The Central Board of Secondary Education, in its new policy, has approved to conduct the Class 10 BOARD exam twice a year. This new system will be implemented starting in 2026, according to PTI report.
The first of these examinations, held in February, is compulsory for all students. However, the second phase of the examinations in May is available as an option for those students looking to improve their results from the first phase.
The best score from these two attempts will be considered as the final result. “Students will be allowed to improve their performance in any three subjects out of science, mathematics, social science and languages,” CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj added.
This new CBSE examination system comes as a move that aligns with the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which aims to reduce the stress and burden experienced by students. The bi-annual examination system applies a learner-centric approach, which allows students to tackle the syllabus at their own pace.
In May, the Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan spoke about ideating to implement this policy, saying, "This is a key step towards implementing the National Education Policy (NEP). By allowing students to appear for exams twice, similar to the JEE Main format, they will have the flexibility to choose the better score," and that it will help to mitigate student stress in the pivotal 10th academic year.
This dual exam system comes two months after the Ministry of Education had asked the CBSE to work out logistics for conducting board exams twice a year from the 2025-26 academic session, according to PTI reports.
