Overview
- The board issued the final datesheet roughly 110 days before the exams following a tentative schedule released on September 24.
- Most papers will be held offline in a single morning shift from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm across India and CBSE-affiliated schools in 26 countries.
- Several subject dates changed from the tentative timetable, including Class 10 Data Science, French, Urdu and vocational papers, and Class 12 Business Studies, Psychology and Accountancy.
- CBSE will run two Class 10 sessions from 2026 under NEP 2020, with the first attempt mandatory and an optional second exam for improvement.
- To prevent clashes with JEE(Main), NTA will require Class XI registration numbers in applications, and CBSE says admit cards and practical/internal assessment schedules will be issued separately.