CBSE Affiliation
In India, CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) is the education board with highest reputation. People place a great amount of trust in the schools that are CBSE affiliated. For private and unaided schools, it aids in winning the trust of the people, as the board is under the Central Government of India and signifies quality education.
Getting CBSE affiliation is no easy task and calls for multiple compliances and proper understanding of the requisites laid down by the CBSE. The process of obtaining affiliation is cumbersome and involves various procedures, requirements and documentations pertaining to various aspects of a school.
There are three types of affiliations provided by the CBSE –Provisional, Temporary and Permanent.
Types of CBSE Affiliation
There are three types of affiliations provided by the CBSE:

Categories of Schools
The following categories of schools may be affiliated by the Board, in India and abroad.
- Government aided schools
- Government schools that are run by the Education Departments of the UTs/States
- Schools that are run directly by the Government Ministries and Departments such as Defense, Railways, etc., and other Local Bodies
- Schools that are run by the Autonomous Organizations like Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), Sainik Schools Society, etc.
- Schools that are under the management of the Societies for PSUs, Autonomous Bodies, Statutory Bodies, and Government Departments, etc. that are financially controlled by such PSUs, Autonomous Bodies, Statutory Bodies, and Government Departments
- Schools that are formed managed by the societies formed by PSUs, Autonomous Bodies, Statutory Bodies, and Government Departments, etc.
- Private Schools that are established by:
1Registered trusts or
1Companies registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 and have education as one of their objects or
1Schools that are registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or under State Government acts as educational, charitable or religious societies with non-proprietary character
- Schools that are located in foreign countries
- Any such category of schools as may be specified by the Board from time to time.
The Essential Conditions for a School to get Affiliated with CBSE?
As mentioned in the Bye-Laws, dated October 18, 2018, a school should fulfill certain essential conditions to get CBSE affiliation.
School Establishment
For CBSE affiliation, a school should be stablished by one of the following entities:
- Statutory Body
- Autonomous Body
- Government Department/Ministry
- Public Sector Undertaking (PSU)
- Registered Society
- Registered Trust
- Companies registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013
- Local Body
- Any other Government Body
Registration
The school should have registered under the relevant law after making all the necessary compliances.
School Management Committee
The school should have a scheme of management in accordance with the relevant provision in the Education Act/Rules of the appropriate government. Also, as stipulated under RTE Act 2009 and as per the provisions contained in the CBSE Byelaws, the school should have a management committee.
State Government Recognition
In order to get affiliation, a school will be required submit formal prior Recognition Certificate from the Education Department of the respective State Government.
No Objection Certificate
A school seeking CBSE affiliation would be required to submit a ‘No Objection Certificate’ in regards to the fact that the State Government does not have any objection for the school to get affiliated with CBSE. The No Objection Certificate shall be considered operative till the same is withdrawn by the State Government.
Land Requirement
The land requirement would be required to be fulfilled by the school in accordance with the Affiliation Bye-Laws, 2018. The land requirements stated are:
- The school should be established on a single plot of land. If there are more than two survey numbers, all the plots should be adjacent to each other making a single plot of land.
- A suitable building should be constructed on the piece of land
- There should be an appropriate size of playground on the part of land on which there is no construction
- There should be such facilities as are prescribed by the Board from time to time
- The entire piece of land should be covered with a pucca boundary wall on all sides, which should be of appropriate height.
The minimum land requirement for a school to get affiliation is 8000 square meters. However, a school with 6000 meterssquare feet may be granted affiliation, provided the restriction of optimum enrolment and number of sections is fulfilled.
A minimum of 4000 square meters of land shall be required in case of the following:
- schools that are located in the Municipal Authorities limits of cities and have a population exceeding 15 lakhs
- schools that are located in hilly areas
- schools that are located in the Municipal Authorities limits of the State Capital cities
- schools that are located in the North Eastern states
- schools that are located in the states of Jammu and Kashmir
For schools that are located at hill stations, the minimum land requirement shall be 2000 square meters for Secondary schools and 3000 meters for Senior Secondary School.
Physical Infrastructure
The school shall be required to fulfill the physical infrastructure requirements in accordance with the Affiliation Bye-Laws, 2018. As per these Bye-Laws, the size of the classroom should be a minimum of 500 square feet. There should be science laboratories of minimum 600 square feet. There should be a library of 14m x 8m, fully equipped with the facility of reading room. The library should also have sufficient amount of age appropriate books. The school should make adequate budgetary provisions for the school library. There should also be computer laboratory, mathematics laboratory and rooms for extracurricular activities. The school has to provide appropriate facilities of drinking water on every floor. Clean, healthy and hygienic toilets, separately for girls and boys, have to be provided at each floor.
Website
The school shall be required to develop and maintain its website, wherein all the important information about the school would be provided.
Prescribed Documents
- The school will have to submit information on the online portal where application for CBSE affiliation has to be made. The two mandatory documents required to be attached with it – District Education Administration and Self Affidavit.
- Letter of Intent
- If there is a satisfactory report of inspection and all the essential conditions are fulfilled, a letter of intent shall be issued by the Board to the applicant school for affiliation.
- Documents required for CBSE affiliation
- No Objection Certificate from the State Government for proceeding with the CBSE affiliation process.
- Letter of Recognition from the District Education Officer
Eligibility Criteria for Online Application for CBSE Affiliation
The following are allowed to go for the process of online application for CBSE affiliation:

