Prepare for higher cut-offs, experts tell ICSE, CBSE, SSC students

With a rise in the number of students scoring more than 90% in the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), the cut-offs for junior college admissions are likely to go up by 2-3%, making it tough for the state board and CBSE students to get into sought-after colleges, said academicians.

Of the seven ICSE toppers scoring between 99% and 98.8%, most want to get a seat in a junior college that follows the state board curriculum. “I want to pursue engineering from an IIT, for which I need to get enrolled in a state-board college that offers an integrated course,” said Siddhant Tripathy, Hiranandani Foundation School, Powai, whose national ranking is third.

The ICSE and ISC results in the city this year have been the best in the past six years. Manan Shah, from Children’s Academy School, Kandivli, and Isha Sethi from Hiranandani Foundation School, Powai, have scored 99% in ICSE exams and five others have scored 98.8%

Top scores in the city’s ICSE schools have also soared compared to previous years. “Our topper has scored 98.80%, while last year the score was 98%,” said Seema Saini, principal, NL Dalmia School, Thane. Around 56% students from the school have also scored above 90% this year.

“More than 80% of our students scored above 90% this year,” said Kalyani Patnaik, principal, Hiranandani Foundation School, Powai.

At Jamnabai Narsee School, Juhu, 132 students have scored more than 90%, with 43 students scoring 95%. If the CBSE also gets more students scoring in 90s, it will become difficult for the state board students to get into top colleges for science and professional courses, said principals.

“Closing percentages in every list will be higher and there’ll be very little difference in the cutoffs between the three lists,” said Manju Nichani, principal of KC College in Churchgate.

“My worry is if the state board results do not match up with the rest, state board students might end up losing seats,” said Ashok Wadia, principal of Jai Hind College.

“There are more than enough seats available, students just need to choose wisely,” said Harsha Mehta, principal of SIES College in Sion.

Inputs from Aishwarya Iyer