25 February,2025 10:51 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Representational pic
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday approved draft norms for conducting Class 10 board exams twice a year from 2026, officials said.
According to news agency PTI, the draft norms will now be made public, allowing stakeholders to submit their feedback until March 9, after which the CBSE Exams 2026 policy will be finalised.
As per the draft norms, the first phase of the CBSE Exam 2026 will be held from February 17 to March 6, while the second phase will take place from May 5 to 20.
"Both the examinations will be conducted on the full syllabus, and candidates will be allotted the same examination centres for both editions. Exam fees will be increased and collected for both exams at the time of application filing," a senior board official said, according to PTI.
ALSO READ
"The first and second editions of the board exams will also act as supplementary exams, and no special exams will be conducted in any circumstances," the official added.
According to PTI, the new National Education Policy (NEP) had recommended that to eliminate the "high-stakes" nature of board exams, all students should be allowed to take them up to twice in any given school year.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) commenced the Class 10 and 12 board exams for the 2024-25 academic year from February 15, in which around 42 lakh students are set to appear. The exams are being conducted at 7,842 centres across India and 26 other countries worldwide. According to the board, a total of 24.12 lakh students will appear for the Class 10 papers across 84 subjects, while 17.88 lakh Std 12 students have written papers in 120 subjects.
This reflects an increase of 3.14 lakh students over last year's total count of 38.85 lakh across both the grades.
The Class 10 exams will conclude on March 18, while the Class 12 exams end on April 4. To help students manage exam stress, CBSE has launched its annual counselling service. A team of 66 trained professionals, including psychologists, principals and special educators from CBSE-affiliated schools, will provide voluntary support.
(With PTI inputs)
