CBSE Proposes to Conduct Class 10 Board Exam Twice a Year From Next Year
CBSE Seeks Feedback on Biannual Class 10 Exams by March 9, 2025
There were reports regarding conduct of the CBSE board examinations twice every year and now CBSE has formally announced a draft policy to propose conduct of the Class 10 board examinations twice a year from next year.
CBSE has proposed a draft policy as per which the students of Class 10 board will be given an opportunity to improve their performance in class 10 board examinations.
The draft policy has been prepared by CBSE in a meeting which was chaired by the Union Education Minister in which it was decided that the Board may conduct class 10 board examinations two times a year from 2025-2026.
The proposed biannual examination draft policy has been prepared in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) and it aims to make education more flexible and comprehensive.
The Biannual class 10 board examinations will commence from 2026. The first board examinations of class 10 will be held on the first Tuesday after 15 February which means that the class 10 board examination will be conducted from 17 February to 6 March 2026.
Similarly, the second board examination for class 10 will be held from 5 May to 20 May 2026. CBSE has prepared its draft policy after widespread consultations to reduce exam-related stress in the students and also provide them extra opportunities to improve their academic performance.
The Key takeaways from the Draft Policy of CBSE
There are several recommendations suggested in the draft policy by CBSE regarding two examinations in class 10 board exam from 2025-2026. The highlights of the CBSE draft policy are as follows:
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PROPOSED SCHEME
Class X and Class XII examinations will begin on the first Tuesday after 15 February.
It is expected that in Class X, in 2026, about 26.60 Lakh students and in Class XII, about 20 Lakh students will appear in the examinations.
Both the examinations will be conducted on the full current syllabus and the text-books.
Except Science, Maths, Social Science, Hindi, English, rest of the subjects are grouped in the following manner:-
(i) A Regional and Foreign languages in one group
(ii) Rest of the subjects in one group
Examination of Science, Maths, Social Science, Hindi and English will be conducted on a fixed day as done currently.
Examination of Regional and Foreign Languages will be done in one go on a single day.
*Examination of remaining subjects will be conducted 2 times to 3 times based on the choices of the students on 2 or 3 days. Meaning thereby, the Data Science examination will be conducted on two or three days. The students will be allotted the day of the examination based on the formula devised by the CBSE and the subject combination offered by the student. Students will not be given a choice to select the dates of examinations. The question papers of these subjects will be taken back from the students after examination is over.
The scheme of studies and scheme of examinations will remain the same.
In this scheme, the facilities extended to CWSN candidates will be taken care as taken care of now.
For the Sport’s students, they have to appear in any of the two Board Examinations of Class X and no separate examination will be conducted for them.
The examination centres will be fixed for the 1st examination, and for the 2nd examination too, the same centres shall be allotted.
LOC will be completed by September end of the previous year from the year of conduct of examination.
After submission of LOC, no change in the subjects offered will be allowed. This will be considered only in the second examination.
Filling of LOC for the first examination will be compulsory. Option for both examinations will be obtained in the LOC when filling for the first examination. No new name will be added to the LOC of the second examination.
For second examinations, LOC will be made live immediately after the result declaration only for opting out of second examinations.
All schedules will be fixed and there will not be any deviation in the schedule.
Examination fee will be enhanced and collected for both examinations at the time of filling of LOC for the first time which would be non-refundable if once paid.
First/ Second examinations will also act as Supplementary examinations.
No special examination will be conducted in any circumstances.
Facilities of verification, Photocopy and revaluation extended after the result declaration to the students will be reviewed and framed in accordance with the availability of time.
Schools will be assessed for becoming an examination centre and issued a letter/certificate in this regard to ensure the quality of examination centres.
No self-centre will be fixed. If there is no school near to a sponsoring school and as per policy if the examination centre is at a distance, needful arrangements will be made by the sponsoring school.
Only on National Gazetted Holidays, examinations will not be conducted. Restricted holidays and state holidays, the schedule of examinations will be fixed and accordingly examinations will be conducted.
Candidates as per defined eligibility will be allowed to appear in the 1st examinations.
No passing document will be issued after the result of 1st examinations.
Performance of 1st examination will be made available in DigiLocker. This could be used for admission to class XI if the student does not wish to appear in 2nd examination.
All the candidates will be issued passing documents after the second examination result.
Practical/ Internal assessment will be done only once.
Mark Sheet cum Passing Certificate will have marks secured in the first examination, the second examination, marks secured in Practical/Internal assessment and Grades. Also, better of the two marks will also be mention.
Students not qualified in the 1st examination could be allowed admission in Class XI and based on the result of the 2nd examination, their admission be finalised.
A merit certificate will be issued after 2nd examination.
Students qualifying all 5 subjects will be declared as pass.
Students who failed to pass from 1 to 5 subjects in 1st examination will be placed under the “Improvement Category” and will be allowed to appear in 2nd examination.
The syllabus for any examination will be the syllabus of the year of examination.
Additional Subjects will not be permitted. This means that after passing class X, students will not be allowed in stand-alone subjects.
If a student is declared pass by replacing the 6th/7th subject will be eligible for improvement in the failed subject only for the next two examinations from their 1st examinations.
After submission of LOC, no subject will be changed. If any student wishes to change the subject after submission of LOC, this will only be allowed in 2nd examination. Such students can opt not to appear in that subject during the 1st examination. If they appear in the 1st examination, they will not be permitted to change the subject in 2nd examination.
Students appeared only in the 2nd examination, no further examination will be conducted. Such students will be allowed to appear in the 1st examination of the subsequent year, but the syllabus shall be the syllabus applicable for the subsequent year.
After the feedback, the policy will be reviewed, revised and finalised.
Examination-Bye-Laws will be amended suitably.
CBSE seeks feedback on conducting Class 10 board exam twice a year
CBSE has published its draft policy on its official website for seeking responses of the stakeholders. The stakeholders can submit their feedback on the two board exams a year draft policy of CBSE on the CBSE website, www.cbse.gov.in till 9 March 2025.
The stakeholders of the draft policy include students, schools, teachers, parents and the general public. Stakeholders can seek more information on the draft policy and the recommendations from the CBSE notification on the website.
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