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CBSE Class 10 English Exam 2026: Paper Analysis & Previous Year Difficulty Level

Exams for the CBSE Board in 2026 Live: The board exams started on February 17, 2026. More than 43 lakh students took them, with about 25 lakh in Class 10 and 18.5 lakh in Class 12.

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Feb 21, 2026 - 10:24

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CBSE Class 10 English Exam 2026: Paper Analysis & Previous Year Difficulty Level

Live Updates on the CBSE Board Exams 2026: Today is the fifth day of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board exams for Classes 10 and 12. Students in Class 10 will take English (Communicative) and English (Language and Literature) tests, while students in Class 12 will take tests in Automotive and Fashion Studies. There is only one shift for both classes' tests, which will be from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM.

CBSE has told students to get to their test centers early because of traffic. Entry will end very quickly at 10:00 AM.

Over 43 lakh students took the board exams that started on February 17, 2026. About 25 lakh of them were in Class 10 and 18.5 lakh were in Class 12. There are 8,074 places where Class 10 exams are taking place, and 7,574 places where Class 12 exams are taking place.

The last day of Class 10 tests will be March 10, 2026, and the last day of Class 12 tests will be April 10, 2026. There are 83 subjects in Class 10 and 120 subjects in Class 12 that students will have to take. There are about 14 lakh boys and 10.9 lakh girls among the 25 lakh Class 10 candidates. This year, about 10.2 lakh boys and 8.3 lakh girls are taking the Class 12 exam.

First Class 10 Tests Are Now Required

The CBSE has made things clear about the Class 10 board exams starting in 2026. Students who need to take the second board exam directly for unavoidable reasons must follow certain rules to be eligible.

Important Points from CBSE Clarification:

Mandatory First Exam: All students must appear in the first board examination.
Improvement Opportunity: Students who have passed may improve scores in up to three subjects, including Science, Mathematics, Social Science, and languages.
"Essential Repeat" Category: Students missing three or more subjects in the first exam will be placed in the Essential Repeat category and can appear only in the main exam next year in February.
Compartment Category: Students with a "Compartment" result in the first exam may appear in the second exam under the Compartment category.
No Additional Subjects: After passing Class 10, students cannot appear in stand-alone additional subjects.

Here are the most recent news about the CBSE Board Class 10 English and Class 12 Business Studies papers.

CBSE Boards 2026 Live: Today's Class 10 English Paper; How Last Year's Paper Did

Teachers said that last year's Central Board of Secondary Education Class 10 English test was easy to moderate. A lot of the questions on the sample paper were taken from the syllabus. The grammar part was mostly easy, but some of the reading and value-based questions needed a lot of thought. Students finished the 80-mark paper in three hours and had time to go over it again.Students loved the Class 10 CBSE English paper. The paper was easy because there were a lot of questions on the sample paper. All of the questions were in line with the syllabus. The grammar part was easy, but there were a couple of hard questions in the reading and writing parts. "The short answer questions in Literature were of average difficulty, with a few challenging value-based questions," said Prarthana Bajpai, TGT English, Vidyagyan School, Sitapur.Students said that the level of difficulty was average. There was a good mix of questions on the test that tested knowledge, analysis, and application. Most students finished the paper on time and still had time to study. Tasmina Alam, PGT English at KIIT World School in Gurugram, said, "The English Language & Literature exam was worth 80 marks and had to be taken in three hours."The passages in Section A weren't hard, but the questions were based on values. The second passage, on the other hand, needed a lot of focus. It was easy for Sets 1 and 2 to answer questions in Section B (Grammar). But some of the questions in Set 3 were a little hard. Questions about writing letters and analytical paragraphs were easy and clear in Writing Skills. Part C was based on making inferences. "The Literature section was easy, but it expected students to know a lot about the topics and subtopics, as well as the themes, characters, and literary techniques used in the text," Alam said.

CBSE Board Exams 2026 Live: CBSE Warns Students and Parents Not to Believe Claims of Fake Paper Leaks During Exams

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has warned students, parents, and schools not to spread false information and rumors about the 2026 board exams.

The Board told everyone to stay alert and said that in the past, some dishonest people tried to trick students and parents by spreading false information on social media during the exam period. False claims about question paper leaks and the circulation of fake question papers for Class 10 and Class 12 exams are common examples of this kind of false information.Believing in, sharing, or interacting with this kind of false information could cause unnecessary stress and confusion, which could make students less ready for this important time. "The Board assures all stakeholders that strong plans and strict rules are in place to make sure that the Board's exams go smoothly, safely, and fairly, just like they did in previous years."