In February, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced that 20 per cent of questions in examinations for core Class X and XII subjects would test HOTS, conceptual questions requiring greater analysis and application of material learned. Immediately, a few students and teachers complained they knew nothing of the new design; but Ashok Ganguly, CBSE chairman, maintained that schools were duly informed as far back as July 2007.

After Saturday’s exam, however, Aditya Gupta from Delhi Public School, Vasant Kunj, revealed: “I was expecting the exam to be more difficult, but there was nothing unusual — it was just like the sample papers.” Shubra Tiwari of Ramjas School, R K Puram, said the exam was “easy” but she noticed a few questions were of the conceptual order: “It was quite different from the sample papers. But I finished on time, it was fine.”

Scanning the papers after the examination, Ramjas School’s Chemistry teacher, Charu Arora, said: “The paper was very easy, nothing unexpected popped up.” She thinks the media over-hyped the significance of HOTS. “A few one and two mark questions reflected the newer style,” said Arora. But while the CBSE said HOTS would distinguish the brightest, Arora thinks the paper was within the reach of all her students.