How we level our worksheets
Every Paperworx worksheet is placed in a class using India's official national guidelines – the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the National Curriculum Framework for the Foundational Stage (NCF-FS 2022), the NIPUN Bharat mission's learning goals and NCERT textbooks.
NEP 2020: the 5+3+3+4 structure
NEP 2020 replaced the old 10+2 system with four stages. Paperworx covers the first two:
| Foundational Stage | Ages 3–8 · Balvatika 1, 2, 3 (Nursery, LKG, UKG) + Class 1 and Class 2 |
|---|---|
| Preparatory Stage | Ages 8–11 · Class 3, 4 and 5 |
Balvatika = Nursery, LKG, UKG
Under NEP 2020, the three pre-primary years are called Balvatika. Many schools still use the familiar names, so we show both:
- Nursery – Balvatika 1 (age 3–4): pre-writing strokes, colouring, rekha abhyas, talking about pictures
- LKG – Balvatika 2 (age 4–5): letters and their sounds, shapes, colours, the world around
- UKG – Balvatika 3 (age 5–6): numbers up to 10, Hindi vyanjan, reading simple 2–3 letter words
NIPUN Bharat learning goals
NIPUN Bharat (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy) sets clear targets for foundational literacy and numeracy. We use them to decide where each sheet belongs:
| By end of Balvatika | Recognises letters and their sounds · reads simple words of 2–3 letters · recognises and reads numerals up to 10 |
|---|---|
| Class 1 | Counts and develops number sense up to 20 · adds and subtracts numbers up to 9 (sum up to 20) · identifies Indian coins and notes · extends simple patterns |
| Class 2 | Number sense up to 99 · adds and subtracts up to 99 · multiplication as repeated addition, tables of 2, 3 and 4 |
| Class 3 | Reads and writes numbers up to 9999 · adds and subtracts up to 999 · multiplication tables of 2 to 10 |
Each worksheet page shows the NIPUN Bharat goal it builds towards.
NCERT textbooks
For Class 1 onwards we also link sheets to the matching chapter of the NCERT textbook – for example Joyful Mathematics (Class 1), Ch. 4 Making 10. CBSE schools use NCERT books, and most state boards base their syllabus on them.
Does it work for my child's board?
Yes. At these ages the topics are very similar across CBSE, ICSE and state boards. Some private schools move faster than the national guidelines – if your child's school is ahead, simply pick sheets from the next class.
Paperworx is an independent publisher. We use official, publicly available guidelines to level our sheets; we are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ministry of Education, NCERT, CBSE or any board.