The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will now conduct the CBSE 10th board exam twice in a year – February and May. From the academic year 2025-26, students will be allowed to take CBSE class 10 exams up to two times. The first board exam, to be conducted in February 2026, will be compulsory for all students. However, students will have an option to appear in for the second CBSE board exam which will be held in May 2026.
CBSE Board class 10th students will now have to appear for one main examination and if desired, for one improvement exam. As per the new CBSE rules, students will be allowed to appear in any three subjects for the improvement exam. These three subjects can be from science, mathematics, social science and languages. The CBSE Board has introduced these reforms to lessen the board exam pressure and improve academic performance of the students.
Read More: CBSE 10th Exam 2025-26
CBSE Twice Board Exam 2025-26: What’s New
Some of the major changes introduced by CBSE on class 10 board exams are as tabulated below:
| Basis | CBSE Board Exam Rules till 2025 | CBSE Board Exam Rules 2026 onwards |
| Exam Frequency | Once a year | Twice a year |
| Exam Dates | February-March | 1st exam – February 2nd exam – May |
| Result | May | April and June |
| Mandatory/Optional | Mandatory | 1st exam mandatory and 2nd exam optional |
| Internal Assessment | Once a year | Once a year |
CBSE 10th Board Exam 2026 – Highlights
In addition to the above changes, the CBSE class 10th board exams will also have have following features:
- Students will be allowed to appear for the second exam to improve their performance for up to only three subjects
- If a student has appeared in three or more subjects in the first board exam then only, he/she will be allowed to opt for the second exam.
- Students who have appeared in less than three subjects in CBSE Board 1st exams will have to repeat the year and take the board exams next year in the essential repeat category.
- Students who fail in one or two subjects in the first board exam will be placed under compartment category for the second board exam of the same academic year.
- There is no change in exam mode, syllabus and pattern of question-paper as of now.
