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.
How it is weighted
In CBSE Class 10 science and mathematics, the board examination is 80 marks and the school's internal assessment is 20 marks, made up of periodic tests, portfolio, practical or lab work and multiple assessment; the practical viva feeds the practical or lab component and the teacher's judgement of the portfolio. Skill subjects such as AI (417) and IT (402) carry 50 marks of theory and 50 of practical, with the practical covering the file, a demonstration and a viva voce assessed at the school, so the viva matters more there than in the core subjects.
Who this is for
Class 10 students whose school assesses science practicals, mathematics lab activities and the skill-subject practical with a viva as part of internal assessment, and students in skill subjects such as Artificial Intelligence (417) and Information Technology (402) whose practical examination includes a viva voce. Also useful for Class 9 students facing the same practical list.
The panel focuses on
- Stating what each experiment or activity shows and the law, formula or theorem it verifies
- Describing the observation you made: the colour change, the gas test, the reading, the slide, the zeroes of the polynomial
- Writing a balanced equation or a formula when asked and saying what each term means
- Explaining one precaution and why it matters, in your own words
- For AI and IT, walking the examiner through your project or file task step by step and answering a what-if about it
- Speaking clearly and steadily to a teacher you may not know, and asking for a question to be repeated rather than guessing
Step 1
Pick your subject
The expert on the panel probes these areas at the level of this post. Optional here; you can choose during setup.
Step 2
Choose how you want to be interviewed
1:1 interview
One interviewer runs every round and adapts the focus as you go. Lower pressure; ideal for a first attempt.
Mrs. Sunita Raghavan
Subject expert
Panel interview · 2 members
Most realisticEach member leads their own round and hands over to the next. They hear each other, so a weak answer will be revisited.
Mrs. Sunita Raghavan
Subject expert
Mr. Devendra Pratap Singh
Subject expert
What to expect
4 rounds · 10 minutes
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
Sample questions
School practical viva Class 10 interview questions
Questions panels commonly ask in the School practical viva Class 10 interview, with what a strong answer covers. Practise them aloud with the AI panel.
- Chemical reactions
You burnt a magnesium ribbon in the lab. What did you see, what did you collect, and what happened when you dissolved the ash in water and tested it with litmus?
What a strong answer covers
A dazzling white flame, a white powder of magnesium oxide, which dissolves to form magnesium hydroxide and turns red litmus blue, showing metal oxides are basic. A strong answer writes the balanced equation. Avoid forgetting the litmus result or calling the oxide acidic.
- Displacement reaction
Why does the blue colour of copper sulphate solution fade when an iron nail is left in it, and what forms on the nail?
What a strong answer covers
Iron is more reactive than copper and displaces it, so green iron sulphate forms and a reddish-brown coating of copper deposits on the nail. A strong answer names it a displacement reaction and gives the equation. Avoid reversing the reactivity order.
- Refraction
In the glass slab experiment, why does the emergent ray come out parallel to the incident ray but shifted sideways?
What a strong answer covers
The ray bends towards the normal entering the denser glass and away from it on leaving by the same amount because the faces are parallel, so the direction is restored but laterally displaced. Avoid saying the ray does not bend at all.
- Biology practical
How did your experiment show that light is needed for photosynthesis, and why did you keep the plant in the dark first?
What a strong answer covers
The plant is destarched in darkness so existing starch is used up, part of a leaf is covered, and after exposure to light the iodine test shows starch only in the uncovered part. Avoid skipping destarching or the alcohol boiling step to remove chlorophyll.
- Mathematics lab
In your mathematics lab activity, how did you verify that the sum of the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees, and why is this not a proof?
What a strong answer covers
Describes cutting out the three corners and placing them together to form a straight angle, then explains that an activity checks one case while a proof uses reasoning that holds for every triangle. Avoid treating the paper activity as a proof.
- Precautions
When finding the focal length of a convex lens using a distant object, which precaution matters most, and why?
What a strong answer covers
Keeping the lens, screen and object aligned and the lens vertical, taking the reading when the image is sharpest and using a truly distant object so the image forms at the focus. Explains how each precaution reduces error. Avoid listing precautions unrelated to the experiment.
- AI project
In your Artificial Intelligence project, what data did you collect, and how did you check whether your model's predictions were right?
What a strong answer covers
Describes the data source and size, how it was labelled, the tool used to train the model, and checking predictions on data kept aside, with one honest mistake the model made. Avoid vague answers like the AI learnt by itself.
- IT practical
In your Information Technology practical, how did you create a table in a spreadsheet and use a formula to calculate totals and percentages?
What a strong answer covers
Explains entering data, using formulas such as SUM with cell ranges, absolute references for percentages, and formatting, with a check that totals are correct. Avoid confusing formulas with manually typed results.
- Viva conduct
If you cannot understand the examiner's question because of the way it was asked, what should you do?
What a strong answer covers
Politely ask the examiner to repeat or rephrase, listen carefully, then answer step by step using what you know, and say honestly if you are unsure. Avoid guessing randomly or staying silent without asking.
Reading is not rehearsing. Answer these out loud to an AI School practical viva Class 10 panel that follows up like the real one.
Practise these questionsMeet the panel
Your AI interviewers
Distinct personas, voices and questioning styles, briefed on this post.
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
The panel asks in your chosen language. 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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