The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) is a privately-held national level Indian board of school education, which conducts the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and the Indian School Certificate (ISC) examinations for Class X and Class XII respectively. Established in 1958, the board has over 2,100 schools in India and abroad that are affiliated to it.

CISCE was founded with a sole objective to replace the overseas Cambridge School Certificate Examination by an All India Examination. The Indian Council was then set up to administer the examinations being conducted in India by the world-renowned University of Cambridge, and to optimally tailor them according to the nation's need. The education policies were prepared under the aegis of the Cambridge varsity.

Ethos of the Council

• Trust and fair play.
• Minimum monitoring.
• Allowing schools to evolve own niche.
• Catering to the needs of the children.
• Giving freedom to experiment with new ideas and practices.
• Diversity and plurality - the basic strength for evolution of ideas.
• Schools to motivate pupils towards the cultivation of:
  • Excellence - The Indian and Global experience.
  • Values - Spiritual and cultural - to be the bedrock of the educational experience.
• Schools to have an 'Indian Ethos', strong roots in the national psyche and be sensitive to national aspirations.
• Source: CISCE Website: http://www.cisce.org/council.aspx