The much-awaited results for the Grade 10 Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examinations were announced at 5.30pm UAE time on Thursday. Several schools in the UAE including Delhi Private School (Sharjah), Central School (Dubai), Crescent English School (Dubai), and the Model School (Abu Dhabi) have reported 100 per cent pass results. Students had to wait longer than expected as the board delayed the announcement of the results till the evening. Many students were also frustrated when trying to check their results online. The website of the Central Board of Secondary Education (http://cbseresults.nic.in)  crashed repeatedly due to the volume of traffic. (Incidentally, the website of the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations - Kerala (http://www.cee-kerala.org/), which published the medical and engineering entrance examination results on Thursday, also crashed.) The Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) scheme announced by the CBSE last year does away with the grades, in an attempt to reduce focus on marks and individual achievers. However, there was still a reason to rejoice for many students who had aced the examinations with an A1 grade in all subjects. In total, 11,79,182 candidates were registered for class 10 examinations this year, which marked an increase of about 11 per cent over last year. School officials noted improvements in results as student grades had seen a jump. Ashok Kumar, CEO of Indian High School and a member of the governing body of the CBSE said, “Of the 600 students from IHS who were presented for the exams, 47.2 per cent have scored a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 9 and above. Seventy-nine other students have scored A1 grade in all five subjects, i.e a CGPA of 10.” Students have a choice to opt for a school-based assessment or a board evaluation. However, most students opt for a board examination taking into consideration the perceived credibility and ease of admission in Indian universities. (With inputs from PTI)