The date sheet for the Class 10 and 12 board exams, which are set to take place from February 17 to April 9, was released by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Thursday.
According to CBSE authorities, the date sheets were released about 110 days prior to the start of the exams for the first time. Sanyam Bhardwaj, the controller of examinations for the CBSE, wrote to schools that are associated with the CBSE, saying, “Students will be able to start their examination preparations well in advance, which will help them overcome examination anxiety and improve their performance in the examinations.”
In 2026, it is anticipated that about 45 lakh students from 26 foreign countries and 204 disciplines in India will take the CBSE board exams. The schedule states that the major board exams for Class 10 will take place from February 17 to March 10 and for Class 12, from February 17 to April 9. At 10.30 a.m., the examinations will start.
According to Bhardwaj, the date sheet was created to guarantee that there is enough time between two subjects that students in both classes typically select. “To prevent any exam overlap on the same day, it was prepared after analysing over 40,000 subject combinations,” he stated.
With an emphasis on finishing board exams well in advance, he continued, the calendar also accounts for the dates of important entrance exams like the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). He claimed that this will assist pupils in better time management for both entrance and board exams. An previous tentative timetable released by CBSE on September 24 states that the second round of Class 10 exams will take place from May 15 to June 1.
By July 15, 2026, all exam results will be made public. In June, the CBSE announced that it would begin holding biannual Class 10 board exams in 2026.
Students who want to improve their scores in three of the four subjects—science, math, social science, and languages—will be required to take the first exam in mid-February and have the option to take the second exam in May. This change is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020’s recommendations, which place a strong emphasis on lessening the “high-stakes” aspect of board exams.