Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (often abbreviated as CISCE) is a board of school education in India, like the CBSE. It conducts two examinations in India: for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education and for the Indian School Certificate. The CISCE was set up in 1956 at the meeting of the Inter-State Board for Anglo-Indian Education a proposal was adopted for the setting up of an Indian Council to administer the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate's Examinations in India. It is an all-India, but not a government affiliated board (unlike the CBSE). Both CBSE and the CISCE more of less follow a similar pattern of education, though there might be significant differences in some areas. It is based in New Delhi.
The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Examination is a K-10 public board examination for students in India who have just completed Class X (equivalent to the first two years of the 4 year High School programme. Seven subjects are compulsory to be undertaken by the candidates, which may consist of English, an Indian language like Hindi or Bengali, Environmental Education, general science (consisting of physics, chemistry and biology, social studies (which includes geography, Indian history, world history and civics), mathematics, computer science, commerce or various other subjects.
Similarly, the Indian School Certificate (ISC) Examination is a K-12 public board examination for those completing Class XII (equivalent to the end of the 4 year High School programme). It examines five subjects.
The CISCE does not accept private candidates, and they must come only through the (English medium) schools affiliated to the CISCE. The medium of examination is English, except of course for the Indian language paper. At the end of examination, marks out of 100 are provided in each subject and a separate pass certificate is given containg the equivalent grades (like almost all other Indian educational boards). Note that apart from the CBSE and CISCE, all states in India also have their own state boards for High School education.
Typically, privately run and Christian missionary schools in India are affiliated to the CISCE.