CBSE 10th 12th Practical Exams 2026 from January 1, Know Important Exam Guidelines & SOPs

The Central Board of Secondary Education is going to conduct the CBSE 10th and 12th Practical Exams 2026 starting from January 1st to February 14th, 2026. The board has already completed the CBSE Practical exams for the winter-bound schools earlier in December 2025. Now 10th and 12th Practical exams are going to take place in CBSE-affiliated schools in the rest of the country. Students, along with the teaches should now check the important CBSE Practical exams 2026 SOPs and guidelines on this page.

CBSE 10th 12th Practical Exams 2026

The Central Education Board is scheduled to conduct the 10th and 12th final exams from 17 February 2026. Before starting the theory exam, the board plans to finish the practical/project exams, ensuring students cansolely focus on the written exam.

CBSE 10th 12th Practical Exams 2026 from January 1, the board has released updated guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Practical Examinations/Project/Internal Assessment to make practical assessments fair, transparent, and error-free across all CBSE schools.

CBSE Practical Exam 2026 SOPs and guidelines

Since practical exam dates for regular schools are approaching, students need to understand the key changes, the role of examiners, and the strict rules governing mark submission. Below are some general CBSE Practical exams 2026 SOPs and guidelines that are applicable for both class 10 and 12th students

Practical Exams should follow prescribed syllabus

All practical examinations, projects, and internal assessments must adhere to the guidelines and syllabus for the relevant academic session, available on the website cbseacademic.nic.in. The schools should check and inform themselves and the examiners of the maximum marks for each subject in the curriculum.

No Extension of Practical Exam Dates

The date for the conduct of Practical Examinations/Project/Internal Assessments for regular Session Schools is 1st January, 2026 to 14th February, 2026. No extension of the dates shall be considered by the Board. Students must take the practical exam on the exact date specified in their school calendars.

Deadline of Marks Submission

The marks in respect of all Practical Examinations/Project/Internal
Assessments shall be uploaded simultaneously, starting from the dates of conduct of exams/assessments (01/01/2026 TO 14/02/2026).
Marks are uploaded on the same day the assessment is conducted. The uploading of marks shall be completed by the last date of the respective class.

No correction allowed in Marks Submission

While uploading the marks, the School, the Internal Examiner and the External Examiner shall ensure that the correct marks are uploaded as no corrections in the marks will be allowed once the marks are uploaded.

Schools and Examiners shall, while awarding/uploading marks, also keep in mind the maximum marks allotted for  Practical/Project/Internal Assessment as per guidelines.

NON-disclosure of Marks

The marks awarded to the students in the Practical Examinations/ Project/Internal Assessment have the same sanctity as the marks scored in the Board’s Annual Theory Examinations and therefore shall not be disclosed to the students or any person under any circumstances.

Specific Instructions for Class 10 Practical Exams

• No external examiner will be appointed by the Board for class-X.
• Practical answer books will not be supplied by the Board for class-X; the school shall make all arrangements themselves.
• After the conduct of the Practical/Project/Internal Assessment, the answer books of the students are not required to be sent to the Regional Office.

Specific Instructions for Class 12 Practical Exams

• The Board will appoint External Examiners in each school to conduct Practical Examinations and Project Assessments in the specified subjects.
• The school authorities are not authorised to make an alternate arrangement of an external examiner for the conduct of practical examination/project assessment at the local level. Practical examination can only be conducted by an external
  examiner appointed by the Board.
• All matters of any delay in the conduct of practical examination due to non-availability/ refusal/non-reporting, etc., shall be reported to the Regional Office concerned immediately for further necessary directions from the Regional Office for
  Appointment of a new examiner.
• CBSE has established new Regional Offices, and in case of
  any requirement, schools need to contact only their Regional Office.
• There will be an External Examiner as well as an Internal Examiner, as per the policy for Practical Examinations. The school shall appoint an Internal Examiner of adequate experience and expertise in all such subjects.
• Principal/Head of the School is required to get the laboratory ready for the Practical examinations. The External Examiners shall visit the laboratory of the school at least one day prior to the day of conduct of examination/assessment to ensure availability
  of proper and adequate Apparatus/Equipment/Chemicals/other required material and all other arrangements, etc.
• The school will be able to create batches of 30 students each in every subject. Accordingly, the schools shall conduct the practical/project assessment of 30 students of each batch together for better management of the practical/project
  assessment and uploading of marks.
• Attendance Sheets of the students appearing in the practical examination must be carefully filled in the proforma, which will be provided to each school by the concerned Regional Office.

This CBSE Datesheet 2026 shows that the Class 10 exams (Phase 1) will be held from February 17 to March 10, 2026. Concurrently, the Class 12 exams will take place from February 17 to April 9, 2026.

All of these examinations will be administered in the pen and paper mode for three hours, beginning at 10:30 a.m. and ending at 01:30 p.m. The exams for skill-based subjects will be held for two hours from 10:30 a.m to 12:30 p.m.