The government is planning to conduct a second Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exam for Class 12 students in June starting in 2026, as suggested by the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE).
Currently, Class 12 students take the CBSE board exam in February-March, with results announced in May. Students can improve their performance in one subject through supplementary exams held in July. Those who haven’t passed all their subjects, and are marked as compartment, can also take these exams. This year’s supplementary exams for Class 12 were held on July 15, 2024.
However, the new National Education Policy, 2020, aims to move away from high-stakes exams and proposes biannual board exams to give students more opportunities. Consequently, the Education Ministry has instructed the CBSE to draft a plan for conducting two board exams per year, starting from 2026.
While the government has not yet finalized the details of the two-board exam system, one option under consideration is for students to take a second set of exams in the month of June, every year. Unlike the current system, where Class 12 students can only take supplementary exams to improve their performance in one subject, the proposed system would allow them to retake exams in any or all subjects of their choice in June.
CBSE would require about 15 days to conduct the second set of exams and an additional month to announce the results. Consequently, the results of the second board exam would be released in August, every year.
The government is considering several factors, including the timing needed to conduct the second board exams, the schedule for other entrance exams, and the evaluation load on teachers. Given the presence of schools in snowbound areas, the first set of board exams under the proposed two-exam system cannot start earlier than February.
Currently, the government expects that not all students will choose to appear for all subjects in the second board exam; most of them may opt for only two or three subjects. In this scenario, the evaluation load of the second exam is projected to be around 4-5% of that of the first exam. Initially, in the first year, CBSE might offer students the option to take the second exam for difficult subjects in June.
The National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023, based on the National Education Policy 2020, states that all students will be allowed to take board exams at least twice during any given school year, with only the best score being retained.
According to the NCFSE in the long term, subject board examinations will be available immediately after the school term whether semester-wise or on-demand. However, holding a board exam at the end of each semester (or every six months) in an academic year is not currently feasible for CBSE.
Earlier this year, 2024, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced that starting from the 2025-26 academic session, students would have the option to take Class 10 and 12 board exams twice a year. He had also mentioned last year, 2023, that taking these exams twice annually would be optional, with the goal of reducing student stress.
