Tomorrow, March 12, 2020, CBSE board will be holding the maths exam for the class 10 students. With students concentrating on their preparation and last-minute revision, there is one important thing that the students often miss out; it is presenting their answers in the exam.
In board exams, the presentation of answers matters a lot. In a subject like maths, where there is an involvement of steps and there is step marking students have to be cautious that they present all their steps well.
Note: Good presentation in the paper also helps you avoid silly mistakes.
Importance of Presentation in Class 10 Maths Board Exam
Maths is full of calculation and proofs. Then why is presentation important? This might be a question popping in the minds of the students, but especially in a subject like maths, presentation matters a lot and help with scoring full marks. Before we jump into how present the answers in maths, let us know why is a good presentation so important so that one can know its value:
1. A proper presentation makes the answer sheet look organised and easy to read.
2. Invigilators feel at ease while evaluating a properly presented paper and is willing to give more marks.
3. Often students mention all the steps in their calculation but do not present them well and this leads to invigilators not understanding the sequence of the steps or they miss out some steps while checking the paper. This may lead to loss of marks unnecessarily.
4. Remember the invigilators check hundreds of papers in the board exam, therefore it becomes quite tiring for them. Students who present their answers well, ease up the checking process for the invigilators and stand a chance to get more marks.
How to Present Answers in Class 10 Maths Board Exam?
Now let us check how to write well in maths exam and present the answers in a managed way.
First of all, let us look at a portion of CBSE class 10 model answer sheet. This answer sheet has been selected by the board itself to show how proper answer in class 10 maths board exam must be written:

This question is part of the model sample paper. The things to note regarding the presentation are:
1. Mentioning of the section of the question paper: Never forget this. The candidates have to first of all need to clear the invigilator that the question attempted is a part of which section of the paper.
2. The question number: All the calculations will go in vain if this is not mentioned. Obviously, the invigilator needs to know the answer given is against which question, otherwise, how is he expected to score the answer. Thus, always write the question number for the answer distinctively.
3. The diagram: Maths is a subject that requires drawing of the diagrams. Wherever ina question diagram is needed students must draw it neatly. Make sure the diagram is of proper size – not too large and not small. Also, make sure to draw the diagram using a pencil only and not a pen. The diagram shown in the model paper is of ideal size.
- Make diagrams neat.
- Always name the sides and edges of the diagram as mentioned in the question / or as needed.
- Measurements of the sides / angles must be written in the diagram.
4, 6. Sub parts of the questions: There might be sub sections of any question. This must be also clearly mentioned while writing the answer. Like in the model paper shown above question number 23 has 2 parts a and b, which the student has clearly mentioned.
5, 7. The answers: The answer must be clearly highlighted. Either one can highlight their final answer or put them in a box, like the one shown below.

This is an ideal way as per the Central Board of Secondary Education while attempting class 10 maths answers in the exam.
Notice: The students may also notice that the steps of the answers in the above portion of the model answer sheets are distinctive and chronological. This gives the invigilator at a go image of the calculations done and how is the final answer achieved. This equals to full marks for the question from the invigilator’s end!!
More Presentation Tips
Here are some extra tips for presentation to keep in mind:
- Avoid mistakes on the first page. If there are any mistakes then, strikethrough the mistake with one line rather than scribbling on it.
- Draw margin on both sides of the pages. If there any tearing of the pages then the margins will save the actual content inside it.
- On the last page, do the rough works and write “Rough Work” on top of the page.
- While attempting the graph question make sure to write all the details in the graph as needed and write the question number too of the graph paper. Write the scale and also mention the x and y axis.
- While attempting questions from statistics, draw the tables as needed using pencil only and use a scale to draw neat straight lines.
- Write the units for each of the answers and steps. Do not change the unites if the same is not mentioned in the question paper.
Last Minute Tips for Class 10 CBSE Maths Paper
Now moving ahead from the presentation, here are some tips for the D-Day to follows:
High weightage chapters: Here are the chapters that carry most of the marks in class 10 CBSE exam:
- Trigonometry,
- Mensuration, and
- Statistics
Therefore we suggest, on the very last day before the exam to go through all the formulas of these chapters and practice the important questions and examples from NCERT.
The theorems: Practice and revise all the theorems like Pythagoras theorem, Basic Proportionality theorem, and areas of similar triangles, etc.
Geometry: For geometry, practice is the only key. Pick all the important questions from geometry and practice them, this will also help you warm up to attempt such a question in the exam. Also make sure to keep the geometry tools for the exam day ready like the compass, the protector, scales, etc.
Do not miss the steps: Students must write the step-wise answer to each question. In CBSE marks are given for each correct step even if the final answer might be wrong.
Prepare the exam day kit: Lastly, before going to the exam, on the night before, make sure all the important things are in your bag to carry on the exam day like admit card and the geometry box with all the important tools.
All the best to everyone and be on time for the paper, the exam will start from 10:30 am and will end at 1:30 pm!!
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