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CBSE assessment and report cards: what applies to each class in 2026-27.

In Classes 9 and 10, CBSE assesses most subjects as 80 marks from a year-end exam plus 20 marks of internal assessment by the school.[1] Classes 11 and 12 follow the marks split in each subject's syllabus, and the Board conducts the Class 12 exam.[2] For Classes 1 to 8, CBSE's current documents give assessment principles and Holistic Progress Card prototypes, not one marks scheme or one report card format.[1, 3] This guide is current as of 21 October 2026, and each rule carries the date of the document it comes from.

On this page

How does CBSE assess students in each class?

CBSE's 2026-27 guidance describes assessment in four stages, and only Classes 10 and 12 have an exam conducted by the Board. Classes 9 and 11 sit year-end exams conducted by the school.[1, 2]

ClassesStageWhat CBSE's 2026-27 guidance says
Up to Class 2Foundational (ages 3-8)Observe children and keep records of their work. Avoid traditional tests and exams. No ranking of students at this stage.[1]
3 to 5PreparatoryRegular formative assessment, oral and written, plus a summative assessment at the end of each year.[1]
6 to 8MiddleCompetency-based assessment using projects, debates and presentations, with a yearly summative assessment.[1]
9 and 10Secondary80 marks from the Class 10 board exam (or the Class 9 annual exam set by the school), plus 20 marks of internal assessment.[1]
11 and 12SecondaryTheory plus internal assessment or practicals, as the subject's syllabus says. The Board conducts the Class 12 exam. Class 11 is at school level.[2]
CBSE curriculum documents for 2026-27, initial pages.

On 21 September 2026 CBSE said there is no change in the question paper design and assessment pattern for Classes X and XII in 2026-27.[4] The change this year is in Class IX. CBSE is bringing in the scheme of studies from NCF-2023 there, so the Class 9 batch of 2026-27 studies a different subject list from earlier batches.[1, 5]

How are marks split between the exam and internal assessment in Classes 9 and 10?

In most subjects the split is 80 marks for the year-end exam and 20 marks for internal assessment. Where a subject's syllabus gives different marks, the syllabus rules.[1] For Class 10 the 80 marks come from the CBSE board exam. For Class 9 they come from an annual exam the school conducts. A student has to appear in and complete both parts.[1]

What goes into the 20 internal marks?

The 2026-27 curriculum splits internal assessment into four parts of equal weight, 25% each.[1] In a 20-mark subject that is 5 marks each, which is how the 2025-26 curriculum listed them.[6]

PartWeightWhat it is
Periodic assessment25%Three tests a year in each subject, and the average of the best two counts. At least one has to be competency-based, such as case analysis or data interpretation.
Multiple assessment25%Observation, oral presentations, discussions, quizzes, experiments, projects and fieldwork, marked against rubrics shared with students in advance.
Portfolio25%A curated collection of the student's work that shows progress over time, marked on a rubric. CBSE ties it to the idea of the Holistic Progress Card.
Subject enrichment activities25%Inquiry activities for each subject: speaking and listening in languages, experiments in science and maths, case studies in social science.
Internal assessment in Classes IX-X, curriculum 2026-27.

What is the pass rule for 2026-27?

CBSE's documents don't agree on this

The 2026-27 curriculum for Classes 9 and 10 says a student must secure at least 33% marks separately in the external and internal assessments.[1] A notification of 21 September 2026 says the passing criteria stay the same as in 2025-26.[4] The 2025-26 curriculum says the separate 33% condition was relaxed by a notification dated 11 October 2018.[6]

We couldn't open a notification of that date. The file at the link the curriculum gives is dated 27 February 2018, and it exempted only the 2018 batch from the separate pass rule, asking for 33% overall.[7] A news report of 1 October 2026 says CBSE's Controller of Examinations told a webinar that an earlier proposal for a separate 33% threshold had been withdrawn.[8] Check the current rule with your CBSE regional office before you print a pass rule on a report card.

How does CBSE work out grades?

