CBSE Board Exams 2026: Date Sheet, Major Changes This Year, Guidelines

CBSE Board Exams Date Sheet 2026: 

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released the tentative date sheet for Class 10 and 12 board examinations, giving students an early start to their exam preparations. Exams will be conducted from February 17 to July 15, 2026, with timings from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm (till 12:30 pm for subjects like painting and automotive). A major reform introduced this year is the two-board exam system for Class 10 students, designed to help those who fail or miss subjects save their academic year and reduce stress.

This year, over 45 lakh students are expected to appear for the CBSE Class 10 and 12 exams - an increase of three lakh from last year.

CBSE Board Exams 2026: Date Sheet, Major Changes This Year, Guidelines

Starting from the 2026 academic year, two board examinations will be held for Class 10. Students who could not give or failed the first examination will be able to appear in the second board examinations under the "Essential Repeat" or Compartment category and qualify Class 10. Those looking to improve their scores can also appear for the second board exams.

Class 10, 12 As Complete Programs

Class 10 and 12 will be considered as complete programs, meaning students will be required to complete Class 9 and 10 both to be eligible for the Class 10 board examinations. For Class 12 board exams, completing Class 11 is mandatory.

Internal Assessment

A student who does not appear in the internal assessment of any of the Classes of the program will be considered ineligible for qualification and their result will not be declared.

Guidelines

• CBSE has mandated 75 per cent attendance for appearing in the board examination for both Classes.
• Results of the first board examination will be available on the DigiLocker account of the student, which they can use for taking admission in to Class 11.
• Students enrolled in Sports can appear for the second examinations if they are unable to appear for the first one.
• The board will start evaluating the answer copies of students after 10 days of the examination of specific subject and be done in 12 days.

CBSE 2026 Board Exams Admit Card Release Date

The board is expected to release the admit card for board examination two weeks prior to the examination, as per last year trend.