The recent revelation that more than half of the candidates who
happen to join Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) were from the Central
Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has left the educationists looking for
reasons for the unprecedented success of the CBSE students in the fiercely
competitive IIT examination.
  
According to available data, out of 9,700 students who qualified for the IIT
this year, 5,500 were from the CBSE. It means the CBSE board students
contributed to 56 per cent of the total students joining the IITs.

In the year 2011, the success rate of CBSE board student was 56 per cent and in
2010 it was 58 per cent. This is a remarkably high percentage as compared to
other boards, which contribute marginally in sending their students to the
IITs.

According to education experts, the reasons why more CBSE students get admitted
to IITs are:

1. The CBSE has a numerical advantage as more students appear in the Class 12th
board exam than any other board. In 2012-2013 over 6.99 lakhs students appeared
for the class XII CBSE examination.

2. It enjoys a geographical advantage as the numbers of schools affiliated to
CBSE board are more in metro and major cities of the country.

3. These cities have better IIT coaching facilities and many of these coaching
centres start training students from an early age.

4. The course syllabus also contributes to the success of CBSE students in
joining the IITs. The syllabus, although marginally similar to IIT examination,
lays a sound foundation for facing the IIT entrance examination.

5. The other reason which contributes to high CBSE success rate is its course
structure – It’s based more on reasoning and analytical abilities than
memorizing the facts.