Bengaluru: The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) has issued a circular stating that students who appeared for the II PU Physics board examination on Mar. 7 will receive grace marks, following a request from a majority of the students.

This decision comes in response to an online petition initiated by II PU science students, urging KSEAB to grant them grace marks due to the challenging and intricate Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs).

However, the Board emphasised that this resolution is a one-time exception and will not be entertained in future instances. Students expressed that certain questions in the paper appeared to be from the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) section of the textbook, which are typically challenging and not covered extensively by teachers.

The online petition quickly garnered over 70,054 signatures, prompting authorities to take action. Students remarked that while the numerical problems were straightforward and concise, the MCQs were not aligned with the syllabus and posed significant difficulty.

It was noted by students that the MCQs resembled questions found in JEE/NEET entrance exams. Consequently, the Board decided to grant grace marks to all students who attempted non-blueprint MCQs in Part A of the paper. However, the Board clarified that students who opted to skip these questions will not receive any grace marks.