Students often use “NCERT” and “CBSE” interchangeably, but they refer to two different organisations with distinct roles.
What CBSE Is
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is the examining body — it conducts board exams, affiliates schools, and sets exam policies.
What NCERT Is
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is the curriculum and textbook body — it designs the syllabus and publishes the textbooks that CBSE-affiliated schools use.
How They Work Together
CBSE bases its board exams directly on the curriculum and textbooks NCERT publishes, which is why “study your NCERT books” is the standard advice for CBSE exam preparation.
Find Your NCERT Textbooks
Browse every NCERT textbook used in the CBSE curriculum in our Book Catalog.
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A Brief History of Both Organisations
CBSE was established in 1962 as a central board to standardise school education and examinations across states, particularly for children of transferable government and defence employees who moved between states. NCERT was established a year earlier, in 1961, with a different mandate: researching and improving the quality of school education nationally, including curriculum design and textbook development. The two organisations developed alongside each other but were never merged — CBSE has always been the examining and affiliating authority, while NCERT has always been the curriculum and research body.
How State Boards Fit Into This
India has dozens of state education boards (such as state boards in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh) that operate independently of both NCERT and CBSE. Many state boards publish their own textbooks and set their own curricula, though a significant number either adopt NCERT textbooks for some subjects or model their own curriculum closely on NCERT’s framework, especially at the senior secondary level. This means NCERT’s influence extends well beyond CBSE schools, even though CBSE and NCERT are administratively separate from state boards entirely.
Common Misconceptions
A frequent misunderstanding is assuming CBSE writes its own textbooks — it does not; it relies entirely on NCERT’s published curriculum and textbooks. Another common misconception is treating “NCERT syllabus” and “CBSE syllabus” as two different things, when in practice CBSE’s syllabus for a given subject is built directly from NCERT’s curriculum framework and textbooks. A third misconception is assuming all schools using NCERT books are CBSE schools — state board schools that adopt NCERT textbooks are not CBSE-affiliated simply because of the textbooks they use.
What This Means for Students, Practically
If you are a CBSE student, your board exam questions will map directly onto NCERT textbook content, which is why “study your NCERT books thoroughly” is standard advice. If you are a state board student whose school happens to use NCERT textbooks, the same advice generally applies for those subjects, though your state board may test additional state-specific content not found in NCERT books. Either way, understanding this distinction helps explain why NCERT textbooks show up as recommended reading well beyond CBSE schools specifically.
How State Textbook Boards Actually Decide Whether to Adopt NCERT
Each state education department makes its own independent decision about whether to adopt NCERT textbooks directly, adapt them with regional modifications, or commission entirely separate textbooks through its own state textbook corporation. States with strong existing textbook infrastructure — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal among them — have historically maintained their own textbook development bodies and often include state-specific history, geography, and language content that NCERT’s national curriculum doesn’t cover. Other states, particularly those with smaller populations or newer state textbook boards, find it more practical to adopt NCERT textbooks wholesale rather than fund parallel textbook development. This explains why a Class 8 History student in one state might study directly from NCERT’s “Our Pasts” series, while a student in a neighbouring state studies a state-specific equivalent covering similar historical ground with regional emphasis added.
The Practical Difference This Makes for Transferring Students
A student moving from a CBSE school to a state-board school (or the reverse) often finds the underlying concepts largely familiar, even when covered in a differently-titled textbook, precisely because so many state boards model their curriculum on NCERT’s framework. Where real gaps appear is usually in state-specific content: a state board’s Geography curriculum might dedicate significant time to that state’s own rivers, districts, and economic geography, content a CBSE student studying pure NCERT material wouldn’t have encountered at all. Families relocating between school systems often find it worth explicitly checking for these state-specific gaps rather than assuming full curriculum overlap based on similar subject names.
