CBSE published exam schedule for 10th and 12th grades for 2027, starting on February 16

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has taken a significant step in preparing for board exams by publishing the schedule and guidelines for practical work, project assignments, and internal assessment for classes 10 and 12 for the academic year 2026-27.

This schedule applies exclusively to schools located in regions affected by cold weather and snowfall. Practical examinations in these schools are scheduled from November 9 to December 19, 2026. CBSE clarified that a separate circular with the schedule for practical sessions will be issued for regular schools.

The exams will take place from November 9 to December 19, 2026. It is important to note that this schedule is applicable only to schools in cold areas. Schools must contact their respective Regional Office to arrange external examiners and observers as needed.

To ensure process transparency, uploading a group photograph of each group via a special application link provided by CBSE is mandatory during practical assessments. Furthermore, CBSE has established strict rules: access to practical, project, or internal assessments will only be granted to students whose names are included in the final List of Candidates (LOC) submitted to the Board online.

CBSE strongly recommends that all educational institutions carefully cross-reference their lists with the official LOC. For Class 10, it has been stipulated that internal assessment will be conducted only once. Schools are required to complete the assessment of all students and upload the obtained scores to the Board's portal within the stipulated time.

To maintain the fairness, transparency, and impartiality of the examinations, CBSE actively utilizes modern technology. Firstly, group photography is mandatory: the Board will provide a special link in the application where photos of each group must be uploaded during practical exams.

Secondly, if a school has more than 30 students, exams will be conducted in two or three shifts in the laboratory to prevent overcrowding and ensure the proper conduct of the assessment. Thirdly, for Class 12 practical exams, schools must immediately contact their Regional Office to appoint external examiners and observers.

For students preparing for the CBSE Class 10 and 12 board exams in 2027, information regarding the examination schedule is relevant. Despite October drawing to a close, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has not yet published the preliminary subject schedule for the 2027 exams.

Students and educational institutions frequently inquire about the reasons for this delay in compiling the schedule. This article examines all details related to this postponement by the CBSE council, as well as a comparison with previous trends.

According to an official CBSE notification, the process for submitting the List of Candidates (LOC) for Classes 10 and 12 for the 2026-27 academic year began on September 24, 2026. Schools were given until October 21, 2026, to submit student data during the regular period. Furthermore, an option was provided to pay for late submission with an additional fee of 2000 rupees per student, which was valid from October 22 to October 30, 2026. The council set a period from November 2 to November 4, 2026, for making corrections to the data.

Since the LOC procedure has reached its deadline, there is an expectation that the council will soon take steps toward the next stage of exam preparation—the release of the preliminary schedule. However, no official statements have been made by the council so far.

CBSE also conducted special examinations for Class 12 students from West Asian countries between October 23 and October 28, 2026. It is possible that the council is awaiting the results of these students, who may participate in the 2027 exams. Nevertheless, CBSE has not clarified whether this has any direct bearing on the publication of the schedule.

Comparing the current delay with the timelines of last year reveals a difference. For the 2026 exams, CBSE published the preliminary schedule for Classes 10 and 12 as early as September 24, 2025, with the final schedule appearing on October 30, 2025. Thus, the council provided the preliminary timetable approximately 146 days before the exams to give schools and students sufficient time to prepare. Regarding the 2025 exams, the schedule was published on November 20, 2024.

Although the CBSE schedule publication model may vary annually, there is hope that the schedule will be uploaded to the official website cbse.gov.in after administrative preparations are complete. Until then, CBSE has advised students and teachers to continue studying and preparing based on the published sample question papers and marking schemes released for the 2026-27 semester.