The draft was made public for feedback on Tuesday, and based on the suggestions received, it is likely to be reviewed and then finalised. (Express Archive)The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is set to offer Class 10 students the option of giving two board exams from next year onwards – one from mid-February to early March and a second one in May, with students likely to get only a day’s gap between two papers.Results of the first exam are likely to be declared by April 20 and the second by June 30. Students who choose to appear for both exams will have their best score appear in the final marksheet, the Board said in its Tuesday press release on the proposed two-board exam system. CBSE has sought public feedback on the proposal by March 9.“We want to finalise the plan before the new academic session begins for Class 10 students in April,” said a senior CBSE official.According to the proposed schedule, examinations will be completed more quickly. The first phase of the class 10 board assessment in 2026 will span just 18 days (February 17 to March 6), about half the current duration of 32 days. The second phase will run over 16 days (May 5 to May 20). This means students will have only one or two days between consecutive papers depending on their subject choices – considerably shorter than the current intervals, which can extend up to five or even ten days.Registration for the Class 10 Board exam in 2026 will be completed by September and students will have to indicate at this stage itself whether they want to appear for the first Board exam, both or just the second exam. After the results of the first exam are published in April, only students who had registered in September itself for the second board exam will have the choice to “opt out” of subjects or papers they don’t want to take again.“After the results of the first exam are released, and if you are happy with your social science, English and mathematics marks, you can opt out of these papers for the second exam and you can sit for the remaining subjects. The final score card will reflect the best scores,” said a source on anonymity.However, if a student who has only appeared for the second Board exam in April, “no further examination will be conducted”.Story continues below this adDetails of the performance in Exam 1 will be made available on DigiLocker, and students can use them for admission to Class 11 if they choose not to appear for Exam 2. ‘Passing documents’ will not be issued after Exam 1; they will only be issued after the results of Exam 2 are declared. Internal assessments will be conducted only once, according to the draft scheme.The draft was made public for feedback on Tuesday, and based on the suggestions received, it is likely to be reviewed and then finalised.The CBSE’s proposal to conduct two board examinations in class 10 is in line with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which states that to “eliminate the high stakes aspect of board exams, all students will be allowed to take board exams on up to two occasions during any given school year, one main examination and one for improvement, if desired.”The CBSE had been grappling with the challenge of scheduling two board exams in such a way that the exams do not eat into the next academic year.Story continues below this adThe draft scheme says that examination centres will be fixed for the first examination and the same centres will be allotted for exam 2. The examination fee will be enhanced and collected for both exams while registering ahead of exam 1. This will be non-refundable if paid.© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:CBSE