Tamilnadu Board of Higher Secondary Education came into existence in the year 1910 and is working under the Department of Education, Government of Tamilnadu, India. Some streams are announced from the Tamil Nadu board such as SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) stream, the Anglo India stream, the Oriental School Leaving Certificate (OSLC), and the Matriculation stream. For 11th and 12th standards, it provides Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) stream too. The performance of the students is processed by conducting two examinations, one at the end of 10th standard and the other at the end of 12th standard. The universities used the scores of 12th standard board examinations to determine eligibility criteria and as a cut-off for admissions into their programmes for admission process and others. The exams of SSLC and OLSC are generally held in March, June, and October. The other exams are also conducted by the board for the school standards. The jurisdiction of Tamilnadu board extends to schools too which are situated in the state.
The government of Tamilnadu constituted a new board for school examination in the year 2002 named Tamilnadu Board of Secondary Education by merging the existing two different boards named Board of Secondary Education and Board of Higher Secondary Examinations. The board that conducts 12th standard examinations in the schools, including both government and private schools is Tamilnadu Board of Higher Secondary Education, which functions under the Tamilnadu State Board of Examinations. The board started its functioning in the year 1982.