The Central Board of Secondary Education will organise the board exams twice a year from the academic year 2024-25. Students who will be in class X and class XII in 2024-25 will be the first batch to follow the new format.
The multiple board exam system is being introduced to alleviate the exam stress experienced by students who worry about missing out on a single chance. If a candidate feels adequately prepared and content with their score in the first exam set, they have the option to opt out of appearing for the second exam.
The idea was first floated in 2023. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in an interview said that the examination format of conducting exams twice a year will be implemented starting from the 2024-25 academic year.
“If any student feels their preparations are complete and fully satisfied with the score in one set of exams, he/she can choose not to appear for the next exams.
Nothing will be made mandatory,” Pradhan said in 2023. The ministry officials said that the first set of the 2025 board exams will be held around November-December 2024, while the second exam will be held in February-March 2025. The scores of the best of two exams will be taken into consideration for the final result and merit list.
The Union government-appointed national steering committee, led by former Isro chairman K Kasturirangan, has prepared the new national curriculum framework (NCF) as per the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
As per the framework, a semester system is proposed for students in classes 11 and 12. Additionally, the ministry released the framework in August last year, suggesting that students should have the choice to take their board exams twice a year.