CBSE grades Classes 10 and 12 by rank within each subject, and Classes 9 and 11 by marks range. In Class 10 and Class 12 the Board lines up everyone who passed a subject and gives each eighth of them a grade: A1 to the top eighth, A2 to the next, and so on down to D2. E means essential repeat. Students with the same score get the same grade, and the method applies where more than 500 candidates passed the subject.[1, 2]

In Class 9 and Class 11 the school awards grades from marks. CBSE uses absolute grading there because a single school has too few students for rank-based grades to mean much.[1, 2]

MarksGrade
91-100A1
81-90A2
71-80B1
61-70B2
51-60C1
41-50C2
33-40D
32 and belowEssential Repeat (Class 11 table). The Class 9 table in the 2026-27 curriculum stops at D.
Grading scale for Class 9 and Class 11, curriculum 2026-27.[1, 2]

CBSE's 2017 report card formats print 32 and below as E (Failed) for Class 9, and as E (Needs improvement) for Classes 6 to 8.[9] So a card built from those formats words the bottom grade differently from the 2026-27 Class 11 table.

What are co-scholastic areas, and how does CBSE grade them?

Co-scholastic areas are the non-academic parts of a student's record, such as art, health and physical education and work education, and CBSE asks schools to grade them apart from subject marks. The scale depends on the class.[2, 9, 10]

ClassesAreasScaleSource
6 to 8Work Education, Art Education, Health and Physical Education, plus Discipline3-point, graded term-wise: A Outstanding, B Very Good, C FairAcad-14/2017, 21 March 2017[9]
9 and 10Work Education (or Pre-vocational Education), Art Education, Health and Physical Education, plus Discipline5-point, A to E, with no descriptive indicatorsAcad-05/2017, 31 January 2017[10]
11 and 12General Studies, and Health and Physical Education (Work Experience is part of it)Grades from A1 to E, reflected in the report card. The curriculum calls this both an 8-point and a 9-point scale.Curriculum 2026-27, Part-2[2]
The latest CBSE document we found for each class band.

For 2026-27, the Class 9 scheme lists Art Education, Physical Education and Well-being, Individuals in Society and a third language (R3) as compulsory subjects with school-based assessment. Class 10 keeps Health and Physical Education, Work Experience and Art Education as school-assessed subjects.[1] The curriculum says subjects assessed entirely by the school follow guidelines notified separately with their curriculum. We found no 2026-27 circular that sets a grading scale for them.[1] R3 shows on the marksheet as Qualified or Not Qualified.[1]

Grading co-scholastic areas goes back to CBSE's older CCE scheme. CBSE's own history page says that scheme was discontinued in 2017.[11] We cover it in what CCE was.

How do the two Class 10 board exams work?

From 2026 CBSE holds two board exams for Class 10: a main exam every student takes, and a second exam for improvement or compartment. NEP 2020 had recommended that students be allowed up to two board exam attempts in a school year.[12] The rules CBSE has stated so far are these.

  • The main exam ran from 17 February to 11 March 2026. The second exam ran from 15 to 21 May 2026.[13]
  • Appearing in the first exam is mandatory for every student.[14]
  • Passed and eligible students can improve their performance in up to three subjects. The notification names Science, Mathematics, Social Science and languages. A student with a compartment in the first exam can take the second under the compartment category.[14]
  • A student who didn't appear in three or more subjects in the first exam can't take the second. They fall in the Essential Repeat category and can sit the next year's main exam in February.[14]
  • Additional subjects aren't permitted after passing Class 10.[14]
  • For regular students, the better of the two performances goes into the final result. The second exam's results came out on DigiLocker on 18 July 2026.[13]

CBSE's draft scheme of February 2025 also proposed that practical and internal assessment would be done only once, and that the marksheet would show marks from both exams and the better of the two.[15] That was a draft. CBSE's List of Candidates circular of 17 September 2026 refers to a Two Board Policy dated 26 June 2025, and says the second exam's list for Class 10 is filled after the first exam is over.[16] We couldn't find the text of that policy, so look at the marksheet CBSE issues rather than relying on the draft.

Is there a second board exam for Class 12?

As of 21 October 2026 we found no CBSE circular announcing one. The February 2025 draft scheme is titled for Class X only.[15] The CBSE documents we read apply the two-exam idea to Class 10 alone.[13, 14, 16]

What does a CBSE report card for Class 9 show?

