CBSE clarifies R3 rule: Class 10 students of 2027-28 batch must clear school-based third language assessment for pass certificate

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued detailed guidelines clarifying that while the third language (R3) will not carry a board examination for the current batches, clearing the school-based internal assessment in the subject will be mandatory for students to receive the CBSE Secondary School Examination pass certificate.

The circular states that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recommends learning three languages, with at least two native to India, and that while CBSE aims to equip learners with competence in multiple Bhartiya Bhashas (native Indian languages) and promote the vibrancy of language learning, it remains committed to ensuring the process stays balanced, describing the objective as making language learning "a meaningful, engaging, and enriching experience."

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The three-language policy remains under legal challenge before the Supreme Court, with the matter listed for hearing on July 14. Petitioners, including the NGO Friends of People for Active Democracy along with a group of parents and foreign-language teachers, have sought quashing of CBSE's May 15 circular as unconstitutional, and restoration of an earlier April 9 notification that had deferred compulsory implementation till 2029-30.

At an earlier hearing, the Supreme Court declined interim relief, with a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice V Mohana noting there was "no question of interim protection" at that stage. Ahead of today's hearing, CBSE told the court that 47.3% of its 28,848 affiliated schools already offer two or more Indian languages to Class 9 students, and that 99.19% have at least one Indian-language teacher.

Under the scheme laid out in the circular, two of the three languages studied must be Bhartiya Bhashas (native Indian languages), and a non-native language can only be chosen as R3 if the other two languages are Bhartiya Bhashas. There will be no change for students currently in Class 10 during 2026-27, who will continue under the existing two-language system with no third language required. Students in Class 9 during 2026-27 must study three languages, with at least two Bhartiya Bhashas; those already studying two non-native languages get a one-time relaxation and may continue with both, but must add one Bhartiya Bhasha as R3.

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For this batch, R3 will be assessed only through internal, school-based assessment, with no CBSE board exam for the subject even when they reach Class 10 in 2027-28. Students who don't qualify the assessment in Class 9 will still be promoted to Class 10, but must clear it there. Clearing R3 in Class 10 will be mandatory for the award of the Secondary School Examination pass certificate, and students who fail will get a reassessment by their school before results are declared.

The same three-language and assessment rules, including the relaxation for those already studying two non-native languages, will apply to students currently in Class 7 and 8 (2026-27) once they reach Class 9 and 10.

For students entering Class 6 in 2026-27, two of the three languages must similarly be Bhartiya Bhashas, but unlike the older batches, this cohort will have to take a CBSE board examination in R3 once they reach Class 10.