CBSE Issues Class 10, Class 12 Board Exams 2026 Guidelines; 75 Percent Attendance Mandatory

CBSE has clarified that Class 10 and Class 12 are two-year courses consisting of Class 9 and Class 10 and Class 11 and Class 12, respectively. Read the complete article and get more details

CBSE Issues Class 10, 12 Board 2026 Guidelines

The Central Board of Secondary Education has reaffirmed the Class 10, Class 12 Board exam instructions. CBSE has informed that Class 10 and 12 are two-year regular courses with a minimum 75 per cent attendance to sit for the board examinations.

In a public notice, CBSE has revealed that two National School Boards in the nation are operating under the Union Ministry of Education, CBSE and NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling).

CBSE provides education in face-to-face mode, whereas NIOS provides education in Open and Distance Education Mode.

Class 10 & Class 12 are Two-Year Courses

The Board has in its notice stated essential requirements for appearing in the Board examinations conducted by it. It states that Class 10 and Class 12 are two-year programmes comprising Class 9 and Class 10, and Class 11 and Class 12, respectively. “Accordingly, all subjects should have been studied for 2 years by a student to become eligible for appearing in the examinations.”

It also states that it is mandatory for the students to have a minimum of 75% attendance to appear for board exams.

‘Internal Assessment is Compulsory’

“In all the subjects offered by the CBSE, internal assessment is a compulsory integral part of the assessment as per NEP-2020. It is a 2-year process. If a student does not come to school, his/her internal assessment is not possible. Without performance in the internal assessment, a student's result cannot be declared," states the CBSE Notice.

The notice also adds that such students, even if they are regular students, will be placed in the 'Essential Repeat Category’.

The notice issued by CBSE Controller of Examinations, Sanyam Bharadwaj, states that CBSE provides extra subjects in Class 10 and Class 12. In Class 10, two additional subjects can be offered apart from the mandatory five subjects and in Class 12, a single extra subject can be offered. The students who are providing extra subjects will study the extra subject for two years.

The board has, in no uncertain terms, told us that even at affiliated schools, if there is a school that hasn't taken permission from CBSE to teach any subject and they don't have teachers, laboratories, etc, the students in such schools aren't permitted to teach such subjects as main or subsidiary subjects.

If a general student has attempted extra subject(s) in earlier years and has been put in either the "Compartment" or "Essential Repeat" category, they can sit as a private candidate under the Compartment or Essential Repeat Category.