The last CBSE-issued Class 9 report card format we found is Annexure 1 of Circular Acad-14/2017, dated 21 March 2017. It was built to look like the Class 10 card, and it shows the following.[9]

  1. Header and student details

    School name, academic session, roll number, student's name, parent or guardian's name, date of birth, class and section. The circular says the card shows the CBSE logo on the left and the school logo on the right.[9]

  2. Scholastic areas, subject by subject

    Periodic test (10), notebook (5), subject enrichment (5), annual exam (80), marks obtained out of 100, and the grade. Rows cover Language 1, Language 2, the other subjects and any additional or NSQF subject.[9]

  3. Co-scholastic areas and discipline

    Work Education (or Pre-vocational Education), Art Education and Health and Physical Education, each on a 5-point A to E scale, and a discipline grade on the same scale.[9]

  4. Remarks, result and signatures

    Class teacher's remarks, the result, and the signatures of the class teacher and the principal, with the grading scale printed as instructions.[9]

That layout matches the 2017 internal split of 10, 5 and 5 marks. The 2026-27 curriculum describes a different one: four parts for 20 marks.[1] We found no 2026-27 CBSE circular that gives a new Class 9 card layout. If your card still has the 2017 columns, it doesn't line up with the internal assessment parts CBSE now lists. The 2026-27 Class 9 batch also has a new subject list, including R3 and Individuals in Society.[1, 5]

What does a CBSE report card for Classes 6 to 8 show?

The CBSE format we found for Classes 6 to 8 is Annexure 2 of Circular Acad-14/2017, dated 21 March 2017. It runs on two terms of 100 marks each, and the circular says all affiliated schools must implement it.[9]

Part of each termMarksNotes
Periodic test10Dates announced by the school in advance.
Notebook submission5
Subject enrichment5Done through the term, evaluated at term-end.
Half-yearly exam (Term 1) or yearly exam (Term 2)80The Term 2 exam covers the whole of Term 2 plus significant topics from Term 1: 10% in Class 6, 20% in Class 7 and 30% in Class 8.
Scholastic structure for Classes VI-VIII in Circular Acad-14/2017.[9]

Grades follow the same marks ranges as the table above, from A1 for 91-100 to D for 33-40, with E (Needs improvement) below that. Work Education, Art Education, Health and Physical Education and Discipline are graded term-wise on the 3-point scale.[9]

Is it still in force? We found no later CBSE circular that replaces it, and the 2026-27 documents don't restate it. Treat it as the last format CBSE prescribed for these classes, and ask your regional office if you need to be sure.

What does CBSE prescribe for Classes 1 to 8, and what is left to schools?

CBSE prescribes the approach for Classes 1 to 8, not the marks. What it sets is the following.

  • Stage-wise assessment guidance, shown in the first table above.[1]
  • Holistic Progress Cards. The 2026-27 curriculum says schools are required to implement them as formal communication tools between school and families.[1]
  • No ranking in the Foundational stage.[1]
  • A third language, R3, from Class 6 in 2026-27.[17]

What we couldn't find is a current CBSE circular fixing marks, weightage or a grade scale for Classes 1 to 5. For Classes 6 to 8, the last one is the 2017 circular above. We found no CBSE rule on card layout for those classes, so ask your CBSE regional office and your state what they expect.

Promotion is a separate question. The central rule on re-examination in Classes 5 and 8, notified on 21 December 2024, covers schools established, owned or controlled by the central government, or by the administration of a Union Territory without a legislature. The Press Information Bureau's release of 23 December 2024 lists the states that follow the no-detention policy from Class 1 to 8 and those that have notified the 2019 RTE amendment.[18] For a private CBSE school, check your state's rule.

What is the Holistic Progress Card, and is it compulsory?

The Holistic Progress Card (HPC) is a progress report that describes a learner's development against competencies, with input from the teacher, the learner, classmates and parents, rather than marks alone. NEP 2020 (para 4.35) asks for a progress card that is a holistic, 360-degree report, with self-assessment, peer assessment and teacher assessment, and a link between home and school through parent-teacher meetings.[12]

Is it compulsory? The 2026-27 curriculum says schools are required to implement HPCs as formal communication tools. It also says HPCs should report each child's own progress and interests, and avoid comparisons with peers.[1] The prototypes themselves are for schools to adopt or adapt.[3, 19] A class rank doesn't fit that description.

