The Central Board of Secondary Education has made various changes this year for the CBSE Board Exam 2026. The set of changes, including the addition of new rules, will be implemented in Class 10, 12 board exams this year onwards. These changes have been made in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The Class 10and 12 board exams begin on February 17, 2026. Around 46 lakh students from India and 26 countries will appear for the examination. The Class 10 exam will be over on March 11, and the Class 12 exam will be out on April 10, 2026.
Students who will appear for the exam can check the changes made by the Board for Class 10, 12 board exams.
Two Board Exams
This year onwards, CBSE will conduct two board exams for Class 10. The first board exam will be held in February-March 2026, and the second one will be held in May, starting May 15, 2026. The second exam will be held for 15 days. All passed, and eligible students will be allowed to improve their performance in any of the three subjects out of Science, Mathematics, Social Science and languages.
Section-wise Question Papers
For Class 10, the Science and Social Science question papers have been divided into different sections. This decision was taken to improve the quality of evaluation. Science comprises Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and Social Science comprises History, Geography, Political Science, and Economics. Students of Class 10 will have to answer the questions for each subject separately, and subject-specific teachers will evaluate them.
On-Screen Marking (OSM)
{{/usCountry}}For Class 10, the Science and Social Science question papers have been divided into different sections. This decision was taken to improve the quality of evaluation. Science comprises Physics, Chemistry and Biology, and Social Science comprises History, Geography, Political Science, and Economics. Students of Class 10 will have to answer the questions for each subject separately, and subject-specific teachers will evaluate them.
On-Screen Marking (OSM)
{{/usCountry}}The Board has introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) for the evaluation of Class 12 answer books. The teachers teaching Class 10and 12 will be deployed for OSM evaluation to ensure the timely completion of the evaluation work and the declaration of results. CBSE will give training to the teachers before the start of the actual evaluation.
Measures taken for error-free evaluation
1. The Board has updated the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as per the current evaluation scheme.
2. They have assigned fewer answer books to each evaluator to allow sufficient time for quality evaluation.
3. Capacity-building programs for evaluators have been planned.
4. Short instructional videos for guidance.
5. Evaluation process to be completed in 8-10 days instead of 10-12 days like previous years.
For more related details, candidates can check the official website of CBSE.