CBSE Announces Twice-A-Year Class 10 Board Exams From 2026: What Students Need To Know?-OxBig News Network

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made a historic move by announcing a new reform in its Class 10 board exams through the implementation of two attempts every academic year from 2026. This new development is aimed at reducing exam-related stress and giving students a vital chance to improve their performance without the traditional year-long wait.

Under the new scheme approved, students of all Class 10 students will be made to sit for the first phase of examinations in mid-February. A second examination will be administered in May for students who want to retake the test to increase their marks or clear a maximum of three subjects. This response is direct to the “high stakes” character of single-attempt board exams.

The move is a result of the suggestions made by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which promotes flexible and student-friendly testing methods.

#BreakingNews : 10वीं की परीक्षा पर CBSE का फैसला, 2026 से साल में 2 बार होगी 10वीं की परीक्षा#Rajpath #CBSE #Exams #HighSchoolExam | @ShobhnaYadava pic.twitter.com/poGx8Ck70V
— Zee News (@ZeeNews) June 25, 2025

Important Points Of CBSE Class 10 Exams 2026:

Double Phases: Board exams will be held twice a year, in February (obligatory for everyone) and May (voluntary).

Results Schedule: April would be the time when the first phase results would be announced, and the second phase results would be announced in June to allow timely reassessment of scores.

Unified Internal Assessment: The internal assessments would be done only once a year of study, before the first board exam, and would apply to both phases of the exam. 

ज्या CBSE चं अप्रूप आपल्या मुख्यमंत्र्यांना आणि शिक्षण मंत्र्यांना आहे तो बोर्ड सुद्धा पहिलीपासून तीन भाषा शिकवणार नाहीये! फक्त R१ आणि R२.

आता बोला @Dev_Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/9UoaZRxoOE
— Abhishek Somwanshi (@abhisanket) June 21, 2025

More Chances, Less Pressure:

In a press statement issued today, CBSE explained the eligibility for the new system. The first exam will be made available to fresh students, compartment cases, necessary repeat students, and improvement seekers. The second exam will be available to improvement category students, first or third compartment chance aspirants, and those who are pairing compartment and improvement subjects.

Special arrangements have also been provided for certain student populations. Sportspersons whose events overlap with examination schedules, students from schools in winter locations, and Children with Special Needs (CWSN) candidates can be allowed to treat the second exam as their first attempt if needed.

In the future, the board has indicated additional pedagogical changes, such as the introduction of modular exams, two-level question papers, and a combination of objective and descriptive formats in subsequent board exams.

CBSE states that this new system is aimed at reforming the teaching model away from high-stakes, single-shot assessments to a model of continuous learning that offers plenty of chances for pupils to recover, learn from their errors, and attain improved results.

Although the policy of two exams is assured for Class 10 students from the 2026 session, CBSE has suggested that the same system can be thought about for Class 12 in the future, but no timeline has been proposed yet. The larger message is still the same: students now have two different chances within the same academic year to prove their abilities and have a better chance of achieving success.