Procedure for securing CBSE Affiliation
The following procedure has to be followed for securing CBSE Affiliation:

- Go Online to the CBSE Affiliation Website-
First and foremost the applicant needs to go online to the CBSE website. The following link has to be clicked on for going on the website. The homepage will have information related to the services.
- Click on apply now for Procedure on Home Page-
If the applicant wants a fresh application for CBSE affiliation or renew another application, then the applicant has to click on apply for procedure to carry out the same on the home page.
- Fill in the Online Electronic application after reading the information-
In the next step, the applicant would be redirected to another webpage. The applicant will have to read the information present on the webpage. After this the applicant has to proceed with filing the application.
- Ensure the School fulfils the eligibility criteria-
The school has to fulfil the eligibility criteria for securing CBSE affiliation.
- Pay the Requisite Fee-
In the next step the applicant would have to pay the requisite fee. The information related to the fee payable by the applicant is present in the following website. Along with this the applicant would have to provide documents and other important information.
- Agree with the Bye Laws related to Education-
In the next step; the applicant would have to agree with the bye laws related to education. Apart from this compliance must be met by the applicant to ensure that all procedures are carried out related to compliance requirements.
- Submit the Application-
In the final step, the application must be submitted to the authority. The final date of submission of this application is 31 March of year preceding the year in which class VII, IX and XI is proposed to begin.
Documents Required for CBSE Affiliation
- The school will have to submit information on the online portal where application for CBSE affiliation has to be made. The two mandatory documents required to be attached with it – District Education Administration and Self Affidavit.
- Letter of Intent
- If there is a satisfactory report of inspection and all the essential conditions are fulfilled, a letter of intent shall be issued by the Board to the applicant school for affiliation.
- Documents required for CBSE affiliation
- No Objection Certificate from the State Government for proceeding with the CBSE affiliation process.
- Letter of Recognition from the District Education Officer
- A copy of the registration letter of the trust/society/foundation and company
- Affidavit stating Non-Proprietary character
- Land Registration certificate
- Health and Sanitation certificate
- Building Safety certificate
- Fire Safety certificate
- Safe drinking water certificate
- Documentary proof of salary paid through ECS
- Financial status certificate (past three years)
- Photographs of detailed infrastructure
- Staff Salary certificate by DEO
- Certificate of EPF deduction
- Details of the staff and the salary as per the sixth pay commission
Documents of Land Ownership from the Concerned Authority
Conclusion
Affiliation with CBSE is a cumbersome procedure involving numerous compliances. It needs to be done under expert supervision since even one little mistake on part of the applicant can hinder the procedure for getting the affiliation. Our team of experts, who have years of experience with CBSE affiliation can help you through all the formalities required for getting the same.
For more queries on CBSE affiliation, documents and permissions required, staff requirement, area requirement, etc., contact us.