The Board of Secondary Education, Odisha (BSE Odisha) was formed on November 3, 1994, under the Odisha Education Act 1953. An autonomous government body, the board controls and maintains all schools in the eastern Indian state that are affiliated with it.

The board has designed its curriculum with the focus of imparting quality education to the students in the state such that they are well equipped for higher studies and gaining employment. The board prepares the syllabus, study materials, and textbooks for students, conducts the final examinations for class 10 and class 12 students, and issues the certificates for the board exams and other exams. The board conducts the High School Certificate Examination twice a year. The first is the annual exam
and the second is the supplementary exam. The exam is conducted by written tests, internal assessment, and/or practical exams. The subjects are the mother tongue, a second Indian language, English, mathematics, science, social science, and Sanskrit. Apart from a percentage score, students get division based on their aggregate marks.

The students who secure 60% of marks and above are passed in the first division. The ones who score between 45% and 59% are passed in the second division and the ones who manage to score at least 30% in all subjects and an average of 33% to 45% are passed in the third division. A student who is unable to secure 30% in one or more subjects but has scored 250 marks and above in the total will have the option to reappear for a maximum of three consecutive papers and upon clearing those is declared to have passed compartmentally.