DateWhat was published
27 December 2023CBSE notified two Foundational Stage prototypes: one for ages 3-6, one for Grades 1 and 2. Schools may adopt or adapt them.[3]
December 2024CBSE's Preparatory Stage (Classes 3-5) training manual, first edition. The card was prepared by NCERT and contextualised by CBSE.[20]
August 2025NCERT published the Secondary Stage card, for Grades 9 to 12. NCERT's PARAKH page lists cards for the Foundational, Preparatory, Middle and Secondary stages.[21, 22]
2026-27 sessionCBSE's curriculum says schools are required to implement HPCs, and names Foundational and Preparatory prototypes from CBSE.[1]
HPC milestones in the documents we read.

What does a card look like? The Preparatory card for Classes 3-5 has the learner's details with APAAR ID or PEN and monthly attendance, then four parts: the learner's own insights, records of progress by competency for each term, a summary for the year, and feedback from the learner, a peer and a parent. Each subject gets a performance level of Beginner, Progressing or Proficient, and schools may use their own labels.[19] The Secondary card has self-assessment, time management and plans after school, then records of group project work, problem-based inquiry and classroom observation.[21]

Does it replace the marks card? We found no CBSE document that says the HPC replaces the marks-and-grades report card in Classes 9 to 12. The 2026-27 curriculum treats it as a communication tool and links the internal assessment portfolio to it.[1] For the R3 language it encourages schools to give internal grades from A to E and put qualitative feedback in the HPC.[1]

Sources

Every fact on this page about rules, prices or other products comes from one of these. We read each one on the date shown and will update this page when they change.

  1. CBSE, Academic Unit. Introduction to Secondary Curriculum: Part-1 (Classes IX-X), 2026-27 (cbseacademic.nic.in). Academic session 2026-27. Read 21 October 2026.
  2. CBSE, Academic Unit. Introduction to Secondary Curriculum: Part-2 (Classes XI-XII), 2026-27 (cbseacademic.nic.in). Academic session 2026-27. Read 21 October 2026.
  3. CBSE, Notification of the Director (Academics-Assessment). Holistic Progress Card (HPC) for Foundational Stage (cbseacademic.nic.in). Notification of 27 December 2023. Read 21 October 2026.
  4. CBSE, Academic Unit. Sample Question Papers for Classes X & XII for the current Academic Session 2026-27 (cbseacademic.nic.in). Notification of 21 September 2026. Read 21 October 2026.
  5. CBSE, Academic Unit. Release of CBSE Curriculum for the Academic Session 2026-27 for Classes IX-XII (Circular Acad-14/2026) (cbseacademic.nic.in). Circular of 1 April 2026. Read 21 October 2026.
  6. CBSE, Academic Unit. Secondary Curriculum 2025-26 (Classes IX-X) (cbseacademic.nic.in). Academic session 2025-26. Read 21 October 2026.
  7. CBSE. Passing Criteria for Class X students of 2017-18 Batch as a one-time measure (cbse.gov.in). Notification of 27 February 2018. Read 21 October 2026.This is the file the 2025-26 curriculum links to for a notification it dates 11 October 2018. The file itself is dated 27 February 2018.
  8. College Admission (news site). CBSE Class 10 Passing Criteria 2026-27: 33% Rule Deferred (collegeadmission.in). Report of 1 October 2026. Read 21 October 2026.News report of a CBSE webinar. We found no CBSE document that says the same.
  9. CBSE. Uniform System of Assessment, Examination and Report Card for classes VI-IX from Academic Year 2017-18 onwards (Circular Acad-14/2017) (cbse.gov.in). Circular of 21 March 2017. Read 21 October 2026.
  10. CBSE. Restoring of Class X Board examination with effect from the Academic Year 2017-18 (Circular Acad-05/2017) (cbseacademic.nic.in). Notification of 31 January 2017. Read 21 October 2026.
  11. CBSE. History of CBSE (cbse.gov.in). Read 21 October 2026.
  12. Ministry of Education, Government of India. National Education Policy 2020 (ncert.nic.in). 2020. Read 21 October 2026.
  13. CBSE, Controller of Examinations. CBSE Declares Class X Second Board Examination Results 2026 (cbse.gov.in). Press release of 18 July 2026. Read 21 October 2026.
  14. CBSE, Controller of Examinations. Two Board Examinations in Class X from 2026 - Clarification reg. (cbse.gov.in). Notification of 14 February 2026. Read 21 October 2026.
  15. CBSE. Draft Scheme for Two Examinations, Class X from 2026 (cbse.gov.in). Draft of February 2025. Read 21 October 2026.A draft. We did not find the final scheme text.
  16. CBSE. Submission of List of Candidates (LOC) for Class X and Class XII Main Examinations 2026-27 (cbse.gov.in). Circular CBSE/LOC/X-XII/2026-2027, 17 September 2026. Read 21 October 2026.
  17. CBSE, Academic Unit. Compliance with Introduction of R3 in Class VI (Circular Acad-25/2026) (cbseacademic.nic.in). Circular of 4 May 2026. Read 21 October 2026.
  18. Press Information Bureau. Ministry of Education to implement every aspect of NEP 2020, amends “No Detention Policy” (pib.gov.in). Press release of 23 December 2024. Read 21 October 2026.
  19. CBSE, Centre of Excellence in Assessment. Holistic Progress Card, Preparatory Stage, Classes 3-5 (cbseacademic.nic.in). Read 21 October 2026.Adapted from the NCERT PARAKH card.
  20. CBSE, Centre of Excellence in Assessment. Holistic Progress Card (HPC) Preparatory Stage: Training Manual (cbseacademic.nic.in). First edition, December 2024. Read 21 October 2026.
  21. NCERT. Holistic Progress Card (HPC), Secondary Stage (ncert.nic.in). August 2025. Read 21 October 2026.
  22. NCERT, PARAKH. Holistic Progress Card (HPC) (ncert.nic.in). Read 21 October 2026.Page listing the HPC for the Foundational, Preparatory, Middle and Secondary stages.

