Indian School Certificate is an examination that conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations for Grade 12. The subjects of examination include English as a compulsory subject and a list of elective subjects. The list of electives contains subjects like: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Computer Science, Accounts, Economics, Business Studies, Commerce, Physical Education, Home science, Geography, Sociology, History, etc.

All the candidates must give examination for English and for electives. The result of the Indian School Certificate is based on the external examination at the end of Class XII and also considers internal assessment on Socially Useful Productive Work and Community. Grade 12 is senior to grade 10, and thus the syllabus has been designed to focus on specific subjects deeply. Grade 12 is of great importance and the result obtained in this examination counts for admissions in colleges.

The syllabus followed by the CISCE board is more comprehensive and complete, encompassing all fields with equal importance. Students pursuing higher studies find the ISC syllabus to be more beneficial as they already have an in-depth knowledge of the subject. Due to the emphasis laid on English in CISCE, students from this board may hold an edge over other students in exams like TOEFL, SAT, CAT, MAT etc, which evaluates an aspirant's English writing and communication skills.