The short answer
From the 2026 exams, CBSE holds two board examinations for Class 10. The first, in February, is compulsory for every student. The second, in May, is optional: a student who wants to improve can retake up to three subjects (from Science, Mathematics, Social Science and the languages), and the better score counts. Internal assessment is done once in the year.
This is a summary for planning, not an official notice. Rules for who may sit the second exam, and the exact dates, are set by CBSE each year. Check cbse.gov.in and your school's circulars.
What it means for your child
- February still matters most. It is compulsory, and it sets the result most families will keep. Treat it as the exam.
- May is a second chance, not a second start. Up to three subjects, a few weeks after the February results. It rewards a child who knows exactly which chapters cost them marks.
- The paper tests understanding. Much of it is case-based, source-based and application questions, so practice has to look like the real paper, and be marked like it.
A month-by-month plan
| When | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| November | Find the gaps | Board-style practice in each subject. Note the chapters where marks leak, not just the low scores. |
| December–January | Pre-boards | Close one gap a week. After each pre-board, list the questions lost by topic and kind of question. |
| February | The first board exam | Revise from the gap list, not the whole book. Sleep and routine matter more than a last all-nighter. |
| After February | Decide calmly | With your child and their teachers, choose whether to improve any subjects in May, and which ones (up to three). |
| March–May | The second attempt | Only the chosen subjects. Practise the question types that cost marks, marked the way an examiner marks. |
Five habits that protect marks
- Write answers out, then check them against the marking points. Knowing is not the same as scoring.
- Practise case-based questions every week, not just in the last month.
- Track gaps by chapter and topic, so the plan is specific: "refraction through a glass slab", not "Physics".
- Ask early. A doubt left for a week becomes a gap by the exam.
- Keep the second chance in reserve. Plan for February; use May only where it clearly helps.
How AI Buddy helps with this plan
- Board-style papers, marked like an examiner: written answers and case studies, marked point by point against the marking scheme, with partial marks.
- Exam readiness by chapter: a readiness score for every board chapter, and an estimated board mark shown as a range, so you see where marks leak, never a promise.
- A plan from their own mistakes: the Learning Path starts with what your child got wrong.
- Help at 10 pm: the AI Teachers explain step by step on their own CBSE chapter, and give hints, not answers, when your child says a test is on.
- You see the week: what is strong, what is stuck, and how you can help, in plain words.
Free gives each child 15 minutes a day with the AI Teachers, by typing, a practice test a day and a Learning Path. Point-by-point marking of written answers comes with Plus. AI Buddy follows the CBSE syllabus; it is not affiliated with or endorsed by CBSE.
And Class 12?
Class 12 still has one main board exam. The same approach works: find the gaps early with board-style practice, close one a week through the pre-boards, and revise from your gap list. AI Buddy covers the core Science and Commerce subjects and English for Classes 11 and 12.