Prayagraj: In a major structural change in its academic framework from the 2026-27 academic session, the UP Board has made vocational education compulsory from class 9 marking a significant shift towards skill-based education.
With this, every student taking admission in class 9 in UP Board-affiliated schools will be required to opt for 1 vocational subject.
As a result, the high school board examination in 2028 will be conducted with seven subjects instead of the existing six while the Intermediate examination in 2030 will include six subjects instead of five.
At class 9 level, students will have a defined structure of compulsory subjects. These include Hindi or Elementary Hindi as the first subject, a second subject comprising one modern Indian language, English, or a classical language such as Sanskrit, Pali, Arabic, or Persian, followed by mathematics or home science (the home science option is available only for girls). Science and social science will remain mandatory as fourth and fifth subjects, respectively.
The sixth subject will be selected from a wide range of existing vocational courses already being offered.
