CBSE has put this draft policy in the public domain and the Board will accept responses from all stakeholders like teachers, parents, schools, students and the public till March 9, this year.
For the 2026 board examinations, the list of candidates will be prepared by the end of September 2025 and more than 26 lakh students are expected to write the examinations.
Every student has the opportunity to sit for the second examination. One can opt out of the second examination, if needed. For the second examination, list of candidates will be made available immediately after the results of the first examination is announced and for those who want to opt out of the second examination can do it at this stage. Second examination can be used for those who want to improve their results or use it as a supplementary examination. No special examination will be conducted in any circumstances.
No passing document will be issued after the result of the first examination. Passing documents will be issued to the students only after the second examination results are announced. If any student doesn’t want to appear for the 2nd examination, results available in the DigiLocker for the first examination could be used for their admission to class XI.
Mark Sheet / Passing Certificate will have marks obtained in the first examination, the second examination, marks secured in practical/internal assessment and grades. Better of the two marks will also be included.
From the students’ view-point this proposal is very helpful. The obvious reason for doing this exercise is to reduce the students’ stress.
Let us look at some of the causes of the stress. Many a time, the causes responsible for the stress are beyond the students’ control and they are only a victim of the circumstances. We need to understand that we are talking about 26 lakh students spanning across India, living in very different environments – geographically, socially and economically. Many of them face different types of issues during the examinations.
Reaching on-time for the examination is a critical factor. There are many who have to travel long distances to reach the examination centers. Local issues often affect the transport system. Students are subjected to extreme stress if there is a disturbance to the local transport system due to factors like environmental or social disturbances.
Another very important factor that affect the student’s performance is the student’s mental well-being during the examination. We know very well that if a student is not physically fit due to illness, that will affect their performance. But what about the mental state? If someone close to the student like father, mother or siblings is hospitalised in a critical condition and the student has to move in and out the hospital, what will be his mental condition to write the examination? Think of a death that has taken place in one’s own house during the examination period. Even the most well-prepared student will not be able to perform in such situations.
There are many such issues a student may come across. These are not the student’s fault. Grades obtained in such situations does not really reflect the student’s true potential.
When the whole future of a student depends on a single examination, one can understand the stress that is building up in their mind and it can lead to a breakdown. The opportunity given to a student to write the examinations two times is indeed very helpful to overcome from such difficult situations and reduce the stress.
We need to appreciate the fact, that the whole exercise goes through a very tight schedule because the two examinations are conducted very closely involving some 26 lakh candidates spanning across the country. Examination scripts need to be evaluated, marks entry need to be completed, necessary checking need to be put in place and lot more. The effort put up by the CBSE and tasks taking up by the teachers and the administrative staffs are highly commendable. Students and parents must be thankful for their great efforts.
—The author, Dr. V. Premachandran, is a member of the working group in the Kerala State Planning Board, and was a Senior Fellow at the Solar Energy Research Institute, National University of Singapore.
Read his previous articles here
