The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has introduced a new plan for Class 10 board exams starting next year. According to the draft rules released on Tuesday, students will have the option to take the exam once or both times. If they choose to take both exams, they can "opt out" of subjects or papers they do not want to retake.

Two exam phases and shorter duration

Under the proposed schedule, the first phase of the Class 10 board exams will be held from February 17 to March 6, while the second phase will be conducted from May 5 to May 20. Unlike the current 32-day exam period, the new format will complete the exams within 16-18 days.

This means students may get only one or two days between two papers, based on their subject choices. Currently, students sometimes have breaks of up to five or even ten days between exams. The results of the first phase will be declared by April 20, and the second phase results will be out by June 30.

Students who appear for both exams will have their best scores reflected in the final marksheet.

Registration and exam choices

CBSE is seeking feedback on this proposal from the public by March 9. Based on the responses, the final plan will be prepared before the new academic session begins in April.

For students taking the Class 10 board exam in 2026, registration will be done by September 2025. At this time, students will need to decide whether they want to take only the first exam, both exams, or just the second exam.

After the first exam results are declared in April, only students who registered for the second exam will be allowed to take it. They will also have the option to opt out of certain subjects.

A source explained, "After the results of the first exam are released, and if you are happy with your social science, English, and mathematics marks, you can opt out of these papers for the second exam and just sit for the remaining subjects. The final scorecard will reflect the best scores."

However, if a student registers only for the second board exam, they will have to appear for all subjects, and "no further examination will be conducted" beyond that.

How will results be issued?

  • The results of the first exam will be available on DigiLocker.
  • Students can use these results to get admission into Class 11 if they do not wish to take the second exam.
  • However, official passing documents will only be given after the second phase results are declared.
  • Internal assessments will be conducted only once.

Why is CBSE introducing two exams?

This proposal follows the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The policy aims to reduce the stress of board exams by allowing students to take them twice:

"To eliminate the high-stakes aspect of board exams, all students will be allowed to take board exams on up to two occasions during any given school year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired."

Exam centres and fee structure

To avoid confusion, the same exam centres will be assigned for both exam phases. The exam fee will be increased and collected for both exams during registration.

CBSE has been working on scheduling these two board exams in a way that does not disturb the next academic session. With this new system, students will have more opportunities to improve their scores while reducing the pressure of a single exam attempt.

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