CBSE 12th Exam 2026: Registration, Exam Date, Eligibility, Syllabus, and More

The CBSE 12^th exam syllabus 2026 has been published on 29^th March 2025.The notification for the CBSE 12^th exam 2026 will be released probably on 20^th November 2025. The Practical exams are expected to be conducted between 1^st January 2026 to 15^th February 2026. The Theory exams are scheduled to possibly commence from 15^th February 2026 and end on 4^th April 2026. The results are likely to be declared on 13^th May 2026.

The CBSE board exam 2026 Class 12^th is conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) every year. The CBSE Class 12^th board exam is a National level exam that is conducted for the students studying in the CBSE affiliated Schools. The pen & paper based offline exam is conducted annually for a duration of 3 hours (2 hours in case of Vocational subjects) in English / Hindi medium of instruction.

This article comprises detailed information on the CBSE Exam Class 12^th including aspects such as exam date sheet, registration, eligibility conditions, syllabus, exam pattern, admit card, result, & so on.

The CBSE 12^th exam 2026 will be conducted in a single session for various disciplines. There will be a total of 9 major elective areas which are Languages, Humanities & Social Sciences, Visual, Performing & Creative Arts, Mathematics, Sciences, Business & Commerce, Health & Physical Education, Skill Electives, and General Studies.

Each of the subjects will be for a total of 100 marks wherein the minimum passing marks for each subject is 33% (separately for theory & practical exam) & 33% marks in aggregate. Students who have passed 11^th Standard are eligible to register & appear for the CBSE 12^th exam.

The key details of the CBSE Board Exam Class 12^th are mentioned in the table outlined below:

Students who are going to appear for the CBSE 12^th board exam 2026 are advised to make sure that they are updated about the exam schedule. The details of the same are given below:

The exam conducting authority will probably release the date sheet for the CBSE 12^th exam 2026 on 20^th November 2025. The 12^th Standard exams are likely to be conducted from 15^th February 2026 till 4^th April 2026. The CBSE Class 12^th exam date sheet comprises information about the date & time of different subjects, and other important details.

Candidates are advised to thoroughly review the date sheet and start developing the preparation strategies for their respective subjects so that they can complete the syllabus well in advance. Students can download the CBSE 12^th Exam 2026 date sheet from below:

The Central Board of Secondary Education (exam conducting body) will open the portal for CBSE 12^th exam 2026 registration possibly from 5^th September 2025 onwards till 4^th October 2025. The registration will have to be done by the respective Schools in the form of submission of the List of Candidates (LOC) via the Pariksha Sangam link on the official website i.e., ‘cbse.gov.in’.

For successful registration, the students of the 12^th Grade have to pay Rs. 1500/- (Rs. 1200/- for SC / ST students of Government Schools of Delhi) for 5 subjects to the concerned School authorities. For each of the additional subjects Rs. 300/- has to be paid. Moreover, additional Rs. 150/- has to be paid per practical subjects.

Furthermore, a late fee of Rs. 2000/- per candidate will be charged in addition to the registration fee if the LOC is submitted after the due date which is probably between 5^th October 2025 & 15^th October 2025.

* Students who are visually impaired are exempted from paying the CBSE 12^th exam 2026 registration fee.

Note: The registration fee for the students of Nepal & other countries is different. Students can visit the official website to get detailed information about the registration fee & documents required.

The CBSE 12^th Exam Syllabus 2026 comprises an outline of the units, and its respective chapters & topics that are to be covered comprehensively for securing well in the board exam. The syllabus for every subject collectively including Arts, Commerce, and Science is different.

The CBSE 12^th exam 2026 syllabus for Arts discipline comprises subjects like English, History, Political Science, Fine Arts, Home Science, etc. For the Commerce stream, the subjects include Business Studies, Economics, Accountancy, Informatics Practices, and so on. The major Science subjects are Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics / Biology or both.

