Exclusive: Are Educart CBSE MCQ Books for Class 10 & 12 Students actually Good or Bad?

As the November CBSE Term 1 Board Exams are approaching, stress and excitement is building up in students regarding Term 1 Pre-boards and obviously, Boards. The Exam pattern for the first time in a decade has fundamentally been changed to 100% MCQ based and in two instalments (following the draft guidelines of NEP).

NCERT books are not equipped to provide enough practice for New Pattern MCQs. NCERT Exemplars are outdated and only available for technical subjects like Maths and Science. Also, Assertion/ Reason, Mixed-type and Case Study type MCQs are not even available in Exemplars when now such questions comprise 50-60% of Board paper pattern. So, students and teachers are resorting to online videos/ courses and private publisher books.

One book publisher that has grown exponentially in the last 2 years, especially in the CBSE Books domain is Educart. We did a survey amongst 20,000 students from all over India and more than 45% of CBSE students are estimated to be buying Educart books, to practice this new pattern. This is also confirmed by the Amazon and Flipkart rankings of Educart MCQ Books. So we decided to do an unbiased critical analysis of whether Educart practice MCQ books for CBSE Boards are really a good choice for students or not, and if they are, then why?

To do this, we did a 360 degree research project where we identified certain x-factors that a good MCQ book should have. Also we:

1. Purchased Educart Term 1 MCQ Question Banks and Sample Papers Books.
2. Compared each factor using our in-house subject experts against Educart.
3. Looked at actual critical online ratings and reviews of students on Amazon and Flipkart
4. Read students' opinions on Quora and Brainly.
5. Conducted interviews with some of the top CBSE school teachers about their opinion on Educart.

Based on the above, below are the findings of our research that are presented in a simplified manner. Please note, this is done to help everyone get an honest assessment of Educart Books.      

Educart Sample Paper Books and Question Banks for Term 1 Board Exams that we found from Amazo

1. Strictly based on CBSE Latest Pattern or CBSE Sample Paper 2021

Sample Papers (and Marking Scheme Solutions) uploaded by CBSE on 2nd September 2021 are the basis on which Board Papers will be 100% conducted. They provide a clear pattern for setting the MCQ Term 1 Board Paper with all the new pattern MCQs.

Any good Paper-wise Sample Papers Book should strictly follow the paper pattern and must contain sufficient all new types of MCQs as per the CBSE Sample Paper.

Educart Review:

• Educart Sample Papers Books for Class 10 and Class 12 were found to be 100% compliant with the latest CBSE Sample paper.
• All new types of MCQs - Diagram-based, Assertion/ Reason, Statement Combination and Competency/Case were available in Sample Paper Books of Educart.
• Question Banks for Class 10 (Term 1) and Class 12 included all these new types of MCQs as well. This shows a very focused and thorough approach from the authors at Educart.

Educart Quality Check: 5/5

 Recent newspaper editorial where Educart books are recommended by experts as only books to be following cbse latest sample paper pattern

2. Good Quantity of MCQs

For reference books like a Question Bank, there should be at least 10-20 MCQs of each type in each chapter, to allow the students practice relevant/sufficient questions from each topic.

Similarly, for a Sample Paper Practice book, it is good to have a combination of Solved and Unsolved Papers with all the possible new type MCQs and provide the students with enough practice.

Educart Review:

• Educart CBSE Question Banks are providing 10-15 MCQ of each type in all their books with a total of 80-100 MCQs in each Chapter. We noticed in their Question Banks they mention 100+ MCQ per chapter, which is only true if you count all MCQs inside case-study questions as well as in their theory. We cross-checked the inclusion of a new pattern MCQ.
• Even their Sample Paper Books for CBSE Class 10 and 12 covered 12+ Sample Papers with detailed solutions.
• Our in-house experts checked the relevance with the CBSE Sample paper and the pattern given is 100% followed.
• The detail with which these books are prepared is commendable. No wonder why over 40-50% questions in the Board exams clash with the questions in Educart Question Banks and Sample Paper Books!

Educart Quality Check: 5/5

Unbiased feedback about Educart Question Banks from one of the Interviewed CBSE Teachers

3. Quality of Explanations

It is not just the quantity that matters but also, the quality of answers in a book. These explanations/answers must clear the basics of the question with minimum possible errors so the students can easily relate to and recall the concepts they learnt from NCERT.

Educart Review:

• Both of the Educart books had detailed explanations of their MCQs. We felt that the explanations were in plain simple language for any student to easily understand the underlying concept.
• Perhaps explained in an easier jargon than what we found in NCERT Books.

Educart Quality Check: 5/5           

 Screenshot of an answer on Quora by a student of Educart Books MCQs explanations quality (even though the question asked was for a different book comparison)

4. Theory on Reduced Syllabus

To give a brief introduction to the chapters’ theory, a book can have theory in the beginning of each chapter. From the Term 1 Board Exam perspective, quick notes can help summarise the chapter for students before they start practicing Sample Papers. But most importantly, irrelevant and out of syllabus topics and subtopics should not be there.

Educart Review:

• The theory was summarized in 6-7 pages in Educart Question Banks but was having 1-2 deleted portion topics in 1-2 chapters.
• In their sample paper book, 'Objective Mind Maps' were given which were very smartly summarized to cover all objective points of Term 1 topics. We even tried to answer a few MCQs using those Objective Maps and could answer them through the points given!

Educart Quality Check: 3/5

Overall, very positive Reviews as seen on Amazon and Flipkart of Educart

5. Realistic Cost

The cost of a Sample Paper book depends on all the features it provides within a certain number of pages. If a book at a price of ₹200-300 includes 8-10 Sample Papers out of which most are unsolved then it is not worth the money at all.

Educart Review:

• Educart books have checked all the boxes in this scenario as well. Majority of books are priced at ₹199 and include 12-13 Sample Papers.
• They also have a lot of additional features like Self-evaluation Charts and Time Management which other publishers aren’t offering at such a throw away price. This can provide even more help to the students.

Educart Quality Check: 5/5

 

Educart Sample Paper Bundle Ranked #1 on Amazon at lowest cost amongst all other publishers

Conclusion

4.9/5

Overall, our team decisively felt that Educart has achieved something extraordinary with their CBSE Board Books. They have changed the game of quality completely by entering the market and offering something that no other book publisher has ever offered, and that also at very low cost. We see that their marketing is also quite aggressive but if the product is of good quality, it sells itself anyways.

Every feature of Educart latest books that are Sample Paper Books, is devised to meet the CBSE paper pattern, quality of MCQs/ Questions benchmark and easy to understand theory or explanations. Both teachers and students will immensely benefit from these books. Now, we understand why these books are the most selling in the CBSE category and are highly recommended by Top CBSE experts and School Teachers.

We have given below direct links that we found on Amazon of all types of Educart Term 1 MCQ books,for ease of access.

CBSE Class 10: Buy Educart Term 1 Sample Paper Books

CBSE Class 12: Buy Educart Term 1 Sample Paper Books

CBSE Class 10: Buy Educart Term 1 Question Banks

CBSE Class 12: Buy Educart Term 1+2 Question Banks

ICSE Class 10: Buy Educart Semester 1 Sample Paper Books

 

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