CBSE Class 10 pass percentage rises to 96.78% after second board exam; over one-fourth of students took improvement test

CBSE announced the results of the Class 10 Second Board Examination 2026 on Saturday. Students can check their results via DigiLocker.

Updated on: Jul 19, 2026, 06:30:57 IST

By Sanjay Maurya

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The overall pass percentage in the Class 10 board examinations rose to 96.78% after the second board examination, with 308,095 students out of 663,777 –59.95% –improving their performance, according to results announced by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Saturday.

While the main examination was held from February 17 to March 11, 2026, the second board examination took place from May 15 to May 21. (Handout)

The second board examination was taken by 663,777 students, accounting for 26.85% of the more than 2.47 million students who had appeared for the mandatory main Class 10 board examination held between February and March.

Also read | CBSE Class 10 Second Board 2026 results announced: Check steps to download marksheet

The Class 10 main board examination results, declared on April 15, had recorded an overall pass percentage of 93.70%, marginally higher than 93.66% in 2025.

According to CBSE, 664,027 students registered for the second examination and 663,777 appeared. Of these, 513,955 students took the examination for improvement, and 308,095 (59.95%) succeeded in improving their performance over the main examination.

149,822 students appeared for compartment exam

Another 149,822 students appeared under the compartment category, of whom 78,503 (52.40%) cleared the examination, an improvement of 3.72 percentage points over the 48.68% compartment pass percentage recorded in 2025.

Also read | SC asks Centre, CBSE to detail steps taken to fix glitches in OSM system

After incorporating the better scores obtained in the second board examination held between May 15 and 21, the overall pass percentage increased by 3.08 percentage points to 96.78%—an increase of 3.12 percentage points from last year's overall pass percentage of 93.66%.

“The second board examination provided eligible students of the main board examination of 2026 with an additional opportunity to improve their performance. Accordingly, for regular students of 2026, the better of the two performances is considered for preparing the final result,” CBSE Controller of Examinations Sanyam Bhardwaj said in a statement.

The 2026 Class 10 cohort is the first to be assessed under CBSE's two-board examination system, a key reform under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aimed at reducing the "high-stakes" nature of board examinations by giving students an additional opportunity to improve their scores.

Under CBSE's new two-board examination policy, introduced from 2026 in line with the NEP 2020, only students who appeared in the main board examination were eligible to take the second examination to improve their scores in up to three subjects—science, mathematics, social science and languages. For regular students, the board considers the better of the two performances while preparing the final result.

Students can access their results and digital academic documents through DigiLocker, while printed marksheets and passing certificates will be issued through their respective schools.

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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