The Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE has approved the guidelines to conduct the Class 10 board exams twice a year. It will be implemented from the academic session 2026. Following the new pattern, the class 10 first phase exam will be conducted in February, and second phase will be held in May. It is mandatory for all students to appear in the first Board exam February 2026. In other words, students will have to appear in the February exam. The second phase scheduled in May will be optional for students who wish to improve their performance. In line with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP), CBSE has approved new guidelines to hold Class 10 board examinations twice a year. Result for February exam will be out in April and result for May exam will be out in June, confirmed CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj. Students will be able to enhance their performance in up to three subjects鈥攕cience, mathematics, social science, and languages. For students enrolled in winter-bound schools, the board has provided flexibility to take the exams in either phase. The internal assessment will continue to be conducted only once per academic year. One must know that the board had initially released the draft norms in February for public feedback. The NEP proposes this two-exam system to reduce the pressure associated with board exams. The idea was to offer students two opportunities in a year to perform to the best of their abilities. (This is a developing story)