From our research
What this interview looks like
In CBSE Class 12, practical subjects carry a 30-mark practical examination in February or March, conducted at the school by an external examiner appointed by the Board, with the school's own teacher as internal examiner. The student performs one or two experiments or tasks, submits the record file and the investigatory project, and then faces a short viva voce of three to seven minutes that typically carries 3 to 5 of the 30 marks in physics, chemistry and biology, 3 marks in computer science and informatics practices, and 5 marks in geography and psychology. In Class 12 accountancy, business studies and economics, the project work is a 20-mark component that includes a project file, a viva voce and, in accountancy, a written test. In Class 10, science practicals and the mathematics lab are part of the 20-mark internal assessment, and skill subjects such as Artificial Intelligence (417) and Information Technology (402) have a 50-mark practical with file, demonstration and viva. The viva is where the examiner finds out whether the student understood the experiment or project or only copied the record: the examiner asks the aim and principle, the formula or law, the observations and the value obtained, precautions and sources of error, and one question on the project that only its author could answer. ISC and most state boards follow the same shape with their own mark splits. ExamPilot compresses this into a ten-minute viva with one external examiner: a one-minute introduction, seven minutes of concept and experiment questions that escalate when you answer correctly and give one hint when you are stuck, one question on your record or project, and a formal close.
Choose your post
3 posts available
Each post has its own panel, rounds and subject list.
What to expect
4 rounds, one after another
A ten-minute oral examination of the kind held at the end of a laboratory course or project: school board practicals, engineering lab and project vivas, pharmacy and nursing practicals, dissertation and thesis defences. One external examiner, sometimes seated with the internal teacher, asks the candidate what they did, why it works, what they observed and what could go wrong, then looks at the record file or project and asks one question that tests whether the work is the candidate's own. The examiner escalates when answers are correct, gives one hint when the candidate is stuck, and never teaches during the viva.
- Round 1
Introduction
· 1:00Settle the candidate and establish exactly which experiment, practical, project or thesis the viva will be about, so that the subject questions can be anchored to work the candidate actually did.
Mrs. Sunita Raghavan1–2 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 2
Viva on concepts and experiments
· 7:00Test whether the candidate understands the principle behind the experiment or project they did, can describe the procedure and observations accurately, knows the precautions and sources of error, and can reason about a change in conditions. Separate genuine understanding from a memorised record file.
Mrs. Sunita Raghavan4–6 questionsup to 2 follow-ups each - Round 3
Record file or project
· 1:00Check that the record file, activity or project is the candidate's own work and that they understand it: why they chose it, what the data or result was, what went wrong and what they would improve.
Mrs. Sunita Raghavan1–1 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 4
Closing
· 1:00End the viva courteously and formally, as an external examiner does, without feedback, marks or any hint about the result.
Mrs. Sunita Raghavan1–1 questions
Meet the panel
Your AI interviewers
Distinct personas, voices and questioning styles, briefed on this interview.
Mrs. Sunita Raghavan
ChairSubject expert
External examiner for board practicals; senior PGT and head of science, CBSE senior secondary school (Chennai)
Warm but exact, patient with nerves, intolerant of memorised answers.
Female voice · 3 languages
Mr. Devendra Pratap Singh
Subject expert
External examiner for board practicals and projects; PGT and examination in-charge, CBSE senior secondary school (Lucknow)
Brisk, fair, good-humoured, probes the record file hard.
Male voice · 3 languages
Languages
Answer in the language you think in
Interviewers speak and understand each language natively. Switch mid-answer if you like.
- English
- हिंदीHindi
- Hinglish (Hindi + English)Hinglish
How scoring works
A report you can act on
Every round is scored on the rubric
Each interviewer scores only the criteria their round covers. Weights add up to your overall score out of 100.
Only what you actually said counts
Feedback quotes your own answers. Rounds you skip show as “Not assessed” rather than a zero.
Communication is always measured
Fluency, clarity, confidence and structure are tracked across the whole interview, in any language.
Pass mark, then a plan
You see the pass mark for this interview, your gaps, and the courses that close them fastest.
Scored on
- Conceptual understanding40%
States the principle, law or formula behind the experiment or project correctly and in their own words; explains why the method works rather than only what the steps are; handles a why or what-if question with reasoning; does not confuse related concepts or recite a definition that does not answer the question.
- Experimental procedure & observation30%
Describes the actual procedure, apparatus or tools, readings or data and how they were processed; knows the units, the expected result and the order of magnitude they obtained; names sources of error and the precautions that address them; for a project, knows the data, method and limitations of their own work.
- Clarity of explanation20%
Answers the question actually asked in short, ordered sentences; uses correct technical terms and units; can explain the same idea more simply when asked; does not ramble or bury the answer in unrelated recall.
- Confidence & honesty10%
Speaks steadily, holds a correct answer when gently challenged, corrects themselves when shown an error, and says I am not sure rather than guessing; recovers after a hint instead of freezing.
Pass mark 50 / 100 · Practical / project viva voce with an external examiner
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