Kolkata: An estimated 6.6 lakh candidates, 56.03 per cent of them girls, sat for semester-based class 12 board exams in West Bengal for the first time on Monday, state education officials said.

The students of the state board, who had written semester exams in class 11, took the test in a similar format in the final year of school.

The exam, which is the first evaluation of class 12 students in the semester format in the history of West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, will continue till August 22, its president Chiranjib Bhattacharya said.

The semester-based class 12 board exams are being held in conformity with the new state education policy, he said.

"The students, who passed the first and second semester exams of class 11, took the third semester exams (of class 12) at 2,106 centres across the state," Bhattacharya said.

The candidates wrote the papers from 10 am to 11.15 am.

Bhattacharya said 122 venues have been categorised as 'sensitive'.

All electronic devices, including mobile phones, have been prohibited in all the centres, he said, adding all steps were being taken to prevent any malpractice.

The last exam in the annual system, conducted since 1978, was held in March this year.

In the new format, question papers in semesters one and three have multiple-choice questions to promote thinking and reasoning. Semester two and four will have SAQ (short answer question) and DQ (development quotient) to retain the writing abilities, he added.