CBSE announces Class 10 second board examination dates, starts May 15

CBSE Class 10 second exams to be held from May 15 to 21; only students from main exam eligible to improve scores under new two-board system.

Published on: Apr 23, 2026, 18:52:01 IST

By Sanjay Maurya, New Delhi

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The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Thursday announced the schedule for the Class 10 second examination, which will begin on May 15 with the Mathematics (Basic and Standard) paper and conclude on May 21 with the Social Science exam, according to the date sheet.

CBSE releases Class 10 second exam schedule; Maths on May 15, Social Science on May 21, admit cards to be issued soon. (Representative photo)

“The details on the number of students sitting for these examinations will be announced on Friday. Admit cards for Class 10 second board exams will be uploaded on the official website soon,” a CBSE official said.

According to CBSE’s two-board examination policy, only students who appeared in the first main board exam are eligible to sit for the second exam to improve their performance in any three subjects out of science, mathematics, social science and languages.

The main board examination results were announced on April 15. The board recorded a marginal improvement of 0.04 percentage points in overall Class 10 performance, with 93.70% of students passing this year compared to 93.66% in 2025. This year, the pass percentage for girls stood at 94.99% (95.00% in 2025), while boys recorded 92.69% (92.63% in 2025). The performance of transgender candidates, however, dropped to 87.50% this year compared to 95% last year.

Class 10 students who appeared in the 2026 board examinations are among the first batch to be assessed under CBSE’s new two-board-exam system for Class 10, aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) aimed at reducing the “high-stakes” nature of board examinations. The main board examination for Class 10 in 2026 was conducted between February 17 and March 11. Final results will be declared after the second board examinations are conducted, and grading will be calculated by combining the results of both the main and second board examinations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanjay Maurya
Sanjay Maurya is a Principal Correspondent with Hindustan Times, where he covers education, with a focus on school and higher education, competitive examinations, education policy and governance. Working as part of the National Bureau, he is based in New Delhi and reports on the Ministry of Education and covers various statutory bodies like UGC, AICTE and NCTE and autonomous bodies like CBSE and NCERT. His reporting also tracks the implementation of key government reforms and policies from school education to higher education including in IITs, NITs, IIMs, central and state universities, and their impact on students and educational institutions. His reporting on the irregularities and rushed implementation of CBSE's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for evaluation of Class 12 board exams 2026, triggered administrative action, leading to the transfer of the board's two senior-most officials and the constitution of a committee to probe alleged irregularities in procurement process of the system. He joined Hindustan Times in December 2024. Prior to that, he had a three-year stint at Careers360, where he reported on school and higher education, entrance examinations, admissions, rankings and various education policies involving universities and professional education bodies. Over the years, Maurya has reported extensively on major developments in India's education sector, including the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA) following the NEET-UG 2024 controversy, changes in school education, higher education regulation, and the evolution of entrance examinations such as NEET, JEE and CUET. He regularly produces data-driven and explanatory stories based on government documents, parliamentary proceedings, court records and official data. His focus remains on helping readers understand how education policies and institutional decisions affect millions of students, teachers and educational institutions across the country.Read More

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