New Delhi | Nervousness before entering the exam hall turned into relief and confidence for several students who stepped out after appearing for the Class 10 and 12 examinations on Tuesday, saying the paper was easy to moderate.

They said the paper was largely based on the syllabus of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The Class 10 and 12 board examinations conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education began on Tuesday across the country and will conclude on March 10 and April 10, respectively.

Air Force Bal Bharati School's Omisha Dhondiyal, who appeared for the Class 10 Standard Mathematics paper, said her nervousness faded once she went through the question paper.

"There was a lot of anxiety before the exam but during the reading time, I felt confident. The paper was much easier compared to last year and I managed to finish it before time," she said, adding that she had ample time for revision.

A Class 12 student from the same school, who had the Bio-tech paper, said that the questions were mostly theoretical.

"The paper was easy compared to the previous year. The questions were asked largely from the book and most of them were theory-based which was easier to answer," he added.

Nishtha, a Class 10 student from Delhi Public School, described the paper as straightforward.

"Most of the questions were directly from the NCERT and the case-study questions were easy. Like everyone else, I was nervous in the beginning but the paper turned out to be manageable," she said.

Ocean, a Class 12 student who received Set 2 of the question paper, said even the multiple-choice questions were not tricky this time.

"MCQs are usually difficult but this year they were easy. Overall, the paper was NCERT-based and doable," the student said, adding that time was sufficient to attempt all questions.

Several students said the relatively easy paper helped them start the board examinations on a positive note, with some expressing confidence about scoring above 90 marks