CBSE Announces New Competency-Based Textbooks for Classes 4, 5, 7, and 8 Starting April 2025

CBSE to Roll Out New Textbooks for Classes 4, 5, 7, and 8 from April 2025 – Here’s What Schools Must Know!

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has officially announced that from the new academic session beginning April 1, 2025, students of Classes 4, 5, 7, and 8 will follow new competency-based textbooks.

This move comes under the guidance of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023, and aims to align learning materials with the goals of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The new textbooks are developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). CBSE has confirmed that schools affiliated with it will implement these revised books from the start of the academic session 2025-26.

These books are expected to promote deeper understanding, skill development, and practical application of knowledge among students.

To support teachers and students in transitioning to the new curriculum, NCERT has also prepared Bridge Programmes for Classes 5 and 8. These programs are designed to help teachers introduce the new content smoothly and assist students in adapting to updated learning formats.

The bridge programme materials were made available from March 25, 2025, and are intended to begin in schools from April 1, 2025.

NCERT has announced that textbooks for Classes 4 and 7 will be available by March 28, while books for other subjects such as art, physical education, and vocational studies will be released by April 10. Textbooks for Class 5 will be in the market by June 15, and for Class 8 by June 20.

NCERT has intimated the following timeline for the availability of textbooks and teaching-learning material:

To help teachers understand the structure and approach of the new books, CBSE will also launch online training programs. These will be available for heads and lead teachers of CBSE, KVS, and Navodaya Vidyalayas.

NCERT has developed Bridge Programmes (BP) for Classes 5 and 8 to ensure a smooth transition for students and educators to the updated curricular and pedagogical approaches across all subjects.

Schools have been advised to begin training teachers immediately and ensure effective implementation of the bridge programs from the first week of the academic session.

CBSE has instructed all affiliated schools to prepare for this shift and integrate the new textbooks and bridge programs into their 2025-26 teaching plans. The goal is to make learning more engaging, interactive, and connected to real-world skills.

New Competency-Based Textbooks:

New Competency-Based Textbooks:

Schools are advised to take note of the above dates and make use of the new competency-based textbooks for Grades 4, 5, 7 and 8 for the upcoming academic session 2025-26 and utilize Bridge Courses for Classes 5 and 8 to ensure seamless adaptation to the revised curriculum. Suggestions pertaining to teaching material shared by NCERT are enclosed as Annexure-1.

Official Circular Implementation of New Competency-Based Textbooks for Grades 4, 5, 7, and 8

Kindly note that any and all information is subject to change as per the CBSE, NCERT, Ministry of Education, and Government of India.

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