Citizen Journalism: Clearing confusion about right age for school admissions in Telangana

Hyderabad: There is great confusion amongst the parents and schools about the right age for admission in grade 1 or lower (pre-primary). The right answer to the question of `what is the right age for school admissions’ is that the question itself is wrong, or rather incomplete. It is so because each state in India has the right to specify the age that it deems fit for admission in school within its geographical boundaries.

For Telangana, the right answer is 5+ years as on June 1 of the academic year in question, and it is 6+ for multiple other states. As per the reply given by the then Minister of State for Education to a question raised in the Rajya Sabha, Thirteen States/UTs had specified the age for admission to Grade 1 as 5 +. Twenty-one States/UTs had specified the age as 6+. A query in Deepseek generates this (click to find the list) list of states specifying 5+ as the age for admissions (you may cross-check for your respective state).

The confusion on the age being 5 or 6 arises due to three major reasons:

1. NEP (National Education Policy) 2020 recommends the age of 6 for admission in Grade 1

2. Circulars issued by the Central government to states recommending them to change the admission age to 6

3. Google specifies the age of 6 in the top results for the search.

Let us clarify the above. Please note that:

a) NEP’s prescription is only a recommendation, not a compulsion.

b) Education being a subject in the concurrent list (where both the centre and state can legislate), the centre can only recommend not impose this condition. Therefore, what the state decides will stand. Thus, in Telangana, for instance, the state policy of 5+ shall stand till it is modified by the state govt.

c) Google only reproduces what is more popular, not what is more factual. So, be sure to look at source documents (Government circulars, GOs, and more) for correct information. Links to all such relevant documents with respect to the age criteria are given in the relevant places with this write-up, for you to cross-check.

What do CBSE rules state?

CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) reinforces the above position. Please find given below a screenshot from the CBSE website, where it is specified that the student should meet the age criterion “as determined by the state/U.T. Government.”

Age Criteria for 10th Class Exam

To put the matter to rest, let us check the age criteria followed by CBSE to allow students to write the 10th class Board Exams. Please find given below - a screenshot from the FAQ on the CBSE website. (Link to the FAQ - https://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/faq/2016/FAQs.pdf)

As can be seen from FAQ#2 above, CBSE DOES NOT specify any minimum or maximum age of students to appear in the Class 10 examination.

Conclusions

Thus, it can be safely concluded that:

1. Each state in India can specify its age criteria for admission in Grade 1 or any other class.

2. As of date (14/05/2025), the age criteria stands at 5+ for Grade 1 in Telangana.

3. For other states, you may check for the rules released by the respective state government.

In light of the above-given facts and documents, we hope that the legal and factual position on the ‘correct’ age for school admissions stands clarified. However, what may still need clarification is:

Why do different schools within the same state (in Telangana, for instance) follow different criteria?

It might be a strong statement to make, but the fact remains that very few people, if any, including amongst schools, media, and the general public, take pains to look for source documents and find out the factual position. Most are happy to go with what is ‘generally’ believed to be true or from what a neighbourhood school may be doing. In such a situation, if one ‘reputed’ school initiates a wrong step, then the contagion effect could lead to most, if not all, schools treading the wrong path - as has happened in the case of age criteria.

The govt. of Telangana has thus far expressed no objection to the schools following the 6+ years criterion, in spite of it being against the govt. rules. Thus, each school in light of the policy confusion and conflict between state and central govt. rules has chosen a path that it deems right.

What are the criteria followed at Indic?

The right criteria cannot be age specific but has to be child specific. We, at Indic, are happy to apprise the parents of the factual position (5+ in Telangana and 6+ in others) and help them make an informed choice in consultation with the school admissions and academic team.

Our practice is not only in sync with the govt position but also with the best practices followed and recommended by educationists across the world.

Team Indic

(You can write to us at info@indicschools.in for any further queries or clarifications.)