FAQ

Common questions

Short answers. The sections above have the detail and the sources.

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Has the CBSE assessment pattern changed for 2026-27?
For Classes X and XII, no. A CBSE notification of 21 September 2026 says the question paper design and assessment pattern don't change, and that passing criteria stay as in 2025-26. The change is in Class IX, where the scheme of studies from NCF-2023 starts in 2026-27. The 2026-27 curriculum for Classes 9 and 10, though, states a separate 33% pass mark in the external and internal parts, and CBSE's documents don't agree on whether that applies, so check the pass rule with your CBSE regional office.
What is the CBSE assessment pattern for Classes 1 to 8?
CBSE gives stage-wise principles rather than one marks scheme: observation and records up to Class 2, formative assessment plus a yearly summative assessment for Classes 3 to 5, and competency-based assessment with a yearly summative assessment for Classes 6 to 8. We found no current CBSE circular that fixes marks for Classes 1 to 5. The last marks scheme and report card format for Classes 6 to 8 is Circular Acad-14/2017 of 21 March 2017.
Is the Holistic Progress Card compulsory in CBSE schools?
CBSE's 2026-27 curriculum says schools are required to implement Holistic Progress Cards as formal communication tools between school and families. CBSE's prototypes are meant to be adopted or adapted. CBSE names prototypes for the Foundational and Preparatory stages, and NCERT has also published Middle and Secondary Stage cards.
Can a Class 10 student take both board exams?
The first exam is mandatory. The second is an improvement or compartment chance. Eligible students can improve in up to three subjects, and a student who missed three or more subjects in the first exam can't take the second. For regular students the better of the two performances counts.
Is there a second board exam for Class 12?
As of 21 October 2026 we found no CBSE circular announcing one. The two-exam scheme CBSE has notified applies to Class 10 from 2026.
Does CBSE still use CCE?
No. CBSE's history page says the CCE system was discontinued in 2017. That year CBSE restored the Class 10 board exam, with 80 marks for the exam and 20 marks for internal assessment.
Does a CBSE school have to print the CBSE logo on report cards?
CBSE's 2017 circular for Classes 6 to 9 says the report card shows the CBSE logo on the left and the school's logo on the right. We found no 2026-27 circular that repeats the instruction.

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