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CBSE Board Exams 2026 Datesheet: Class 10th, 12th final schedule out

For Class 10, dates for subjects such as Data Science, French, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Retail, Security, and Automotive have undergone changes from the earlier tentative schedule. For Class 12, dates have been for Business Studies, Business Administration, Psychology, and Accountancy.

CBSE Class 10, 12 Board Exams 2026- Final exam dates announced at cbse.gov.in (Representational Image/Express Photo)

CBSE Board Exams 2026 Final Datesheet Class 10th, 12th: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released the final datesheet for the Class 10 and 12 board examinations 2026, confirming that the exams will begin on February 17, 2026. According to the notification issued, Class 10 exams will conclude on March 10, while Class 12 exams will end on April 9, 2026.

Notably, this is the first time the CBSE has released the final datesheet for Board exams nearly 110 days in advance. The board had earlier issued a tentative timetable in September, but the final version includes several modifications. Here’s the complete list of changes in the now issued CBSE Class 10, 12 Board Exam 2026 Final Datesheet.

Which exam dates for CBSE Class 10 board exam have been changed?

For Class 10, dates for subjects such as Data Science, French, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Retail, Security, and Automotive have undergone changes from the earlier tentative schedule. Here’s the complete list of subjects for which exam dates have been updated –

Subject name	Old date and time	Revised date and time	Changes
Home Science	Thu, 26 Feb, 10:30–1:30 PM	Wed, 18 Feb, 10:30–1:30 PM	Moved 8 days earlier
Multi-Media	Wed, 18 Feb, 10:30–12:30 PM	Fri, 20 Feb, 10:30–12:30 PM	Moved 2 days later
Data Science	Wed, 18 Feb, 10:30–12:30 PM	Fri, 20 Feb, 10:30–12:30 PM	Moved 2 days later
URDU Course-A, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, Manipuri, Telugu Telangana	Tue, 24 Feb, 10:30–1:30 PM	Mon, 23 Feb, 10:30–1:30 PM	Moved 1 day earlier (all grouped)
Elements of Business	Tue, 24 Feb, 10:30–12:30 PM	Tue, 24 Feb, 10:30–1:30 PM	Extended by 30 minutes
URDU Course-B	Sat, 28 Feb, 10:30–1:30 PM	Tue, 24 Feb, 10:30–1:30 PM	Moved 4 days earlier
Retail, Security, Automotive, Intro to Fin. Markets, Intro to Tourism, Agriculture, Food Production, Front Office Ops, Banking & Insurance, Health Care, Apparel, Electronics & Hardware, Foundation Skill for Sciences, Design Thinking & Innovation	Wed, 18 Feb, 10:30–12:30 PM	Thu, 26 Feb, 10:30–12:30 PM	Moved 8 days later
Arabic	Mon, 9 Mar, 10:30–1:30 PM	Sat, 28 Feb, 10:30–1:30 PM	Moved 10 days earlier
Sindhi, Malayalam, Odia, Assamese, Kannada, Kokborok	Fri, 6 Mar, 10:30–1:30 PM	Thu, 5 Mar, 10:30–1:30 PM	Moved 1 day earlier
Painting	Thu, 5 Mar, 10:30–1:30 PM	Fri, 6 Mar, 10:30–1:30 PM	Moved 1 day later
French	Mon, 23 Feb, 10:30–1:30 PM	Tue, 10 Mar, 10:30–1:30 PM	Moved 16 days later

The Board exams for 2026 session marks a major shift for Class 10 students, as CBSE will conduct board exams twice within a single academic year. The first phase is scheduled from February 17 to March 10, while the second optional phase will be held from May 15 to June 1, 2026.

Explaining the rationale behind the early and dual-session structure, Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said,

“A sufficient gap has been given between two subjects generally offered by a student in both classes. The dates of conduct of entrance examinations meant for the students of Class 12 have been taken into consideration and efforts have been made to complete the examination much before entrance exams. This will help the students in better time management for both the Board and entrance examinations.”

ALSO READ| CBSE Board Exams 2026: Class 10th, 12th practical exams start on Nov 6 for winter-bound schools

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What’s changed for CBSE Class 12 exams 2026?

For Class 12, the CBSE has also revised dates for key papers including Business Studies, Business Administration, Psychology, and Accountancy.

The board said these adjustments were made after considering the large number of subject combinations and national entrance exam dates.

Explaining the complexity, Bhardwaj added, “The date sheet has been prepared by avoiding more than 40,000 subject combinations to ensure that no two subjects’ examinations offered by a student fall on the same date.”

Key date changes and swaps in CBSE Class 12 timetable 2026

Subject Name / Code	Old Table Date	Updated Table Date	Change
Business Studies / 054	Sat, 21 Feb 2026	Sat, 28 Mar 2026	Moved later by over a month
Business Administration / 833	Sat, 21 Feb 2026	Sat, 28 Mar 2026	Moved later by over a month
Fashion Studies / 837	Tue, 24 Feb 2026	Sat, 21 Feb 2026	Advanced by 3 days
Automotive / 804	Wed, 25 Feb 2026	Sat, 21 Feb 2026	Advanced by 4 days
Psychology / 037	Mon, 23 Feb 2026	Thu, 5 Mar 2026	Shifted later by almost 2 weeks
Mass Media Studies / 835	Thu, 5 Mar 2026	Mon, 23 Feb 2026	Advanced by 10 days
Design Thinking & Innovation / 848	Thu, 5 Mar 2026	Mon, 23 Feb 2026	Advanced by 10 days
Beauty & Wellness / 807	Tue, 24 Mar 2026	Wed, 25 Feb 2026	Advanced by one month
Accountancy / 055	Sat, 28 Mar 2026	Tue, 24 Feb 2026	Advanced by over a month
Retail / 801	Wed, 8 Apr 2026	Tue, 24 Mar 2026	Moved earlier by 2 weeks
Textile Design / 829	Wed, 8 Apr 2026	Thu, 9 Apr 2026	Moved one day later
Sanskrit Core / 322	Thu, 9 Apr 2026	Wed, 8 Apr 2026	Moved one day earlier

In its recent notice, the CBSE has reiterated that the examination scheme and syllabus for both sessions will remain the same, and both will cover the entire academic curriculum.

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To prevent overlaps with engineering entrance exams, Bhardwaj further noted, “To ensure that JEE (Main) and CBSE examinations of the subjects do not coincide, NTA will require the registration number of students of class 11 to be filled in JEE-Main application. Accordingly, all the schools have been requested to provide registration number of Class 11 to their students applying for the engineering entrance exam.”