CBSE Class 12 Board Exam 2018: Chemistry Paper Analysis by Board Examiner

By Neelam Jugran 

CBSE Class XII Chemistry Board Exam was held across various test centres in the country from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm on March 13, 2018. Most of the students and teachers felt that even though the paper was not time consuming but it would be difficult for students to score high because questions were tricky in the paper. Many of the questions asked in the paper required HOT (High Order Thinking) skills.

Test Pattern & Marking Scheme

There was no overall choice offered in Chemistry board exam conducted by CBSE. There was internal choice in one question of 2 marks weightage, one question of 3 marks weightage and all the three questions of 5 marks weightage.

Section	Question Type	No of Questions	Marks allotted to Exam Question
A	Very short answer type questions	5	1
B	Short answer type I questions	5	2
C	Short answer type II questions	12	3
D	Value based question	1	4
E	Long answer type question	3	5
Total		26	70

Topics with Maximum Questions

Majority of the questions were from Organic Chemistry but the difficulty level of questions asked from Inorganic Chemistry was higher.

Chapter Name	Weightage of Marks (in 2018 Board Paper)	Difficulty Level
Solid States	4	Moderate
Solutions	5	Moderate
Electrochemistry	5	Moderate to Difficult
Chemical Kinetics	5	Moderate
Surface Chemistry	4	Moderate
General Principles and Process of Isolation of Elements	3	Moderate
P Block Elements	7	Moderate
D BLock Elements	5	Moderate
Coordination Compounds	4	Moderate
Haloalkenes and Haloarenes	3	Moderate
Alcohols, Phenols and Ethers	5	Moderate
Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids	6	Moderate
Organic Compounds	4	Moderate
Biomolecules	3	Moderate
Polymers	3	Moderate
Chemistry in Everyday Life	4	Moderate to Difficult

Difficulty Level

Difficulty level of the question paper was higher than the question papers of last 4 to 5 years. Some of the questions for indirect application required higher order thinking abilities.

Numerical problems were NCERT based, but were not given directly as mentioned in the book, unlike, it used to be till last year. Numerical problems on Electrochemistry, the optional part, was bit confusing for average students.

Test Pattern as Compared to Previous Year’s Papers

Overall the question paper was balanced, not that difficult to score passing marks for weak students, but also not that easy to score above 90.

About the Author:

Neelam Jugran has a teaching experience of 14 years. A PGT (Post Graduate Teacher) for Chemistry, she completed her BSc and MSc from Nagpur University. Currently, she is teaching Class 12 Chemistry students at Ryan International School, Greater Noida. She is a CBSE Class 12 Board Examiner for the past 7 years.