Calcutta, Jan. 19: From August 2007, students of Central Board of Secondary Education schools will not face exams till they are in Class IX.

The board, which had earlier decided to replace exams with grades till Class V, has now extended the new policy up to Class VIII and announced the date when it takes effect.

“The current model of assessment was formulated in the 19th century and is obsolete, but the public mindset has to change for the grading system to become really meaningful,” board chairman Ashok Ganguly said today at BD Memorial Institute where he inaugurated a building.

The Centre had recently sent a proposal to all state governments and educational institutions to replace exams with grades till Class XII.

Ganguly said the system of grades would be introduced in phases.

From classes I to IV, students will be assessed according to five grades: A+, A, B, C and D. Above Class IV, there will be seven grades, with B+ between A and B, and E at the bottom.

Ganguly announced a change in the exam system, too. “The mathematics examination will be split into 60 per cent theory and 40 per cent practical. The practical segment will include practical-based questions on a computerised answer sheet, carrying 20 per cent marks, with the remaining 20 per cent being assessed internally.”