Starting from 2026, Class 10 students under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will have the opportunity to take their board exams twice in an academic year. Officials announced on Wednesday that while appearing in the February phase will be mandatory, students can choose to take the May phase optionally to improve their scores.

Performance improvement in three subjects allowed

CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj stated, “The first phase will be conducted in February and second in May. The results for the two phases will be announced in April and June, respectively.”

“It will be mandatory (for students) to appear for the first phase while the second phase will be optional. Students will be allowed to improve their performance in any three subjects out of science, mathematics, social science and languages,” he added.

Winter-bound schools given flexibility

According to the approved norms, students in winter-bound schools will be permitted to appear in either of the two exam phases.

One-time internal assessment

The internal assessment will be carried out only once during the academic year, as per the guidelines.

Draft norms invited public feedback

The CBSE had released the draft norms in February and opened them for stakeholder feedback before finalising the decision.

Aligned with NEP recommendations

The move aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP), which recommended board exams be conducted twice a year to reduce the “high-stakes” pressure associated with single-exam formats. The NEP emphasises that all students should be allowed two opportunities to appear for the exams in any given academic session.