Is NCERT enough for Biology and Chemistry?

Honestly, NCERT is the bible but it is not enough for higher marks. I suggest you try the MTG Objective series for Chemistry. It helps the kids understand how to twist the concepts into MCQ formats. My son is in 11th and he follows this religiously.

I honestly think NCERT is enough only if you supplement it with previous years' question papers. My son used to finish the chapters, but then he’d get stuck when the questions were framed differently in the exam. I have seen that solving the last 10 years of board papers helps them understand how to structure the answers, especially for Chemistry reactions and Biology processes.

For Biology, NCERT is definitely the bible, but the trick is to make them practice drawing and labeling the diagrams exactly as shown. My daughter started scoring much better once she stopped just reading the text and began highlighting keywords that the examiners look for in the marking scheme. I suggest you get the 'NCERT Exemplar' book; it has higher-order thinking questions that really test if they've understood the concepts deeply rather than just rote learning.

Does anyone know if coaching institutes are actually providing better study material than the standard reference books? I feel like the kids get overwhelmed with too many resources.

Don't ignore the blue boxes and the summary sections in the NCERT books! Many parents overlook them, but our school teachers keep saying that questions often come directly from those notes. Is your child already attending any coaching or are you planning to handle the extra practice at home?

My elder one used to make short notes in the margins of the NCERT itself during his board prep. It's all about revision. He used to read the chapter, underline the critical lines, and then re-read only those lines before the exam. It saved him so much time.

Focus on the back-of-the-chapter questions in NCERT first. Most parents ignore them, but I have seen that if a child solves those thoroughly, they get a good grip on the logic. Don't go for too many extra books or the child will just get confused.

For Biology, my daughter treats every diagram in the NCERT like a potential 5-mark question. I tell her to write down the labels and processes exactly as they appear in the book, because the boards look for those specific keywords. For Chemistry, she uses the 'exemplar' problems to practice application-based questions, which really helps bridge the gap between theory and exam-style problems.