With nearly three months left for the board exam to begin the students who are preparing for competitions like JEE/NEET facing a dilemma how to balance between competition and 12th board. While the natural inclination of most of the students is to focus on one , it is ideally not a right approach to have because it is a myth that focusing on competitions will lead to low percentage in boards. To justify and prove this fact it is enough to check the performance of toppers of JEE/NEET in their board exams and you will find there is a positive correlation between the results in boards and competition. Over the years students who have performed well in the competitions have performed well in boards as well. However the vice-a-versa case might not be true because preparation for competitions requires different approach then boards. So this article is written to provide guidance and briefly highlight a plan that students can follow to ensure that they perform to their best potential in both the boards and competition and come out with flying colours.

Differences and similarities between Boards and JEE/NEET
Before proposing a plan of balancing of finding Synergy between board and competition it is necessary to first highlight the similarities between them. The first and foremost and the major similarity is the syllabus that is there in the exam both the boards and JEE/NEET have the same syllabus when it comes to subjects that is PCM for JEE and PCB for NEET. Another important similarity is the fact that NCERT books have been officially declared as the reference book for both JEE and NEET by NTA and thus a thorough study and understanding of the board books will also be helpful in attempting JEE and NEET exams. So on a prima facie basis it is clear and evident to have a study plan that utilizes the intersection of the synergy in the syllabus between the two and also encompasses the differences in them mainly in the subject matter.

Having learnt the similarities between the two let us now understand the major differences between them. The first major difference is that the board exam also requires you to study additional subject like English and other additional subjects and there are practicals involved in board exams which are not part of competitions. Hence they have to be dealt separately and buffer time has to be allotted to them. The other major difference is the pattern of the exam. While the board exam is mostly focuses on descriptive type questions, the competitions are having Multiple choice questions (MCQs). So you have to practice different variety of questions for each of them.

Another difference that needs to be highlighted is the fact that there is negative marking in the competitive exams, which is not the case with board exam. Hence the approach and the way of attempting these exams has to be different than that of Boss boards board
Preparing for Competition and Boards together
Start from NCERT and then increase the level of questions from there. It would be a good plan to first make a chapter wise and subject wise plan where you decide upon the number of days that you should be giving to topic for boards having done this add extra hours of study for the same topics for competitions during the same slots this will help you to prepare simultaneously and perform well in both the exams.
Solve previous year questions for competitions and simultaneously make notes of frequently asked questions from the boards. It is a fact that for boards there are some topics and derivations which are repeated quite often. It is very important to practice and make notes for them. Develop good understanding and learn them well. if it is a derivation or proof then practice and learn it multiple times so you can score full marks in these questions
Start by devoting 75% of time to competitions and decrease it by 25% each month. This time taken from competition must be added to board preparation time. And when there is only a month remaining before the exam devote 75% and if you fell necessary then up to 90% to boards

Other Tangential factors to succeed in exams
There are a few more important factors to be paid attention to perform well in both boards and competitions. A list of these is presented here:
” Regular revision is very important for both competition and boards it is important to ensure that you should have at least two to three rounds of revision before the exam.
” Each subject needs different approach. So create a subject wise plan which utilizes the synergy between the competition and boards while preparing for each subjects
” Proper attention has to be given to health as this is a very crucial time for you have to remain healthy as the next few months are of utmost importance for your career

Vinit Kumar Singh (Associate Director) Aakash BYJU’S Digital