Govt panel suggests two board exams for Class 10 CBSE starting 2026

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday approved draft norms for conducting Class-10 board exams twice a year from 2026.

The draft norms will now be put in the public domain and the stakeholders can submit their feedback till March 9 following which the policy will be finalised, official told news agency PTI.

In a public notice released on Tuesday, February 25, the CBSE stated that the government has released the National Education Policy, 2020 which recommends that students will be given an opportunity to improve their performance in board examinations.

“A meeting was held in the Ministry of Education under the chairmanship of the Hon'ble Education Minister in which the following was discussed: Two board examinations should be conducted in Class 10th in 2025-2026. A draft policy should be developed for this.”

"This draft policy is to be hosted on the CBSE website for obtaining feedback from all stakeholders (schools, teachers, parents, students and others (general public etc), the notice read.

What the draft norms say?

As per the draft norms, the first phase of the exams will be conducted from February 17 to March 6, while the second phase will be conducted from May 5 to 20.

“Both the examinations will be conducted on full syllabus and the candidates will be allotted the same examination centres in the two editions,” a senior board official told PTI.

The official said exam fees will be enhanced and collected for both exams at the time of application filing.

"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.

The new National Education Policy (NEP) had recommended that to eliminate the "high stakes" aspect of the board exams, all students will be allowed to take the exams on up to two occasions during any given school year.

(With inputs from PTI)