CBSE releases 2027 Class 10, 12 board exam datesheet; papers begin on February 16

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released the datesheet for the 2027 Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations. According to a circular issued on November 6, 2026, exams for both classes will begin on February 16. Class 10 papers will run until March 9, while the Class 12 examinations will continue until April 9.

All papers will start at 10.30 am Indian time. Depending on the subject, they will end at 12.30 pm or 1.30 pm. The circular says more than 26.5 lakh students have registered for Class 10 and more than 19.8 lakh for Class 12. The board will hold exams in 83 subjects in Class 10 and 121 subjects in Class 12. The circular is signed by Controller of Examinations Dr Sanyam Bhardwaj and says the datesheet has been released 101 days before the exams begin.

The Class 10 exams will begin on February 16 with Painting. Mathematics Standard and Mathematics Basic will be held on February 17 from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm. Science is on February 22. English Communicative and English Language and Literature will be held on February 26. Hindi Course A and Hindi Course B are on March 3, while Social Science is on March 8. These papers also run from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm.

Computer Applications, Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence will be held on February 24 from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm. Home Science is on February 19. Elements of Business and Urdu Course B will be held on February 20. Introduction to Tourism is on February 23.

Several skill subjects will be examined on February 18, including Automotive, Introduction to Financial Markets, Beauty and Wellness, Food Production, Multimedia, Multi Skill Foundation Course and Data Science. Subjects such as Retail, Security, Agriculture, Banking and Insurance, Health Care, and Design Thinking and Innovation will be held on February 25.

Language papers are spread from the end of February to early March. Sindhi, Malayalam, Odia, Assamese, Kannada, Nepali and Kokborok are on February 27. Arabic, Sanskrit Communicative, Sanskrit, Rai, Gurung, Tamang and Sherpa will be held on March 1. Urdu Course A, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, Manipuri and Telugu-Telangana are on March 4. Telugu, Russian, Persian, Limboo and Lepcha will be held on March 5, the same day as the Carnatic and Hindustani music papers. French is on March 6. The Class 10 exams will end on March 9 with subjects such as Tibetan, German, NCC, Japanese, Spanish, Kashmiri, Mizo and Elements of Book Keeping and Accountancy.

In Class 12, Physics is on February 16. Physical Education will be held on February 18, Accountancy on February 23, Geography on February 25 and Chemistry on February 27. These exams run from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm. Psychology is on March 2. English Elective and English Core will be held on March 5, and Mathematics and Applied Mathematics on March 9.

Home Science is on March 11. Hindi Elective and Hindi Core will be held on March 13. Economics is on March 16 and Political Science on March 19. Biology will be held on March 25, History on March 27 and Sociology on March 30. Informatics Practices, Computer Science and Information Technology are on March 31. Business Studies and Business Administration will be held on April 1. Sanskrit Core and Taxation are on April 6, while Legal Studies will be held on April 8. The last Class 12 exam, on April 9, is Retail and Web Application, from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm.

The datesheet also gives separate dates for art, language and skill subjects. Painting, Graphics, Sculpture and Applied Art will be held on February 24. Several Indian and foreign language papers are on March 3. Artificial Intelligence will be held on March 20. Financial Market Management, Agriculture, Medical Diagnostics and Salesmanship are on March 29. Multimedia and Data Science will be held on April 7 from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm, while Textile Design will run until 1.30 pm the same day.

A note accompanying both datesheets says the essential instructions for the examinations will be issued separately. Candidates must read the instructions printed on their admit cards and follow all CBSE instructions. According to the document, communication devices will not be allowed inside examination centres. The circular says the datesheet can be viewed and downloaded from the board's official website.

CBSE said it fixed the datesheet after the submission of the list of candidates was completed and it received data on students' subject combinations from schools. According to the circular, more than 40,000 subject combinations were examined so that no student has two exams on the same date. The board said a gap has also been kept between subjects taken together.

The board said that while preparing the Class 12 datesheet, it took into account the likely dates of major entrance examinations. It also considered the number of candidates sitting at each centre on any given day, and ensured that teachers do not have to stay away from their schools for too long during evaluation. The board attributed the early release of the datesheet to schools submitting candidate details on time. It said the aim of releasing the datesheet early is to give students more time to prepare and to help schools, examination centres, teachers and families plan around the examination and evaluation schedule.