their grades. CISCE, on the other hand, has changed this format by creating a consolidated document that displays both the grades and marks in one location. This change seeks to streamline students’ academic documentation and lessen the difficulties of handling and presenting two distinct papers during university admissions or job applications. 

The reform has been implemented, according to Joseph Emmanuel, Chief Executive and Secretary of CISCE, to simplify organizational processing and make it easier for students to manage their academic records. “The aim is to ensure ease of handling, reduce costs, and provide quick access to documents, data, and information, all at one point,” Emmanuel told Education Times. He additionally highlighted that the board can significantly cut expenses related to paper, printing, and physical distribution—resources that can now be allocated to enhancing digital systems and educational infrastructure—by combining the documents. 

This shift is in line with India’s wider objectives for digitalization and sustainability. The CISCE initiative aids in the fight against climate change and supports environmental preservation activities through its decreased paper usage. Students can now store and share verified digital copies of their academic credentials thanks to the single document’s integration with Digilocker, a secure cloud-based service that is part of the Government of India’s Digital India program. This minimizes the demand for physical storage and allows for academic records to be readily accessed from anywhere at any time. 

There are several advantages to this shift. From the student’s point of view, the simplified format lowers the risk of misplacing or harming essential academic papers. The combined format gives employers and universities a faster and more comprehensible insight of a candidate’s academic achievements. The revised document provides a separate column for grades next to the marks, allowing for quick comparison of numerical and qualitative assessments. By removing uncertainties during the admissions and recruitment processes, this integration is anticipated to support organizations in India and elsewhere. 

The Hyderabad Public School’s Principal in Begumpet, Skand Bali, commended the action for its effectiveness and transparency. He stated that the updated format provides a comprehensive picture of a student’s academic performance at a glance. It “offers a clear and immediate overview of a student’s academic performance,” according to him, “allowing institutions to interpret both numerical scores and corresponding grade levels quickly.” “Especially during admissions, this integrated format reduces uncertainty and makes the evaluation procedure easier,” he said. 

Issuing migration certificates directly to Class XII students is another important facet of this reform. In the past, schools were in charge of printing, completing, and distributing migration certificates according to templates supplied by CISCE. This decentralized approach sometimes result in delays that annoyed students, especially those looking for quick university admissions or transfers, as well as spelling mistakes and factual inaccuracies. These issues are anticipated to decrease considerably now that the council is in charge of the entire process of printing and distributing migration certificates. By guaranteeing timely and correct documentation, this centralized issuance will facilitate transitions for students transferring between schools, states, or even nations. 

In the Indian educational system, the idea of a single document is not novel. The ‘marks statement cum certificate’ model was first adopted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in 2019, and the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) followed suit during the October-November 2021 examination cycle. The adoption of this model by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) in 2025 signifies the board’s alignment with this expanding trend among educational boards. The feedback from parents, students, and schools has been overwhelmingly favorable so far, with many highlighting the new single-document system’s efficiency, clarity, and convenience. 

In conclusion, CISCE’s decision to merge the marksheet and certificate into a single document is a progressive change. It simplifies academic documentation for students, lowers administrative expenses for the board, and facilitates verification procedures for employers and institutions. Most significantly, it demonstrates a changing educational system that is adopting digitalization, sustainability, and student convenience as fundamental priorities.