Choosing Subjects in Class 11: 7 CBSE Rules On Subject Combination You Must Know

Class 10 Board Examinations are underway around the country. Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE offers 102 subjects to students to choose from in Class 11. As per CBSE Rules on subject combinations, students are free to choose any of the subjects in Class 11. Students who are appearing for their Class 10 Board Exams will need to choose the subject combinations soon.

But choosing subjects in Class 11 is often confusing for students as well as parents. For most parents, choosing of subjects become a struggle of ensuring maximum opportunity for their child. For schools, on the other hand, the choice of subject is as much an academic exercise as a logistic problem.

Choosing a Subject: Three ‘I’s

The end result is often a confused student who is not sure how best to handle the situation. As a career counsellor and guide, I often tell students and parents to follow a simple strategy of 3 ‘I’ which mean

• Information – What are the rules, the subjects, the policy and the requirements of various combinations.
• Interest – Does the subject interest the child, invokes basic curiosity?
• Intellect – Does the child have the ability to take on the subject and its various combinations.

The second and the third ‘I’ usually require a larger level of thinking and guidance. The first one, however, is rather simpler but extremely important – that is information – about rules, guidelines, requirements of various career options and subject combinations. This article deals with a little bit about the first ‘I’, which is information.

Also Read | CBSE Two Board Draft Rules Explained: Change in Subjects and other FAQs

CBSE Rules on Subject Combinations for Class 11

When choosing a subject combination, the first thing to know is what is allowed and what is not. CBSE, the central board of the country, by far is the largest board in terms of subject combinations it offers in Class 11 and 12 or senior secondary level. Furthermore, it is also one of the only boards that allows students the complete freedom to choose between any subject combinations.

Please note, many state boards have a set combination of subjects that are available for science, commerce and humanities stream. CBSE has, in accordance with the new National Education Policy or NEP, removed the system of streams.

But how does it work? What does it mean that all subject combinations are allowed? Well, it means that students can choose to study Music with Mathematics or History with Physics and so on. There is, as per the CBSE rules, no limitations (barring a few) on which all subjects a student can pick. The board has laid out simple 7 rules for subject combinations in Class 11. These are listed below.

Before we list out the 7 rules, let us understand how CBSE divides the subjects offered. All subjects are divided into three broad categories the subjects are divided into by CBSE. These three categories are

1. Languages
2. Elective Subjects or Group A
3. Skill Subjects or Group S

7 Rules of Subject Combination for CBSE Class 11 and 12

1. Students have to select a minimum of 5 subjects and a maximum of 6 subjects for their senior secondary level examination which is classes 11 and 12
2. First Subject should be a language – either English or Hindi.Students can choose either of the two and further choose between Core and Elective. In other words, a child can choose either English Core or Elective or Hindi Core or Elective as the first subject.
3. For second subject, the child can choose either a language (this is either English or Hindi or any of the regional languages or foreign languages offered by CBSE), or any of the elective subjects from Group A. (Please read the exceptions listed below on language selection)
4. As for the third, fourth and fifth subject, students are free to choose
   1. any subject from Group A
   2. any subject from Group S
   3. a combination of subjects from Group A or Group S
5. There is no stream concept and each subject has equal weight, students can choose either all electives or all skill subjects for their third, fourth and fifth subject. There are, however, a few exceptions on combination of a skill and an elective subject that are not allowed (refer to exceptions listed below)
6. Sixth subject is optional and student may or may not choose to have a sixth subject. Sixth subject can be a subject from any of the three groups – Language, Group A or Group S.
7. Subject 1 to 5 are considered main subjects of the student and sixth subject, if selected, is considered an optional subject. Marks of the optional subject will be considered to promote the child in case he/she fails in one of the 5 main subjects chosen by the student. Also, the sixth subject picked as optional will be considered as a valid subject studied by the student in his/her qualifying exam for university admissions at a later date.

Exceptions to CBSE Rules on Subject Combination

The seven rules of selecting subjects are simple enough. However, CBSE has made a few restrictions or exceptions to the ‘choose’ any subject provision. These are

1. For First subject, student is free to choose either English or Hindi. This can be either a Core or Elective. Regional or foreign languages cannot be chosen as the first subject for CBSE Class 11 and 12 or senior secondary level certificate.
2. For second subject, in case the student wishes to pick a language, then he/she cannot choose
   1. English (Core/Elective) if the first subject was English (Elective/Core) respectively
   2. Hindi (Core/Elective) if the first subject was Hindi (Elective/Core) respectively
   3. Both Core or both Elective – in other words, if the first subject is a core, the second has to be elective or vice versa. This is applicable even for other languages which offer core or elective options
   4. Students can choose either Telugu or Telugu (Telangana)
3. Second subject cannot be a Skill Subject or a subject from Group S. Child must choose either a language or an elective (Group A) subject for second subject.
4. For the third, fourth and fifth subject, a child cannot choose the following two subjects in combination (in other words can only pick one of the subjects from these sub-groups)
   1. Applied Mathematics and Mathematics
   2. Informatics Practice and Computer Science
   3. Painting, sculpture, graphics, applied commercial art
   4. Dance – Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri, Kathakali
   5. Carnatic Music Vocal, Carnatic Music Instrumental, Carnatic Music Percussion INS Mridangam, Hindi music vocal, Hindi music instrumental and Hindi music percussion
5. Also, when combining Skill and Elective subjects, students cannot choose
   1. Business Studies as Elective and Business Administration as Skill Subject
   2. Informatics Practice or Computer Science as Electives and Information Technology as a Skill Subject
6. These restrictions in combinations are valid for all subjects, including as an optional subject.

When selecting the subjects, parents may please note that while CBSE offers over 100 subjects, not all schools offer these subjects. The final decision may also rest with schools as to allow a student to choose a combination or note, depending on the basic availability of the subjects.

CBSE has not mandated schools to offer all subjects. However, the central board has dictated that no school may force a certain combination on a child as per a ‘stream’. Schools cannot deny the child to pick up a subject of his/her choice. Hence, in case the school offers a subject, it cannot refuse to allot that to the child.