The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Thursday clarified the examination structure for the Class 10 board examinations in 2028, announcing five compulsory board-exam subjects and an option to take an additional skill paper that could help students qualify even if they fail in mathematics, science or social science.
The revised framework will apply to students studying in Class 9 during the 2026-27 academic session who will appear for their Class 10 board examinations in 2028. The board clarified that the changes will not affect the current Class 10 batch.
Under the scheme, students will appear for board examinations in five compulsory subjects โ two languages, mathematics, science and social science. They will, however, study nine compulsory curricular areas, including a third language, art education, physical education and well-being, and vocational education.
๐ฆ๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐
The CBSE has provided students with the option of taking an additional skill subject, which can help them clear the Class 10 examination if they fail in mathematics, science or social science, subject to the applicable examination rules.
The board has retained vocational education as a compulsory curricular area but introduced two pathways for fulfilling the requirement.
Students can choose either 'Kaushal Vikas', which will be assessed internally by schools, or one of the 22 skill subjects notified by the board.
The notified subjects include artificial intelligence, data science, information technology, financial markets, healthcare and design thinking.
Students opting for a notified skill subject will have to appear for its board examination in Class 10 during the 2027-28 academic session.
Their marks and grades will be reflected in the CBSE marksheet, while successful candidates will also receive certification under the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF).
๐ง๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
In a communication to school principals, CBSE Director (Academics) Praggya M Singh said vocational education would remain mandatory for the 2028 batch.
"Vocational education shall continue to be a compulsory curricular area for students of Class 10 (2028 batch). To fulfil this requirement, students may opt for either the subject 'Kaushal Vikas' or any one of the 22 skill subjects notified by the board," she said.
Students selecting 'Kaushal Vikas' will undergo school-based internal assessment instead of appearing for a separate board examination.
Those securing at least 33 per cent marks in the internal assessment will receive a certificate from their school.
However, students opting for any of the 22 notified skill subjects will be required to take the corresponding Class 10 board examination.
"Students opting for any of the 22 skill subjects shall have to appear in the board examination in the respective skill subject in Class 10 (2027-28). The marks and grades for that skill subject will be reflected in the marksheet issued by the Board, as per existing practice," the CBSE said.
"NSQF certificate will also be awarded to a student for successfully passing the Board examination in the offered skill subject," it added.
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ
The board also clarified that certain interdisciplinary subjects and computational thinking and artificial intelligence modules would not be included in the Scheme of Studies for the specified batches.
The subject 'Individuals in Society' and the 'Modules of CT and AI' will not form part of the Class 9 curriculum for 2026-27, while 'Environmental Education' will be excluded from the Class 10 curriculum for 2027-28.
"To align the introduction of this curricular area with the implementation schedule, the subject 'Individuals in Society' and the 'Modules of CT and AI' in Class 9 (2026-27) and the subject 'Environmental Education' in Class 10 (2027-28) shall not be part of the curriculum for these batches," Singh said.
The clarification concerns these specific curricular modules and does not prevent students from selecting artificial intelligence as one of the notified skill subjects.
๐๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
According to CBSE sources, the communication was issued to provide clarity to students currently studying in Class 9 before they move to Class 10 in the next academic session.
The board said the objective was to ensure that students and schools understood the academic requirements and examination provisions sufficiently in advance.
"Our foremost priority is to safeguard students' interests by clearly communicating the academic and examination-related provisions well in advance. The emphasis is on encouraging students to focus on meaningful learning rather than solely on examinations," a board source said.
The framework maintains conventional academic subjects as the foundation of the Class 10 board examination while providing students with additional opportunities to pursue vocational learning and obtain recognised skill qualifications.