Two Board exams for Class 10 in 2026; details on CBSE proposals on exam process

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has recently released draft guidelines for the implementation of the twice-yearly board exam system for Class 10 students from 2026.

While the Board exams for Grades 10 and 12 will be continued, the existing system of Board and entrance examinations shall be reformed to eliminate the need for undertaking coaching classes, said CBSE.

The Board exams will be redesigned to encourage holistic development and students will be able to choose many of the subjects in which they take Board exams.

Also Read: CBSE plans to conduct two board examinations for class 10 students from 2025-26

A draft scheme for the conduct of two Board examinations for Class 10 has been developed and it is proposed that the scheme be implemented from the 2026 examinations, the CBSE said in its latest notice.

Details

Class 10 Board Exam 2026

Examinations scheduled: 

First phase from February 17 to March 6 and second phase from May 5 to May 20

Highlights of the proposed scheme

It is expected that about 26.60 lakh students in class 10 and about 20 lakh students in class 12 will appear in the examinations.

Both the examinations will be conducted on the full current syllabus and the text-books.

Except for Science, Maths, Social Science, Hindi, English, the rest of the subjects are grouped in the following manner:-

Regional and Foreign languages in one group and the rest of the subjects in one group.

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.

The performance of 1st examination will be made available in DigiLocker. This could be used for admission to class 11 if the student does not wish to appear in 2nd examination.

Students not qualified in the 1st examination could be allowed admission in Class 11 and based on the result of the 2nd examination, their admission be finalised.

A merit certificate will be issued after 2nd examination. The Students qualifying all 5 subjects will be declared as pass.

Similarly, the 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 CBSE has sought responses, and suggestions from various stakeholders on the draft guidelines by March 9, 2025.
For more details, you can visit the official CBSE visit. CLICK HERE