February 2025

In line with 2023 National Curriculum Framework for school education, which was updated to align with NEP 2020.

The notification issued by CBSE include Rai, Urung, Tamang, Sherpa, Sanskrit, Urdu, Marathi, Gujarati, Manipuri, Tibetan, Bhoti, Telugu, Bodo, Tangkhul, Bhutia, Kashmiri, Mizo and Thai but drops Punjabi from the list of regional languages. Punjab

starting from next year, 2025-26 academic session, introducing two exam options—one in February and another in May (one main examination and one for improvement)—along with a compressed exam schedule and the inclusion of the best of two scores on the marksheet.

According to the board, the current process of conducting class 10 and 12 exams takes over 50 days, with exams held between February and April across India and in 26 other countries.

However, under the new policy, the board proposes to conduct class 10 exams in two phases. The first phase will take place from 17 February to 6 March, 2026, while the second phase will run from 5 May to 20 May, 2026. Together, both phases will be completed in 34 days.

Students will have the option to take both exams, or just one exam, or retake exams in specific subjects during Phase 2 if they are not satisfied with their performance in those subjects from Phase 1.

Both exams will cover the full current syllabus.

the examination centres for both the first and second exams will be fixed, with the same centres being allotted for both sessions.

After the declaration of results, the List of Candidates (LOC) will be made live, allowing students to opt out of the second examination.

The examination fee will be increased and collected for both exams at the time of filling out the LOC for the first time. Once paid, this fee will be non-refundable.

No passing document will be issued after the first examination results. However, the performance from the first exam will be available in DigiLocker, which can be used for admission to Class 11 if the student chooses not to appear for the second examination.

All candidates will receive passing documents after the second examination results are declared. Additionally, practical/internal assessments will only be conducted once.

Students who appear only in the second examination will not be eligible for any further examinations. However, they will be allowed to appear in the first examination of the following year, with the syllabus for that year being applicable.

The exams for science, math, social science, Hindi, and English will be conducted on a fixed day, as is currently practiced.

In contrast, the exams for regional and foreign languages will be held on a single day.

For the remaining subjects, the exams will be held two to three times, depending on student choices. For instance, the data science exam will be scheduled over two or three days. CBSE will assign specific exam dates to students based on a formula that considers their subject combinations. Students will not have the option to select their exam dates. After the exams are completed, the question papers for these subjects will be collected from the students.

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