Over 17.6 lakh students to appear for Tamil Nadu Board exams; Plus Two results on May 8

Tamil Nadu Board Exams 2026: Over 17.61 lakh students are appearing for the Tamil Nadu board examinations in the March–April 2026 cycle, according to data released by the state government.

Students coming out from the examination centre (Representative/Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

3 min readNew DelhiMar 3, 2026 09:50 AM IST First published on: Mar 2, 2026 at 02:09 PM IST

Tamil Nadu Board Exams 2026: Over 17.61 lakh students are appearing for the Tamil Nadu board examinations in the March–April 2026 cycle, from March 2, 2026, according to the data released by the Directorate of General Education, Tamil Nadu.

The Class 12 (Plus Two) public examinations are beginning today, March 2. On the first day, students are appearing for language papers, including Tamil, at centres across the state. A total of 8,27,475 students — 7.99 lakh regular and 27,783 private candidates — are appearing for the Higher Secondary examinations at 3,412 centres.

Also Read| Tamil Nadu SSLC, +2 Time Tables 2026

The exams will be held till March 26 and the results are expected to be announced on May 8. State Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi inspected an examination centre in T-Nagar. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said, “This is the time to reap the fruits of your hard work. Face the exam without any tension, with confidence, and succeed.” In a post on the social media platform ‘X’ on Monday, the former Chief Minister said, “Wish you all, nothing but success.”

Class 11 (Higher Secondary First Year or +1) students are also appearing for their examinations from today, with papers scheduled through March 27. A total of 25,051 candidates — 19,107 regular and 5,944 private — are registered for the Plus One exams.

The Class 10 (SSLC) examinations are scheduled to begin on March 11 and will continue until April 6. Around 9.09 lakh students, including 8.82 lakh regular and 26,196 private candidates, are set to appear for SSLC this year.

In total, 17,61,528 students are registered for the Tamil Nadu board examinations in 2026.

To ensure smooth conduct, the government has deployed thousands of officials across centres. For Class 12, 4,540 chief superintendents and 44,624 invigilators are on duty. For Class 11 or Plus One, 289 officials and 2,668 invigilators have been assigned. For SSLC, 4,954 officials and 49,542 invigilators will oversee examinations when they begin later this month.

Special arrangements have been made for students requiring scribes. A total of 7,465 scribes have been allotted for Plus Two candidates, 186 for Class 11 students, and 12,292 for SSLC candidates. According to official data, 281 Class 12 students and 395 Class 10 students with physical difficulties have been identified for writing assistance.

At several centres in Chennai, including a government higher secondary school in Arumbakkam, students are arriving early, accompanied by parents and teachers. Authorities say seating, drinking water and security arrangements are in place. School officials are present to ensure that examination guidelines are strictly followed.

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Secondary Education has announced a change in its evaluation system for 2026. In a circular dated February 9, the Board said it is reintroducing On-Screen Marking (OSM) for Class 12 answer scripts from this year. Under OSM, scanned answer sheets are evaluated digitally, with marks calculated automatically to improve efficiency and transparency. Class 10 answer books will continue to be assessed in physical mode for now.

CBSE is conducting its 2026 board examinations from February 17 to April 10 for students of over 31,000 affiliated schools in India and 26 countries abroad. Around 46 lakh students are appearing at more than 8,074 centres across the country and overseas.