Centre planning to expand audit of CBSE's on-screen marking system amid concerns

The move follows anger among parents and teachers, and a series of HT reports covering what appears to be a rushed process to roll out an entirely new mechanism

The Union education ministry is planning to expand its scrutiny of the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) on-screen marking system to include a full audit of the platform’s implementation — from the tendering process through to actual execution — amid concerns over glitches and evaluation-related issues, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, during a meeting with CBSE officials, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Video Grab)

The move follows anger among parents and teachers, and a series of HT reports covering what appears to be a rushed process to roll out an entirely new mechanism for scoring nearly 10 million answer scripts despite concerns from those who tested the system.

“The ministry’s immediate focus is to stabilise the re-evaluation portal with the help of the IIT teams so students can apply for scanned copies, raise objections and seek verification smoothly,” this person added, asking not to be named. “After completion of the re-evaluation process, the IIT team will also audit the OSM website and examine the system from the tendering stage to actual implementation. Further action and system modifications will be based on the team’s findings. Action will be taken against officials and companies too if any wrongdoing is found,” the person added.

Meanwhile, CBSE postponed the launch of its portal for verification and re-evaluation of Class 12 answer sheets from May 29 to June 1, 2026, to ensure a “transparent and glitch-free” process for students.

IIT Kanpur director Manindra Agrawal said fixing glitches in the re-evaluation portal remained the top priority.

“We are aiming to get the portal ready and running smoothly by June 1. Teams from IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras have been working for the last six days and have identified issues related to the website architecture,” he said.

CBSE officials said the portal will reopen on June 1 for students who have already obtained scanned copies of their evaluated answer books, allowing them to raise question-wise objections where they believe marks were not awarded correctly. “These responses will then be re-evaluated through the OSM system by subject experts,” an education ministry official said.

The scrutiny comes as CBSE acknowledged approximately 20 cases of answer-sheet mix-ups following the results, and as nearly one in four of the nearly 1.8 million students who appeared for Class 12 examinations applied for scanned copies of their answer books — a 208% surge over last year.