Just as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is about to make some changes to board exams from 2026 onwards, there is a rush among students and parents to get answers to questions such as improvement exams, eligibility after passing Class 12, the number of attempts permitted, and whether the two, board, exam format will be applicable beyond Class 10.
Sanyam Bharadwaj, Controller of Examinations, Central Board of Secondary Education, considered the options available and gave his answers to these FAQs. After passing Class 12, a student has the following options for performance enhancement, Supplementary Examination (July 2026):
A student can only improve in one subject through a supplementary exam at the supplementary examination held after the board exams.
Main Examination Next Year (February session):
Those students who want to improve marks in more than one subject should appear in the main board examination that will be held the following February.
Can Class 12 students also take board exams twice, similar to Class 10?
No. The CBSE has made the ‘two examination’ policy only for Class 10.
Is there an improvement exam for Class 10? If yes, when will the improvement exam forms be released for CBSE 2026?
Yes. In fact, the 2nd board examination is the improvement examination for the students of Class 10 as per the current policy.
It has been decided that as soon as the main examinations will be over, the candidates, based on their expectations about their performance in the first examination, can submit their candidature for the second. This window will be open for about 10 days.
Once the result of the first examination is declared, the students can apply for the improvement examination based on their actual performance.
In the case of the second window, it is candidates those who applied after the examination and those who submitted their candidature after the result was declared that will be required to pay the fee. Those who pay the fee alone will be allowed to take the second examination.
Then, at what time will the CBSE Improvement Exam Form be released in 2026 for Class 12 students?
As per the policy of the Class 12 board, CBSE has only permitted the Improvement of one subject. The test date is 15th July 2026. Students can apply for the improvement and compartment exams as soon as the result is out. In May 2026, at the time of announcement of results, CBSE will issue a detailed circular.
Suppose a private candidate opts to appear for only two subjects, then how the final percentage would be calculated?
CBSE only mentions the marks on the Marksheet.
The CBSE is not calculating the percentage. Further, the calculation of percentages, etc., depends on the rules of higher education institutions or the organisations selecting people for the job. They will calculate the percentage as per their own eligibility criteria.
