Matriculation (India)
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In India, "matriculation" (sometimes called "matric") is a term commonly used to refer to the final year of high school, which ends at tenth standard (tenth grade) and the qualification received on finishing the tenth standard (tenth grade) of high school and passing the national board exams or the state board exams, commonly called "matriculation exams". Most students who pass out of matriculation, or class 10, are 15-16 years old. Once the Matric year and exam have been passed, students are said to have "matriculated". Upon successfully passing, a student may continue onto junior college. The 11th and 12th standards (grades) are usually referred to as "first year junior college" and "second year junior college". Most students who pass out of class 12 are 17-18 years old. With the introduction of separate entrance examinations for entry into medicine, engineering and law courses, many students (especially those opting for science) tend to take their 12th exams lightly. Entrance exams usually comprise of multiple-choice-questions on physics, chemistry and biology (or mathematics) and are conducted separately on national and state levels. Additionally some highly coveted institutions hold their own entrance tests. These competitive exams are among the toughest in the world and competition is intense, for example over 300,000 students appear for the IIT-JEE exam, competing for 5,500 seats at the IITs. The CBSE and ICSE boards conduct twelfth standard courses nationally, while state boards operate at the state-level.