Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Chairman Rahul Singh stated that the Board expects no more than 40 per cent of students to take the second exam in the main subjects, as the board plans to allow Class 10 students to appear for the board exams of some subjects twice from 2026.

Singh explained that the second exam will give teachers far less evaluation work. He pointed out that for Class 10, the first board exam produces approximately 1.5 crore answer sheets. 

According to him, the second exam will likely have barely 20-30 lakh answer sheets, India Today reports.

This will allow the Board to finish evaluation faster and release the second exam results on schedule. 

The board's goal is to finish the exams, paper correction, and declaration of results by June 30.

Previously, CBSE announced that all students must sit the first exam. Following that, they can select up to three subjects (from math, science, social science, and two language papers) to improve their performance on the second exam.

The idea of giving two board exams comes from the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The aim is to “eliminate the high-stakes nature” of board exams. The NEP mentioned different ways to do this, including giving two chances in a year or using a semester system… Two board exams is a policy obligation which all of us have to fulfill together,” Singh said at a webinar about CBSE two-board exam scheme yesterday, November 20. 

The Board also decided not to offer the second exam for all subjects, but only for those with more than 50 per cent external assessment.

Singh stated that they did not want to undermine the idea that the first exam is the most important one. Students should not be allowed to divide subjects between the two tests since it would defeat the aim of the system. 

Students must take at least three subjects in the first exam, or they will be unable to sit for the second exam.