The Government of India has notified that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is now responsible for granting equivalence to Secondary (Class 10) and Senior Secondary (Class 12)
certificates awarded by various School Education Boards in India. This responsibility pertains to student admissions to higher education institutions and employment under the Central and State Governments and Union Territories.
The Ministry of Education announced that this notification was published in the e-Gazette on 6th September 2025 by the Department of School Education and Literacy. This new notification replaces the one from November 15, 2021, which assigned this responsibility to the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). NCERT will carry out this task through the National Assessment Centre, Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH), established under the National Education Policy 2020.
Under the new system, NCERT will employ the National Assessment Centre, PARAKH, to ensure that the process of determining equivalence is both robust and academically rigorous, maintaining the highest educational standards. This system is applicable to the Central Government, State Government, and private Indian School Boards established by an Act of Parliament or State legislature, executive orders of the Central or State Governments, or by statutory bodies and recognised institutions authorised to do so.
NCERT’s equivalence will automatically be regarded as parity between the Boards in India, facilitating smooth transitions for students migrating between different School Education Boards.
“Under the new arrangement, NCERT will discharge its responsibility through the National Assessment Centre, Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH), which has been established as per the provisions of the National Education Policy 2020. This institutional mechanism will ensure that equivalence determination is conducted through a robust and academically rigorous process that maintains the highest educational standards,” states the official notice.
The equivalence granted by NCERT will be valid across India, ensuring smooth inter-School Education Board migrations for students nationwide.
