CBSE Class 10 Board Exam 2026: CBSE Explains New Two-Time Exam System

The Central Board of Secondary Education conducted a webinar on November 20, 2025, to clear doubts about holding the CBSE Class 10 board exam twice from the 2026 academic year. The session, led by CBSE Chairperson Rahul Singh, included school heads, teachers, parents and students. The aim was to explain how the new system will work and address concerns before implementation.

Mandatory First Exam, Optional Second Exam

CBSE confirmed that students must appear for the first board exam. After that, they may choose to improve their marks in up to three subjects in the second exam. These subjects must be selected from Mathematics, Science, Social Science, and two language papers.

Only subjects with more than 50% external assessment will be offered in the second exam. The Board expects that not more than 40% of students will take the second exam for each major subject.

Second Exam Will Reduce Evaluation Load

Rahul Singh shared that around 1.5 crore answer sheets are evaluated in the first Class 10 exam every year. For the second exam, the Board expects the number to stay between 20 to 30 lakh.CBSE plans to complete the evaluation faster and aims to release the second exam results by June 30, 2026.

No Opportunity Shopping

CBSE warned that it does not want the second exam to be viewed as an alternative main exam. Students must attempt the first exam seriously.The Board clarified:

• The first exam remains the main exam.
• Students cannot choose to split subjects between the two exams.
• Any student absent in three or more subjects in the first exam will not be allowed to appear for the second exam.

Registration After First Result

Once the CBSE 10th Phase 1 results 2026 are declared, students who wish to improve their performance will be able to register for the second exam. The Board will then prepare the final list of candidates for the improvement phase.

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