As 2025 comes to an end, India’s school examination system is undergoing its most significant transformation in decades. This year was free from the challenges that had been posed by the pandemic or the new patterns that had been introduced abruptly. It is the first time that the new approach based on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 for boards is being implemented. This approach aims for assessments that would be flexible and student-centric. This has resulted in the following: the opportunity for multiple exams for Classes 10 and 12 students, and the elimination of the Class 11 exam for the public with the passing of the new Tamil Nadu government's education policy.
Moving beyond the single exam
Board exams were always one opportunity, one timetable, one paper, and one result. And all these factors might prove to be considerably impactful for students. As per a report by the Indian Express, the goals under NEP 2020 and the New National Curriculum Framework are competency assessment rather than cramming, with multiple board examinations that give students an opportunity to enhance their results. It has been recommended that all these goals will be achieved by the end of 2025.
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CBSE leads the way
Reportedly, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has become a model of change. Starting with the new academic session of 2025-26, Class 10 examinations would take place biannually. The first examination is compulsorily held every February, and the other in May. However, only the first one has been made obligatory, with the remaining one being optional for improving performance. The results of both would be declared separately. However, only the maximum mark sheet would carry the final result and would put an end to the concept of 'single final examination.’ Similar developments would soon take place in Class 12 as well.
State boards embrace flexibility
Some state boards have followed suit. Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, and Rajasthan allow two chances to take an exam each year, and they retain the better of the two results. Karnataka takes this to three opportunities to take an exam every year and does away with the concept of regular and supply exams altogether. West Bengal and Chhattisgarh allow phased or two-exam policies, focusing more on improvement than failure.
Karnataka’s three-exam system
According to the report by the Indian Express, Karnataka is the most Advanced State that is comprehensively overhauling the board exams. Even before the reform by CBSE, the Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board had implemented the opportunity for students studying in the state board to have as many as three chances for exams every year during the 2023-24 academic year. This way, the students have the option to appear for the exams once, twice, or three times, and the maximum mark will be retained. This system diminishes the line dividing the “regular” and “supplementary” exams, and the whole process is blurred into a uniform process.
This has been termed a paradigm shift from a failure-based to an opportunity-based assessment system, which aligns very much with NEP 2020’s emphasis on flexibility.
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Tamil Nadu's unique approach
However, the state of Tamil Nadu has taken a different approach by removing the Class 11-board examination from 2025-26, thus marking the end of the Class 11-board examination. Only the Class 12 results would feature on the certificates, and Class 11 examinations will be continued for repeat students until 2030.
School managements and teachers’ associations have long argued that the additional Class 11 board exam added pressure without significantly improving learning outcomes. The government’s decision reflects a growing recognition that fewer, well-designed external checkpoints may better support student learning.
