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CBSE proposes new ‘best of 2’ Class 10 exam format, may be rolled out next yr
CBSE plans to conduct Class 10 board exams twice yearly from 2026, allowing students a second chance to improve scores or retake failed subjects.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has proposed a significant shift in its examination policy, outlining plans to conduct Class 10 board examinations twice in an academic year starting from 2026.
The draft policy, released on Tuesday, proposes conducting the first phase of exams from February 15 to March 7 with results to be announced on April 20, and the second phase from May 5 to 20 with results by May 30.
The draft scheme will require all students to take the complete set of their registered subjects in the first examination phase, with the second examination positioned either as an improvement opportunity for those who passed but want better scores, or as a necessary follow-up for those who failed 1-5 subjects in the first attempt and placed in the “improvement category”.
This reform aligns with recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises reducing the high-stakes nature of board exams. The CBSE is seeking stakeholder responses on the draft policy until March 9.
According to the draft policy, core subjects including Science, Mathematics, Social Science, Hindi and English will have fixed examination dates across both phases. Regional and foreign languages will be conducted in a single sitting, while remaining subjects will be held two to three times based on student choices.
“The students will be given the day of the examination based on the formula devised by the CBSE and the subject combination offered by the student,” CBSE said in its draft policy.
The board clarified that “students will not be given a choice to select the dates of examinations” and that question papers for non-core subjects “will be taken back from the students after the examination is over.”
The board has shared the schedule of Class 10 board exams 2026 for both phases which shows that there is a gap of a maximum two days between two papers.
Students must pay examination fees for both attempts and will be allocated the same examination centre for both phases.
The first examination’s performance will be accessible via DigiLocker and can be used for Class 11 admissions if students choose not to take the second examination.
In a departure from current practice, CBSE’s draft states that students participating in national and international sporting events must appear in either of the two examination phases, with “no separate exam will be conducted for them.” Since March 2018, CBSE has been conducting special examinations for such students.
The proposal comes as CBSE prepares to conduct its 2025 board examinations for over 2.4 million Class 10 students across 84 subjects. For 2026, it anticipates around 2.6 million students taking exams in the same number of subjects.
The proposed reform has garnered mixed reactions from educators.
Jyoti Arora, principal of Delhi-based Mount Abu Public School, welcomed the initiative. “I welcome this progressive step of two-times board exams by CBSE in line with National Education Policy recommendations. Sometimes, students are not physically or emotionally fit during the examinations and a second-time examination will give another chance without wasting an academic year. It will be helpful to Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) aspiring students as their exam schedule will not clash with practical exams now,” she said.
Vaishali Gehlot, a Delhi government schoolteacher who participates in CBSE evaluation duties, highlighted existing challenges. “An evaluator has to check a minimum of 20 answer copies and a maximum of 30 copies in a day from 9AM to 5PM. The quality of evaluation is going to suffer as evaluators will be checking papers in a shorter span. If CBSE asks more teachers for evaluation, the teaching process in schools will suffer in their absence,” she cautioned.
The draft policy indicates that “students who failed to pass from 1 to 5 subjects in the first examination will be placed under the ‘Improvement Category’ and will be allowed to appear in the second examination.” No further examinations will be conducted after the second phase, with affected students permitted to appear in the first examination of the subsequent year.
The final mark sheet will include the better of the two examination scores, along with practical/internal assessment marks and grades, according to the draft policy.
CBSE’s final decision will be announced after reviewing stakeholder feedback received by the March 9 deadline.
