The Central Board of Secondary Education has rolled out a draft plan to conduct board exams at class 10 and 12 levels from 2026. This revised pattern is in line with the policies outlined in NEP 2020, which aims to create exams that benefit students and reduce their dependence on rote learning and external coaching. The primary objective of the new CBSE exam pattern is to address the stress of students due to board exams. Earlier, students used to get only one opportunity to perform, leading to considerable academic pressure and a flourishing coaching industry.

To mitigate this concern, CBSE has decided to conduct exams twice in the same academic year, to ensure that students do not depend on only one exam for evaluating their performance.

Key changes

An important change in the CBSE board exams is the introduction of two exam sessions in each academic year for class 10 and class 12 students, as reported by the Times of India.

The two stages include:

Main exam: The first stage will be conducted as per the regular procedure.

Improvement exam: In the second stage, there will be an opportunity for candidates who wish to improve their performance.

Students who have not achieved good enough results in their first exam can take the second exam before needing to repeat an academic year. Taking additional exams reduces the actual pressure.