Check: CBSE 12th Exam Syllabus

The Central Board of Secondary Education will conduct the pen & paper based CBSE 12^th exam 2026 for a duration of 3 hours (2 hours for Vocational paper). As per the CBSE 12^th Exam Pattern 2026, the board exam is conducted annually in English / Hindi medium for a total of 100 marks (theory + practical) for each subject opted by the students. Additionally, there is no negative marking done. The paper pattern for the CBSE 2026 Class 12^th exam depends on the respective programs.

For subjects such as History, Political Science, Economics, Accountancy, Business Studies, Mathematics, etc. the score distribution is 80 marks for theory & 20 for practical / project work / internal assessment.

Students who are appearing for the subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Geography, and so on must be aware that out of 100 marks, the theory paper will be for 70 marks and 30 marks will be allotted from the practical exam / internal assessment.

* Students must note that the chapter-wise marks weightage for each unit / chapter is different.

Check: CBSE 12th Exam Pattern 

The portal for downloading the CBSE 12^th exam 2026 Admit Card will probably be live from 3^rd February 2026. The admit card comprises important details like Candidate’s Name, Roll Number, Admit Card ID, Exam Centre, Exam Time, subjects in which the student is appearing with date of examination, and more.

The respective Schools will download & print the admit card from ‘cbse.gov.in’ & issue the same to the students. It is compulsory for the candidates to carry their respective admit cards to the exam centre without which they will not be allowed to take the CBSE 12^th Standard exam.

It is very important for the students to practice the CBSE 12^th Exam Previous Year Question Papers before appearing for the board exams. Solving the past years’ papers is considered a very effective preparation strategy. By attempting the last years’ question papers, students will get an idea about the paper pattern & the difficulty level of the exam.

By regularly practicing the sample papers, students can hone their concepts and complete their revision on time. Moreover, attempting the previously asked questions can help them evaluate their strengths & weaknesses.

Check: CBSE 12th Exam PYQ

The exam conducting authority will release the answer key of the CBSE 12^th exam 2026 on the official website. Candidates can access the respective subject’s answer key, download the same, and assess their performance & estimate their marks.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (conducting authority) will declare the CBSE 12^th Exam Result 2026 probably on 13^th May 2026 at ‘cbse.gov.in’. Students can view their results and download their Senior School Certificate Examination score cards by submitting details like Roll Number, School Number, Admit Card ID, and Security Pin on the portal.

Furthermore, the result for the CBSE 12^th Class supplementary exams 2026 will possibly be announced in August 2026 on the official website.

Note: If 2 or more students have secured the same score then in such a case, they will be granted the same grade. Also, at a score point, if the number of students is required to be segregated into 2 segments then, the smaller segment will be combined with the larger one.

Students need to qualify the CBSE 12^th exam 2026 with the minimum qualifying marks & above in order to be eligible for admission into Colleges / Institutes / Universities for pursuing higher education. The CBSE Class 12^th 2026 cut-off is 33% marks separately for theory papers of each subject & their respective practical exams (as applicable). Furthermore, the candidates must have obtained at least 33% marks in aggregate.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (conducting body) is likely to announce the CBSE supplementary Class 12^th date sheet in June 2026. The Compartment / Supplementary exams are scheduled to be conducted from 15^th July 2026. The respective Schools are supposed to submit the List of Candidates (LOC) appearing for compartment exam online at the official website possibly between 30^th May 2026 – 17^th June 2026. For the same, students have to pay the examination fee of Rs. 300/- (for Indian Schools).

Candidates with compartment can appear for the CBSE supplementary 12^th Class exam 2026 held in July / August. They can appear for the 2^nd & 3^rd attempt in March / April & July / August of the next year, if required.

Note: If students with 5 subjects have failed in more than 1 paper (2 papers in case of those with 6 subjects), they have to re-appear for the entire exam in the subsequent academic year. Also, if students have passed the practical exams (for 1 or 2 subjects / entire board exam), they are not required to re-appear for the practical tests again as the marks will be carried further.

* Interested students can refer to the official website of CBSE to get detailed information about the supplementary CBSE 12^th exam 2026 and other regulations.