The Supreme Court will hear petitions challenging the CBSE Class 12 assessment scheme for students in Gulf countries on July 14, 2026 . These students were affected by cancelled board exams due to the Iran-US conflict.
Supreme Court Issues Notices
A Supreme Court bench, including Justices K.V. Vishwanathan and Alok Aradhe, issued notices to the Centre and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The notices are in response to petitions filed by 30 regular students and a private candidate.
The regular students seek changes to the CBSE's March 27, 2026, evaluation policy. They argue the current formula is unfair and discriminatory.
A separate petition challenges the June 21 assessment policy for private candidates. These candidates were also impacted by the exam cancellations.
Advocate Raj Kishore Choudhary represents the petitioners. He informed the court that students are dissatisfied with the CBSE's adopted assessment formula.
The court directed that petition copies be served on the Solicitor General's office. The matter is now listed for hearing on July 14, 2026.
Details of Student Petitions
Thirty regular students have asked the court to cancel or modify the March 27 assessment scheme. They claim it is discriminatory.
The petitioners also want the CBSE to implement a transparent and equitable evaluation system. They are seeking a special fresh exam and a special improvement exam for all affected students.
Students have requested permission to use whichever exam result is more favorable to them.
CBSE's Revised Policy for Private Candidates
The Centre previously informed the court on June 22 about a new evaluation policy for private candidates. This policy addresses concerns arising from exam cancellations in the Gulf region.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that the June 21 policy was created for private candidates. These students lacked school-based internal assessment records, making them ineligible for the original scheme.
Assessment Formula Explained
The revised policy calculates marks for un-conducted subjects. The formula uses 40% of Class 10 exam marks and 60% of Class 12 theory marks.
Regular students can be assessed using their school records. However, private candidates require a separate evaluation formula due to the absence of such records.
Challenge to Improvement Exam Result
The court also heard a petition from a private candidate in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. This student is challenging the CBSE's failure to declare his Class 12 improvement exam result under the original assessment scheme.
