Feb or May: CBSE to offer flexible exam schedule for class 10 students from 2026

New Delhi: From 2026 onward, students in class 10 will have the option to take CBSE board examinations twice during a single academic year, or select between two available testing periods - one in February and another in May, according to officials.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) gave its approval to draft regulations on Tuesday. These proposed rules will now be published for public review, and stakeholders have until March 9 to provide their input, after which the policy will be finalized.

Candidates will also have the option to appear for both examinations if they wish. Additionally, students will be allowed to skip specific subjects in the second attempt if they are already satisfied with the scores they have achieved in the first examination as well as particular subjects in the first attempt as well.

As per the draft norms, the first phase of the exams will be held 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. Exam fees will be enhanced and collected for both exams at the time of application filing,” a senior board official said.

“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) 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.

The Board has clarified that no separate supplementary exams will be conducted under this system. Instead, the second session of the Board examination will serve as the supplementary exam for those who wish to improve their scores.

“The list of candidates (LOC) will be finalised in September of the preceding year. This means that for the February 2026 exam, the list will be finalised by September 2025. No new candidates will be allowed to register for the May 2026 exam if they were not part of the September 2025 list,” the official said.

“Once the LOC is finalised, candidates will not be permitted to change their subjects. However, there is some flexibility in subject selection. If a candidate wishes to modify their subject choices, they can skip a subject in the first examination (February-March) and opt for a different subject in the second examination (May). However, if a candidate completes all subjects in the first exam, they will have to take the same set of subjects in the second exam if they choose to reappear,” the official added.

The Board has also decided that for practical and internal assessments, the evaluation will be conducted only once per academic year. No separate certificates will be issued after the completion of the first examination in February-March.

“The final passing certificate and marksheet will be issued only after the May examination. This document will include the marks obtained in both exam sessions (if the candidate appeared in both) as well as the best of the two scores for each subject,” the official said.

The new exam framework categorises subjects into seven groups: Language 1, Language 2, Elective 1, Elective 2, Elective 3, Regional and Foreign Languages, and Remaining Subjects.