The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to switch to its previous practice of conducting board exams for classes 10 and 12 only once a year from the academic year 2022-23 onwards, according to people familiar with the matter.
The board last year announced two sets of board exams for students currently in classes 10 and 12 in order to prepare for any “unprecedented situation” that could have arisen because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The first set of exams was held in an objective multiple-choice format between November and December 2021, and the second set of exams are scheduled from April 26, 2022, as subjective or long-answer papers.
There was speculation that the board would continue the two-term exam practice in the future as well since the move was recommended in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The decision also comes at a time when school-leaving board exams will no longer be factored in for admissions to all central and several state universities. A centrally conducted admission test (Common University Entrance Test, or CUET) score will determine admissions from this year — a move that may diminish the importance of the board exams.
