CBSE has detected around 20 cases of answer-sheet mix-ups in the first large-scale rollout of its on-screen marking (OSM) system for Class 12 examinations, according to government sources.
The issue surfaced after students accessed scanned copies of their answer sheets on the board’s portal during post-result verification and found that some copies uploaded against their names did not belong to them.
In several cases, the board later contacted the affected students and provided the correct answer sheets.
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I’ve got a mail from CBSE saying that there is no problem with the answer sheet provided to me .
— SUNNY (@FinManageHub) May 28, 2026
Even it's clearly seen that page number 18 &19 are missing in the answer sheet .@cbseindia29
there is no accountability provide by him.
#RahulGandhiVsFacts pic.twitter.com/ZPop5lHpgM
Not quite ticking like clockwork
The development has added fresh pressure on CBSE’s digital evaluation process, which was introduced this year as part of the board’s broader examination reforms.
Sources told NDTV that the mismatch occurred during the scanning stage, while scanning-quality problems also forced the manual checking of more than 13,000 answer sheets after they failed to meet the required readability standard even after rescanning.
More than 98 lakh answer booklets, amounting to nearly 40 crore pages, were scanned for the exercise.
For the first time in history, 4 lakh CBSE students requested a record 11 lakh answer sheets four times more than last year signaling severe trust issues in the system. pic.twitter.com/xyTVwnLhTe
— 🚨Indian Gems (@IndianGems_) May 27, 2026
The buck stops here, says Pradhan
The controversy has also drawn a public response from Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Pradhan said, “I take responsibility. It will be fixed, and a solution will be found,” and added, “Being the education minister, I hold myself accountable.” He also said that if any irregularities are found, “no one will be spared,” while describing OSM as a “progressive instrument” that is meant to make evaluation more transparent.
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Fresh questions at verification time
The issue has spilled into the post-result process as well.
CBSE postponed the opening of its Class 12 verification and re-evaluation portal from May 29 to June 1 amid the concerns.
The board is now expected to process a large volume of requests after students reported problems ranging from mismatched copies to other technical glitches during access to scanned answer sheets.
