Nearly 8.32 lakh candidates began their class XI (plus one) public exams across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Wednesday, with the language paper.

The School Education department had announced in 2017 that class XI students from State board schools would have to take up public exams as well.

S. Nithya, a student in Chennai, said that barring a few one-mark questions which seemed confusing, the Tamil paper was a simple one. Students who took up the French paper too said that it was straightforward.

The exam started at 10 a.m. and students were given three hours as well as an additional fifteen minutes to read the question paper.

“While the plus one portions used to be skipped by both students and teachers in the past, making the final exam a public exam has ensured the students learn the plus one syllabus now. While there might have been some initial apprehension about how to tackle the exams, students taking up the exams now are largely stress-free and much more confident,” said R. Visalakshi, president, Tamil Nadu Private Schools Association.

While students of classes 10 and 12 this year will be taking up the board exams in the new syllabus, students of class 11 took the board exams in the new syllabus last year.

On Friday, the students will take up the English paper. Nearly 4.67 lakh students are from the science stream and 2.88 lakh students are from the commerce stream.