Compartment Exam Rules of CBSE for Session 2026-27
Failing in an exam happens to be one of the biggest agonies for every CBSE student. And especially if a student fails their 10th or 12th Board exam, they feel like their biggest fear has come true. Students and parents alike often worry that the child will have to wait and prepare for an entire year to reappear. But this isn’t the case. CBSE conducts a compartment exam for students who have failed in one or two subjects in their 10th or 12th Boards, giving them a chance to clear those subjects within the same academic year.
From the 2026 session onward, the timeline differs for Class 10 and Class 12. For Class 10, CBSE has introduced a two-phase board exam system — the first (mandatory) exam is held in February–March, and the second phase, which also serves as the compartment/improvement exam, is conducted in May–June of the same year. This replaces the earlier July/August compartment cycle for Class 10. For Class 12, the compartment exam continues to be held around July, shortly after the main results are declared.
Beyond this, if a student fails the compartment exam or is unable to appear for it, they still get further opportunities to clear the subject over the course of the year — CBSE’s flexible system ensures students don’t lose an academic year even after an initial setback. However, it’s worth noting that for Class 10, a student who fails in three or more subjects in the first exam is classified as an “Essential Repeat” and is not eligible for the compartment/improvement route — they must repeat the full year instead.
Eligibility Criteria for CBSE Class 10th Compartment Exam
Eligibility Criteria for CBSE Class 10th Compartment Exam (2026 onward)
A CBSE Class 10 student needs to meet the following criteria to appear for the Compartment Exam:
- The student must have appeared in the first (mandatory) board exam, held in February–March 2026.
- Students who fail in one or two subjects in this first exam are placed in the “Compartment” category and become eligible to reappear in those subjects during the second exam window, held in May–June 2026 (which now doubles as the compartment/improvement exam for Class 10, replacing the earlier July/August cycle).
- Students who pass the first exam are also eligible to appear in the May–June window under the Improvement of Performance category, for up to 3 subjects (limited to Science, Mathematics, Social Science, and Languages).
- Students who fail in three or more subjects in the first exam are classified as “Essential Repeat” candidates — they are not eligible for the compartment exam and must repeat the full academic year.
CBSE Class 12th Compartment Exam Eligibility Criteria
A student needs to satisfy the following criteria to appear for the CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam:
- Students who have failed in any one subject in their Class 12 Board exam are eligible to appear for the Compartment exam.
- If a student appeared for six subjects in the main Board exam (held in March) and failed in two of them, they can appear for the compartment exam in both failed subjects.
- Students who passed in all subjects but wish to improve their score in one subject can appear under the Improvement category.
- Students who fail in three or more subjects are not eligible for the compartment route and are required to repeat the full academic year.
Online Submission for Compartment Exam Application Form
Online Submission for Compartment Exam Application Form
Regular students who appeared for their CBSE Board exams through their CBSE-affiliated school and were declared COMPARTMENT need to apply for the exam through online mode, via the LOC (List of Candidates) submitted by their school on the CBSE portal at www.cbse.gov.in (note: the domain has since moved from cbse.nic.in).
- For students from schools within India, the fee is ₹300 per subject (this has been revised upward from the earlier ₹200 per subject).
- For students from CBSE-affiliated foreign schools, the fee remains ₹1,500 per subject (also revised from the earlier ₹1,000).
- For Class 10, the compartment/improvement exam is now conducted as part of the Phase 2 board exam in May–June, so the application window falls shortly after Phase 1 results are declared (around March–April), not July as before.
- For Class 12, the process is largely unchanged — applications open after the March board results are declared in May, with the compartment exam conducted in July.
Rules for Compartment Exam for CBSE Class 10th and 12th
CBSE Class 10 (2026 onward)
- Under CBSE’s new two-phase board exam system, a Class 10 student placed in “Compartment” after the mandatory Phase 1 exam (Feb–Mar 2026) gets their second chance in the Phase 2 exam itself (May 2026) — not in a separate July/August compartment cycle as before. This means results and re-attempts now happen within the same academic session, much faster than the old system.
- A student who fails in three or more subjects in Phase 1 is classified as an “Essential Repeat” and is not eligible for Phase 2/compartment — they must repeat the full year and reappear in all subjects next session.
- For subjects with separate theory and practical components, only the theory paper needs to be reattempted if the student failed just in theory; practical/internal marks are carried forward. If the student failed both, both must be reattempted.
- A student with a Class 10 compartment can be provisionally admitted to Class 11; the admission is confirmed once they clear the exam, and cancelled if they don’t.
CBSE Class 12 (2026)
- A student who has six subjects and is placed in Compartment in two subjects can appear in any one of those two subjects in the Supplementary Examination.
- Students declared PASS can use the Supplementary Examination for improvement of performance in one subject, subject to CBSE’s eligibility conditions and the subjects scheduled for the examination.
- Students whose result requires a practical examination because they are placed in the Compartment category due to Repeat in Practical (RP) or Repeat in Theory and Practical Both (RB) must appear for the practical examination as applicable. CBSE issued separate practical-exam guidelines for the 2026 Supplementary Examination.
FAQs
Q1. What is the CBSE Compartment Exam?
Ans. It is a second-chance examination conducted by CBSE for Class 10 and Class 12 students who fail in one or two subjects in their main board exam, allowing them to clear those subjects without repeating the entire academic year.
Q2. When is the CBSE Compartment Exam held in 2026?
Ans. For Class 10, it is now held as part of the Phase 2 board exam in May–June 2026, under CBSE’s new two-phase exam system. For Class 12, it continues to be held in July (28 July 2026), with no change to the older cycle.
Q3. How many attempts does a student get to clear a compartment subject?
Ans. CBSE provides up to three chances: the first attempt (July/August or, for Class 10, the May–June Phase 2 window), a second chance the following March/April, and a third attempt after that. Failing all three means the student must reappear for the full exam as a regular or private candidate.
Q4. What happens if a Class 10 student fails three or more subjects?
Ans. Under the new 2026 rules, such a student is classified as an “Essential Repeat” candidate and is not eligible for the compartment/Phase 2 route — they must repeat the entire academic year and reappear in all subjects.
Q5. Can a student get provisional admission to the next class while awaiting compartment results?
Ans. Yes. A Class 10 student with a compartment can be provisionally admitted to Class 11, with the admission confirmed once they clear the exam and cancelled if they don’t.
See Video for Explanation and Summary of the Lesson