The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) recently addressed a misinformation campaign involving a fake circular claiming the cancellation of the Class 10 and Class 12 board exams for the 2025-26 academic year in the Middle East. The fraudulent notice, falsely attributed to Dr. Sanyam Bhardwaj, suggested cancellations due to “extraordinary global circumstances.”
In response, CBSE confirmed the notice was fake and announced that the board exams originally set for March 2, 2026, in the Middle East have been postponed. The board emphasized checking all exam-related communications only through their official channels to avoid misinformation. This year, CBSE expects 43.6 lakh candidates for the exams and has warned participants to disregard unverified sources.
Additionally, CBSE is introducing significant changes. For Class 10, a dual-board exam structure allows students an improvement option if they need to re-appear in certain subjects. For Class 12, the 2026 examinations will feature ‘On-Screen Marking’ (OSM), transitioning from physical to digital assessment. With an estimated 18.57 lakh students expected to take the Class 12 exams over 120 subjects, CBSE aims for efficient evaluation through digital means to handle the immense volume of over 10.4 crore answer books.