The CBSE board exams 2026 are done — and 2026 turned out to be the most unusual exam year the board has run in decades. Theory papers for Class 10 and Class 12 began on February 17, 2026, Class 10 wrapped up by March 11 and Class 12 continued to April 10 after a late reschedule. Then came something entirely new: a second board exam for Class 10, held from May 15 to 21, 2026 — the first time CBSE has offered two attempts in a single academic year.
As of mid-July 2026, that second-exam chapter is the live one: Phase 2 results are expected any day on the official CBSE portals. This page keeps the full 2026 datesheet on record — useful for anyone verifying dates on certificates or admit cards — and explains what the two-exam system means for the marksheet you’ll actually receive.
The 2026 Exam Cycle at a Glance
| Stage | Dates |
| Practicals, winter-bound schools | 5 November – 5 December 2025 |
| Practicals and internal assessment, all other schools | 1 January – 15 February 2026 |
| Class 10 theory exams (Phase 1) | 17 February – 11 March 2026 |
| Class 12 theory exams | 17 February – 10 April 2026 |
| Class 10 second board exam (Phase 2) | 15 – 21 May 2026 |
| Phase 2 result | Expected mid-July 2026 |
| Supplementary exams (Class 12) | July 2026 |
Two revisions reshaped the original timetable after its release. A Class 10 paper originally set for March 3 moved to March 11, extending the Class 10 window by four days, and the Class 12 Legal Studies exam shifted from March 3 all the way to April 10 for administrative reasons — which is why the Humanities stream finished a full two weeks after Science. Every other date held. Around 44 lakh students across India and 26 other countries sat the exams, with all papers running in a single shift from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM.
The Big Change of 2026: Two Board Exams for Class 10
For the first time, CBSE conducted Class 10 boards in two phases, implementing the National Education Policy 2020 recommendation to reduce single-exam pressure. Phase 1 in February–March was the compulsory main exam for everyone. Phase 2 in May was optional — an improvement window open to students who had already appeared in Phase 1, allowing a re-attempt in up to three subjects, plus students in the compartment category.
The uptake showed how much demand the safety net answered: over 6.68 lakh students appeared in Phase 2, of whom more than 5.25 lakh came purely to improve scores and about 85,000 sat compartment papers. Exam centres stayed the same as Phase 1.
The rule that matters most is best-of-two. For each subject, the board keeps whichever of your two scores is higher — a weaker Phase 2 attempt cannot pull down a Phase 1 mark. The final consolidated marksheet lists only the better score per subject, so a student who scored 70 in Mathematics in February and 82 in May carries 82 forward. One consequence students discovered in practice: the Phase 2 scorecard you first see online shows only the second-attempt marks, which alarms some families — the consolidated document with the merged scores follows separately.
CBSE Class 10 Datesheet 2026 — Major Subjects
| Date | Subject | Codes |
| Tuesday, 17 February | Mathematics (Standard / Basic) | 041 / 241 |
| Saturday, 21 February | English (Communicative / Language & Literature) | 101 / 184 |
| Wednesday, 25 February | Science | 086 |
| Saturday, 28 February | Sanskrit (Communicative / Sanskrit) | 119 / 122 |
| Monday, 2 March | Hindi (Course A / Course B) | 002 / 085 |
| Saturday, 7 March | Social Science | 087 |
All papers ran 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM. The rescheduled paper from March 3 pushed the last Class 10 exam date to March 11, 2026.
CBSE Class 12 Datesheet 2026 — Stream by Stream
The three streams started and finished on very different dates, which caught out students who assumed one shared calendar:
| Stream | First paper | Last paper |
| Science | 17 February | 27 March |
| Commerce | 22 February | 28 March |
| Humanities | 24 February | 10 April |
Science: Physical Education opened on February 18, followed by Physics (February 20), Chemistry (February 28), Mathematics / Applied Mathematics (March 9), English Core (March 12), Computer Science / Informatics Practices (March 25) and Biology closing the stream on March 27.
Commerce: Business Studies led on February 22, with Mathematics / Applied Mathematics (March 9) and English Core (March 12) shared with Science, then Accountancy on March 24 and Economics finishing on March 28.
Humanities: Geography began the stream on February 24, followed by English Core (March 12), Hindi (March 16), Economics (March 18), Political Science (March 23), History (March 30), regional languages including Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi (April 6), Sociology (April 8) and the rescheduled Legal Studies paper bringing the entire 2026 board season to a close on April 10.
The long gaps between papers — Science students had nearly two weeks between English and Computer Science — were deliberate datesheet design, and students who treated those gaps as full revision blocks for the heavier subjects generally used the schedule the way the board intended.
What Happens From Here
Checking the Phase 2 result. When it goes live, the result appears on cbse.gov.in and results.cbse.nic.in; logging in requires the roll number, school number, date of birth and admit card ID exactly as printed on the Phase 2 admit card. CBSE doesn’t notify students individually — the portal link simply activates. DigiLocker carries the digitally signed marksheet and passing certificate, and that version is valid for Class 11 admission formalities while physical documents travel through schools.
If the marks look wrong. After declaration, the board opens a window for marks verification, obtaining a photocopy of the answer book, and re-evaluation — applied online, with a per-subject fee, in that order. A warning worth taking seriously before applying: re-evaluated marks can go down as well as up, and the revised score is final. Verification catches totalling errors cheaply; re-evaluation is for cases where the photocopy shows a specific answer you can argue was mis-marked.
If a subject still isn’t cleared. Class 12 students in the compartment category sit supplementary exams in July 2026, the board’s usual cycle. For Class 10, the two-phase system itself absorbs the supplementary function — the board has indicated no separate special exam beyond the two phases, with the next opportunity falling in the 2027 cycle.
Quick Answers on the 2026 Dates
When did the CBSE board exams 2026 start and end?
Theory exams for both classes began on February 17, 2026. Class 10 Phase 1 ended on March 11, Class 12 ended on April 10 with the rescheduled Legal Studies paper. The optional Class 10 second board exam ran May 15–21, 2026. Practical exams preceded theory: November 5 – December 5, 2025 for winter-bound schools, and January 1 – February 15, 2026 everywhere else.
What was the CBSE second board exam 2026 and who could take it?
An optional Phase 2 exam for Class 10 only, held May 15–21, 2026 — the first under the NEP 2020 two-exam system. Students who appeared in Phase 1 could re-attempt up to three subjects to improve scores, and compartment-category students used it to clear pending subjects. The board keeps the higher of the two scores per subject in the final marksheet.
When should the 2027 datesheet be expected?
CBSE has typically released the annual datesheet in November of the preceding year, and 2026’s came unusually early in that pattern. Students entering the 2026-27 board classes should watch cbse.gov.in from autumn onward; the two-exam structure for Class 10 is expected to continue.
One Practical Step for This Week
If you sat the Phase 2 exam, don’t wait for a notification that will never arrive — check results.cbse.nic.in directly each day, and make sure your DigiLocker account is already linked and working before the result drops, not after. The link-and-verify step takes ten minutes now; on result day, with lakhs of students hitting the servers at once, it can take hours. And once the consolidated best-of-two marksheet is issued, verify every subject score against both of your phase scorecards before submitting documents anywhere — the merge is automatic, but Class 11 admissions run on the numbers printed there.
