The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is kickstarting the board exams 2026 season today, i.e. February 17, 2026 (Tuesday). As the exams begin all over the country and in some centres outside of India too, the national education board has notified students that no student will be allowed to enter the exam centres after 10 am on the exam day. Any student who is late to the examination centre will not be allowed to appear for the board exam of that particular subject.
During a live webcast related to CBSE Board Exams 2026, CBSE Examination Controller, informed students that on the day of the examination, candidates will be allowed entry into the examination centre from 9 am till 10 am. Entry into the examination rooms specifically will begin at 9:45 am and will continue until 10 am. At 10 am, the sealed parcels of question papers will be opened in the control room.
The last entry into the examination centre will be followed by a series of important procedures from 10 am till 10:15 am. During this time, Assistant Superintendents will be tasked with checking the candidates’ admit cards, ensuring that candidates occupy their correct seats, confirm that no barred items are in possession, and provide other crucial instructions. Candidates will also be guided on how to write their roll numbers correctly.
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In the examination rooms, the packets of question papers will be opened at 10:10 am, and the papers will be distributed to the candidates by 10:15 am. The Assistant Superintendent will then collect the question papers of absentee candidates at 10:30 am. At this same time, the exam will officially commence, and any unused question papers will be returned along with their envelopes to the Centre Superintendent.
| ACTIVITY | FROM | TO |
|---|---|---|
| Entry inside the Examination Centre by the candidates | 09.00 AM | 10.00 AM |
| Start of entry by candidates in examination rooms | 09.45 AM | 10.00 AM |
| Opening of sealed Question Papers Parcels in Control Room | 10.00 AM | |
| Last Entry in the Examination Centre | ||
| a. Checking of Admit Cards by the Assistant Superintendents. | 10.00 AM | 10.15 AM |
| b. Announcement to ensure that candidates have occupied correct seat only, candidates are not in possession of any barred item and other important instructions. | 10.00 AM | 10.15 AM |
| c. How to write R.No. | 10.00 AM | 10.15 AM |
| d. Opening of packets of Question Paper in examination room | 10.10 AM | |
| e. Distribution of the Question Papers to the candidates | 10.15 AM | |
| Collection of Question Papers of absentee candidates in the examination room by the Assistant Superintendent | 10.30 AM | |
| a. Exam Commences | 10.30 AM | |
| b. Return of unused Question Papers alongwith envelopes by the Assistant Superintendent to Centre Superintendent | 10.30 AM | |
| Sealing of unused Question Papers packets received from examination rooms by the Centre Superintendent | 10.45 AM | |
| Closing of examination rooms doors | 10 MINUTES BEFORE THE EXAMINATION IS OVER | |
| Exam concludes | 1. TIME ALLOTTED IN Q/P |
Unused question paper packets received from the examination rooms will be sealed by the Centre Superintendent at 10:45 am. Students should remember that the doors of the examination rooms will be closed 10 minutes before the examination ends.
CBSE is conducting the Secondary and Senior Secondary (Class 10, 12) Board Exams 2026 for the students of more than 31,000 schools affiliated to it in India and 26 countries abroad from February 17 to April 10, 2026. According to the schedule, Class 12 board exams will be conducted from February 17 to April 9, 2026 in a single shift from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. The board exams for class 10 will begin on February 17, 2026, and run until March 11, 2026. Exams are scheduled to run from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm (or 12:30 pm for some subjects).
This year, a total of 25,08,319 students will appear for class 10 board exams, while 18,59,551 students will appear for class 12 exams.
