NCERT to grant equivalence to Class 10, 12 certificates across all boards

The Centre has assigned the responsibility of granting equivalence to Class 10, 12 certificates awarded by various school boards to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The task has been given for the purposes of both higher education admissions and employment.

The government has issued a notification, published in the e-Gazette on September 6, 2025 by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, superseding the earlier order under which this responsibility was entrusted to the Association of Indian Universities ( AIU ).

As part of the announcement, NCERT will carry out this task through its national assessment centre, Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development ( PARAKH ), established under the National Education Policy ( NEP ) 2020.

“This institutional mechanism will ensure that equivalence determination is conducted through a robust and academically rigorous process that maintains the highest educational standards,” the education ministry said.

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The system will apply to certificates issued by all central, state, and private Indian school boards , created through an Act of Parliament, a state legislature, executive orders, statutory bodies, or other recognised institutions.

Student migration, admissions, jobs

Notably, equivalence granted by the national council will be valid at all-India level and be treated as inter-se parity between the boards, making student migration between different boards seamless.

Four years ago, when the government noticed that students were facing difficulties in terms of equivalence of certificates issued by various school education boards for admissions and jobs, the education ministry entrusted the responsibility to AIU. The association prepared standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure that the schools are following the rules and regulations.