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Write section-wise answers in science, social science exams: CBSE to students
CBSE mandates Class 10 students to answer section-wise in science and social science exams from 2026; mixed responses won't be evaluated.
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Class 10 students appearing for the 2026 board exams conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) must clearly write answers section-wise in science and social science papers, board officials said on Friday, adding that responses mixed across sections will not be evaluated by subject-specific teachers and will not fetch marks.
During a webinar, conducted by CBSE for principals and head of affiliated school on ‘modalities for the conduct of board exams 2026’ on Friday, officials explained that the board has introduced three major initiatives for CBSE board examinations 2026: two board examinations for Class 10; On Screen Marking (OSM) evaluation for Class 12; and division of Class 10 science and social science papers into three and four sections, respectively.
Until the 2025 board exams, Class 10 science papers had physics, chemistry and biology questions mixed across five mark-based sections (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 marks). From 2026, each subject will appear in a separate section: section A (biology), section B (chemistry) and section C (physics), with every section carrying a mix of 1 to 5 marks questions.
Similarly, social science papers earlier combined history, geography, political science and economics questions across six mark-based sections, including map work. From 2026, each subject will be placed in a separate section: section A (history), section B (geography), section C (political science) and section D (economics), with a mix of 1 to 5 marks questions in every section, including one map-based question each in history and geography sections.
The change based “on stakeholder feedback for judicious assessment” reflects the way these subjects are taught in schools, where different teachers typically handle individual science and social science subjects, officials said.
During the webinar, CBSE exam controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said that students have to clearly separate answers section-wise in their answer copies for science and social science subjects, as mixing responses across sections will lead to non-evaluation and no marks.
“If a reply [answers of one section] will be written somewhere else [in another section]...such answers will not be evaluated and no marks will be awarded,” he said.
Bhardwaj told HT that students must clearly mark and divide sections in their answer books, as per their needs. “For example, in a science paper, if a student first answers some biology questions and then wants to attempt physics or chemistry, they should leave a few pages blank so that they can later write answers of remaining questions in the biology section. After that, they should start a new section for physics, again leaving some pages if needed, and then create a separate section for Chemistry before writing the answers there,” he said
Bhardwaj stated that answer books of science and social science will be evaluated with the help of the subject-specific teacher of the concerned subjects.
“So far, one Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) used to evaluate an entire answer book for a subject. For instance, a TGT with a BSc degree would check all questions in a science paper. From this year, CBSE will assign evaluation based on subject specialisation: teachers with BSc (Hons) in physics will check physics answers, and similarly for chemistry and biology as well. As a result, each Class 10 science answer script will be assessed by a panel of three teachers specialising in physics, chemistry and biology. A similar system will be followed for social science exams,” he explained.
Dr. Samta Singh, principal of PM SHRI Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sector-12, Dwarka in Delhi, said, “We received a CBSE circular regarding sections in science and social papers last year in December and have already guided the students accordingly.”
Meanwhile, during the webinar, principals voiced worries over “infrastructure gaps” and the “technical anxiety” associated with the sudden shift to On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for Class 12, fearing that long screen hours would exhaust staff.
The board officials said digital shift is a way to ensure “objective and fair” results, using a system that will “automatically total marks” to prevent human error. Teachers will be assigned to check 20 answer books, and the time previously spent on other activities will now be reduced, leading to certainly “less burden”, they said.
Under OSM, students will continue to write exams in the same format, but answer scripts will be scanned, digitised and uploaded by CBSE to a portal where teachers will log in with their unique IDs to assess answer copies on computer screens using digital tools for marking, annotations and page navigation. They will read answers, award marks , annotate each page digitally and submit marks online.
Approximately 4.6 million students from India and 26 countries will appear in the CBSE board examinations in 2026, beginning on February 17.
