CBSE rickrolled: Class 12 math paper QR code links to 1987 Rick Astley hit

OUT OF SYLLABUS

- Sanjay Maurya [e-mail]

Students who sat for the Central Board of Secondary Education's Class 12 mathematics examination on Monday got an unexpected surprise when they scanned a QR code printed on their question paper — it opened a YouTube video of Rick Astley's 1987 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up", the song at the centre of one of the internet's longest-running pranks.

Rickrolling, as the prank is known, involves tricking someone into clicking a link that unexpectedly leads to the music video. Screenshots and videos of students scanning the code began circulating on X, Instagram, and Reddit shortly after the examination, flooding social media with memes and jokes about an entire board exam batch being rickrolled.

The CBSE on Tuesday moved to quash concerns about the integrity of the examination, issuing a press release confirming that the question papers were genuine. "The security of the question papers remains uncompromised," exam controller Dr Sanyam Bhardwaj said.