CBSE Board Exams 2026: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued an advisory to all principals and centre superintendents ahead of the 2026 board exams, which begin today. According to a circular dated February 14, 2026, admit cards have been issued following the completion of the List of Candidates (LOC). The Mathematics examination is scheduled for February 17 and will be held across India as well as at centres abroad.
CBSE has directed examination centres to ensure that students are provided only the question paper of the subject mentioned in their admit cards. It has strictly prohibited any change of subject at the time of distribution of question papers. For instance, candidates opted for Mathematics Standard must not be given the Mathematics Basic paper and vice versa.
The Board clarified that this instruction also applies to subjects such as English, Hindi, Sanskrit and Urdu, where separate subject codes exist for different syllabi.
"The Mathematics examination will be conducted on 17.02.2026 across the country and abroad. During the conduct of examination, it may be ensured that the Question Papers of the subject which are mentioned in the Admit Card are only supplied to the student. There should not be any change of subject like in place of Mathematics Standard, Question Paper of Mathematics Basic is provided or vice-versa. This will also apply to the subjects like English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu etc. wherein the same subject is provided with the two separate subject codes having different syllabus," the advisory states.
The advisory has been issued for the entire duration of the examination to prevent discrepancies during question paper distribution.
CBSE further warned that if a student is found to have appeared in a subject not mentioned in the admit card, the candidate will be marked “Absent” in the subject originally allotted. Additionally, the examination taken in violation of Board directions will be cancelled, and the result will be prepared accordingly.
"This advisory is issued for the full examination to take appropriate precautions while distributing the question papers to the students. In case, it is observed that if a student has appeared in a subject which has not been offered to the student and not mentioned in the Admit Card, he will be marked as "Absent" in the subject in which the student is supposed to appear as mentioned in the Admit Card. His examination of the subject in which he has appeared against Board's directions will also be cancelled and his result will be prepared/declared accordingly. The CBSE will also take the action against such schools who will not be adhering to the instructions issued by the Board," it adds.
For Class 10 students, the first paper is Mathematics (Basics) and Mathematics (Standard). Meanwhile, Class 12 students will appear for Biotechnology, Entrepreneurship, Engineering Graphics, and Business Studies on the first day.