Why This Distinction Matters More at Senior Secondary Level
The overlap between NCERT’s curriculum and what different boards actually teach narrows as students progress toward Class 11-12, where subject specialisation increases and state boards are more likely to maintain distinct, locally-developed textbooks for subjects like regional-language literature, state history, or applied vocational subjects. For core subjects tied to national entrance exams — Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology — nearly all boards converge back toward NCERT’s framework regardless of which textbook a given state technically prescribes, since JEE, NEET, and similar exams are explicitly built on NCERT’s syllabus. This is part of why NCERT textbooks remain relevant to competitive exam preparation even for students whose day-to-day school textbook is something else entirely.
A Brief History of How the Two Organisations’ Roles Diverged
In the decades following independence, curriculum design and examination administration were far less clearly separated than they are today, with individual states and even individual schools exercising considerable autonomy over both. The establishment of NCERT in 1961 and CBSE’s subsequent growth through the 1960s and 70s gradually formalised the current division: NCERT as the body researching and designing what should be taught, CBSE as the body examining whether it was learned, for schools that chose CBSE affiliation. This division proved durable partly because it let CBSE scale efficiently — expanding to serve schools nationwide and internationally without needing to also maintain curriculum research capacity — while NCERT could focus entirely on pedagogical research and periodic curriculum revision, most recently through the NCF-2023 framework now being rolled out.
Common Points of Confusion, Beyond the Basics
Beyond the misconceptions already covered, a specific point that trips up many parents and students: CBSE affiliation numbers and NCERT textbook editions are entirely independent of each other. A school’s CBSE affiliation status doesn’t change based on which NCERT edition it uses, and NCERT doesn’t track or require CBSE affiliation for a school to use its textbooks — non-CBSE, and even non-Indian, schools are free to use NCERT textbooks if they choose to. This independence is precisely why NCERT textbooks are so widely used well beyond CBSE’s own affiliated-school network, including by homeschooling families, international schools with an India-focused curriculum, and competitive exam aspirants regardless of which board they attended.
What This Means When Comparing School Options
Parents evaluating schools sometimes treat “CBSE” and “NCERT-based” as interchangeable marketing terms, but they answer different questions: CBSE affiliation tells you how the school will be examined and administratively governed, while NCERT-based curriculum tells you what and how concepts will actually be taught in the classroom. A school can be non-CBSE (say, ICSE-affiliated or a state-board school) while still using NCERT textbooks for some subjects, and conversely, a CBSE school’s actual day-to-day teaching quality depends far more on its teachers and infrastructure than on the textbook brand alone. Understanding this distinction helps in asking the right questions during school evaluation — rather than assuming CBSE affiliation alone guarantees a particular textbook or teaching approach.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between NCERT and CBSE?
NCERT designs the curriculum and publishes textbooks, while CBSE is the board that conducts exams and affiliates schools based on that curriculum.
Does CBSE publish its own textbooks?
No, CBSE does not publish textbooks itself; it relies on the curriculum and textbooks developed by NCERT.
Is NCERT under the CBSE board?
No, NCERT and CBSE are separate, independent bodies under the Ministry of Education, each with a distinct role.
Can CBSE schools use non-NCERT textbooks?
CBSE schools primarily use NCERT textbooks, though some schools supplement them with additional reference material.
Who governs NCERT and CBSE?
Both organisations function under India’s Ministry of Education, but operate independently with different mandates.
Are state board schools required to follow NCERT curriculum?
State boards set their own curricula, though many reference or adapt NCERT content, especially in senior secondary classes.
Is NCERT applicable outside India?
NCERT’s mandate covers Indian school education, though its textbooks are sometimes referenced internationally for Indian curriculum programs abroad.
Do CBSE exams follow the NCERT syllabus strictly?
Yes, CBSE board exam questions are based directly on the NCERT curriculum and textbooks.
What is the role of NCERT in curriculum design?
NCERT researches, designs, and publishes the National Curriculum Framework and the textbooks used to implement it.
What is the role of CBSE in school education?
CBSE affiliates schools, conducts board examinations, and sets examination policies based on the NCERT curriculum.
