CBSE 2-Board Exams 2026: Around 40% Class 10 Students Likely to Take Second Exam, Says Chairman

CBSE will offer Class 10 students the option to appear for board exams twice in select subjects starting from 2026. CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh has said the board expects a maximum of 40% students in each core subject to take the second board exam.

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During a webinar on CBSE's two-board exam plan on Thursday, Singh said, "We don't expect... as an estimate... we've assumed that a maximum of 40% students will appear in each core subject in the second board exam."

Singh pointed out that teachers will have a lighter evaluation workload in the second exam compared to the first. He explained, "In the first Class 10 board exam, the total number of answer sheets to be evaluated is around 15 million... a little more than that.

We don't expect the evaluation burden for the second board exam to exceed 20-30 lakh. So, we hope to complete the evaluation quickly and declare the second board exam results on time. Our deadline is June 30... to complete the entire cycle."

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CBSE Two Board Exam Structure

Earlier this year, the board announced that students must appear for the first set of exams. After that, they can choose to improve their scores in three subjects. These subjects include mathematics, science, social science, and two language papers.

Why CBSE Introduced Two Board Exams

The two-board exam system comes from the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It aims to reduce the high-pressure nature of board exams. The NEP suggested several options, including allowing students to take exams twice in an academic year and introducing a semester-based system.

Singh said, "Having two board exams is a policy obligation we all have to fulfill together. This wasn't an easy decision or plan... especially because the NEP and NCF (National Curriculum Framework) mention three options. We had to consider all three."

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Why CBSE Rejected Other Options

Singh explained why CBSE didn't go with the other options suggested by NEP.

On the semester system, he said, "We're already evaluating only Class 10 and Class 12 syllabus in term-end board exams. The semester system would've reduced the syllabus burden and external evaluation. But we felt conducting full semester-based exams would burden teachers unnecessarily. They wouldn't be able to handle the evaluation pressure. Schools also couldn't manage the inspection and exam-conducting workload. It would strain the controller's resources too."

Regarding anytime exams, Singh added, "Another option was the concept of anytime exams... Board exams conducted whenever a child feels prepared. This needs a large and robust pool of resources. We'd also need to rely heavily on monitoring and supervision systems, which would require a lot of effort. We felt these systems might not effectively reduce children's stress."

He continued, "So we were left with the third option explained in the NEP: The first exam will be the main exam, and the second will be for improvement if students wish. We've adopted this as our philosophy for the second board exam."

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Which Subjects Will Have Second Board Exams

The board has decided not to conduct second exams in all subjects. Only subjects with more than 50% external assessment will have a second board exam.

Rules to Prevent Misuse

Singh emphasized that CBSE doesn't want to undermine the importance of the first board exam. He said, "We don't want to encourage opportunity shopping. We shouldn't create a system where students pick three subjects for the first exam and three for the second. This would defeat the whole idea."

He added, "The first exam is the main exam, and students must take it seriously. Those who haven't appeared for three or more subjects in the first board exam won't be allowed to sit for the second."

How to Register for Second Board Exam

Once the first exam results are declared, students can register for the second exam. The board will then finalize the list of eligible candidates.

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