Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently announced a significant change in the examination system, stating that students will now have the opportunity to appear twice for Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations starting from the academic session 2025-26. This decision aims at reducing the academic pressure faced by students. The Ministry of Education announced a New Curriculum Framework (NCF) last year in August. As per this, the board examinations will now be conducted twice a year. This change not only provides students with more time and opportunities to perform well but also allows them to retain their best scores obtained across both attempts, promoting a fair and conducive learning environment.
Reason Behind the Change
The decision is based on the National Education Policy 2020, which emphasizes making learning more flexible. Having exams twice a year gives students more chances to do well, instead of having only one big exam each year, which can make them very anxious. This move by the Ministry of Education is aligned with the objectives of NEP and can be seen as a progressive step towards achieving these goals.
The Plan in Action
Under the New Curriculum Framework (NCF) announced by the Ministry of Education, exams will happen at least two times a year. This gives students more time to study and do their best. They can also choose to keep their highest score from either exam. This way, students have more opportunities to get the grades they want.
Helping Students Feel Less Stressed
The Education Minister mentioned that it’s crucial to reduce the pressure of exams so that students have time to do other activities like art and sports. The new plan aims to solve this problem by having exams twice a year.
How It Will Be Introduced
Both public and private schools will follow this new plan, which will start nationwide in the 2025 academic year. The details of how the exams will work and what subjects they’ll cover will be decided over the next two years.
Also Check: NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Free PDF
Why Continuous Assessments Matter
Even though there will be two big exams each year, experts still believe that regular tests by teachers are essential. These internal assessments help understand how well students apply what they learn. The additional external exams give students more chances to do better if they don’t do well in the big exams.
The first of the 2025 exams will be held in November-December 2024, and the second exam will be in February-March 2025, according to Education Ministry officials.
Also Check: NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Free PDF
The CBSE Class 10 Board exams began on February 15 and will conclude by March 13. The CBSE Board exams for Class 12 also began on February 15 but will continue until April 2. CBSE class 10 exams began with subjects like Painting, Gurung, Rai, Tamang, and Sherpa subjects which concluded at 1.30 pm. On the other hand, CBSE class 12 exams began with Entrepreneurship and Kokborok papers which also lasted for three hours, and followed by Capital Market Operation and Physical Activity Trainer papers. A total of 39 lakh students will be appearing for the CBSE class 10 and 12 board examinations from 26 countries.
| Subject | Exam Date | Timings |
| Painting/Gurung/Rai/Tamang/Sherpa/Thai | 15 February 2024 | 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM |
| Vocational Subject | 17 February 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Music Subjects | 19 February 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Foreign Language | 22 February 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Regional Language | 26 February 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| English Language and Literature | 29 February 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Punjabi/Sindhi/Malayalam/Odia/Assamese/Kannada | 4 March 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| NCC | 5 March 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Science | 8 March 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Home Science | 13 March 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Elements of Business | 15 March 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Sanskrit | 18 March 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Computer Applications, Information and Technology, Artificial Intelligence | 20 March 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Social Science | 26 March 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Hindi Course A, Hindi Course B | 31 March 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Mathematics Standard, Mathematics Basic | 4 April 2024 | 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM |
| Exam date | Subjects |
| 15-Feb-2024 | Entrepreneurship |
| 16-Feb-2024 | Biotechnology, Knowledge tradition and practices of India, electronics technology, shorthand (English), shorthand (Hindi), food nutrition and dietetics, banking, early childhood care and education |
| 17-Feb-2024 | Dance, engineering physics, data science |
| 19-Feb-2024 | Hindi elective, Hindi core |
| 20-Feb-2024 | Food production, office procedures and practices, design, electronics and hardware |
| 21-Feb-2024 | Cost accounting, automotive, healthcare, hindustani music |
| 22-Feb-2024 | English elective, English core |
| 23-Feb-2024 | Retail, agriculture, multimedia |
| 24-Feb-2024 | Typography and computer application |
| 26-Feb-2024 | Taxation, artificial intelligence |
| 27-Feb-2024 | Chemistry |
| 28-Feb-2024 | Beauty and wellness, medical diagnostics |
| 29-Feb-2024 | Geography |
| 1-Mar-2024 | Yoga |
| 4-Mar-2024 | Physics |
| 5-Mar-2024 | Hindustani music vocal |
| 6-Mar-2024 | Painting, graphics, sculpture, applied art |
| 7-Mar-2024 | Legal studies, textile design |
| 9-Mar-2024 | Mathematics, applied mathematics |
| 11-Mar-2024 | National Cadet CORPS (NCC) |
| 12-Mar-2024 | Physical education |
| 14-Mar-2024 | Languages |
| 15-Mar-2024 | Psychology |
| 16-Mar-2024 | Agriculture, marketing |
| 18-Mar-2024 | Economics |
| 20-Mar-2024 | Tourism, salesmanship |
| 21-Mar-2024 | Fashion studies |
| 22-Mar-2024 | Political science |
| 23-Mar-2024 | Accountancy |
| 26-Mar-2024 | Mass media |
| 27-Mar-2024 | Business studies |
| 28-Mar-2024 | Home science |
| 30-Mar-2024 | Sanskrit |
| 1-Apr-2024 | |
| 2-Apr-2024 | Informatics practices, CS, IT |
The CBSE board exams for classes 10th and 12th in 2024 will follow a new exam pattern. There will be more multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and questions that test students’ skills. As a result, there will be fewer short and long answer questions compared to previous exams. These changes aim to encourage students to focus on developing their creativity and critical thinking abilities rather than just memorizing facts. These changes are in line with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Furthermore, the board has also provided details about how marks will be distributed for each subject in the upcoming exams. This includes maximum marks for theory exams as well as practical or internal assessments for the 2023-24 session.
The changes for CBSE Class 10 and Class 12 are as follows:
| Composition of question paper for Board Examination 2024 (Theory) | |
| CBSE Class 10 | CBSE Class 12 |
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Yes, Class 10 board examinations will be conducted twice a year in 2025.
Yes, board examinations are anticipated to take place for Class 10 in the academic year 2024-25.
As of now in 2024, students can only appear for the 12th board exam once. However, from 2025, the option for students to appear twice will be introduced.
Yes, it is possible for students to appear for the CBSE Class 10 examination at the age of 13, provided they meet the eligibility criteria and have completed the required academic coursework.
