The CBSE is currently working out the modalities of structuring the academic calendar to accommodate another set of board exams without impacting the undergraduate admission schedule.
An insider said, “The ministry has asked the CBSE to develop a plan for conducting board exams twice a year. The board is working out the details, and a consultation with school administrators will occur next month.”
“The notion of holding two board test editions at the end of the year from the 2025–2026 academic session is under consideration, but the specifics still need to be ironed out. However, there are no plans to implement the semester system,” the insider added.
The biannual board exams that the ministry had scheduled to begin with the 2024–25 academic year have been postponed by one year. The new national curriculum framework (NCF) was prepared by the Union government-appointed national steering company, which former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan led, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. NCP proposed a semester system for students of classes 11 and 12.
The framework, presented by the government in August last year, also advocated allowing students to take their board exams twice a year.
“The CBSE right now is brainstorming on the schedule so students can get maximum benefit and the goal of making board exams stress-free can be achieved. However, logistics is a challenge that needs to be addressed; conducting exams is tiresome, so the plan has to be flawless,” the source said.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told PTI in an interview last October that students won’t be required to appear for board exams twice a year.
“The students will have the option of appearing for the (class 10 and 12 board) exams twice a year, just like the engineering entrance exam JEE. They can choose the best score but it will be completely optional, no compulsion,” he had said.
However, this is not the first attempt at reforming board exams. The Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) was introduced for Class 10 in 2009 but was revoked in 2017, and the board reverted to the old model of year-end exams.
The board exams for classes 10 and 12 were also split into two terms during the COVID-19 pandemic as a one-time measure, but the old format of year-end exams resumed this year.
