– Mita Mukherjee

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) on Monday announced that examination fees will be charged at a uniform rate from ICSE and ISC examinees directly by the council from 2026.

Since 2017, the council would charge Rs. 1,500 from each candidate appearing in the ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) examinations for printing, distribution and evaluation of examination materials.
However, this fee did not cover the local expenses of the individual schools for conducting the examinations. The individual schools were allowed to charge additional fees for meeting the local expense at varied rates. These expenses include remuneration of examiners, transportation fees and purchasing stationery.

According to CISCE’s latest decision, instead of Rs 1,500, the council from 2026 onwards will charge Rs 4,350 per ICSE candidate and Rs 5,450 from every ISC candidate which will have to be paid directly to the council. This will cover all the expenses for conducting the examinations.

The schools will no longer be permitted to charge any additional fee beyond the amount charged by the council. The “local” fees are now fixed at different rates depending on the requirement of the schools in consultation with the examination convenors, the principal of a school said.

“We are pleased to announce a key initiative to streamline and enhance the examination process. The CISCE will standardise the local examination fee, which will now be charged directly by CISCE at a uniform rate, replacing the current practice of schools charging varied rates,” the council said in a circular issued to schools on Monday evening.

According to the council, the decision has been taken to streamline the operations and ensure uniformity in the examination fee.

“To streamline operations and ensure uniformity, effective from the Examination Year 2026, CISCE will fully cover all examination expenses ….. and schools will no longer be permitted to collect additional fees for the conduct of examinations…,” the circular read.

The CISCE asked schools to share the update with students, teachers and guardians to ensure smooth conduct of the examinations.

Several school principals welcomed the decision to establish a parity in charging “local” fees.

“This is a very student-friendly move. This will prevent unnecessary profiteering by some schools in the name of examination,” principal of an ICSE school in Kolkata told EducationWorld, on condition of anonymity.

According to the principal, some schools catering to students from middle income group families would charge maximum Rs 3,000 per student as “local” fees at present. But there are schools which charge almost double the amount from each candidate.

Sujoy Biswas, principal of Rammohan Mission High School in Kolkata said he was happy that the council has removed the disparity in the examination fees. “The council’s move to standardise the fees will make the examination process more transparent,” said Biswas.

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