CBSE Gulf exam row: Supreme Court posts assessment plea for next week

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would hear next week petitions challenging the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) assessment scheme for regular Class 12 students in seven Gulf countries whose board examinations were cancelled because of the Iran-US war. The CBSE told the court it would file its response before the matter is heard.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and P B Varale took note of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's submission that the CBSE would file its reply and listed the matter for hearing next week.

The petitions have been filed by 30 regular students studying in Gulf countries. They challenge the CBSE's March 27, 2026 assessment scheme, arguing that the evaluation method is unfair.


Students seek fresh exams
The petitioners have asked the Supreme Court to quash or suitably modify the March 27 assessment scheme and direct the CBSE to adopt a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory evaluation mechanism.

They have also sought directions for the CBSE to conduct a special fresh examination and a special improvement examination for all affected students without restricting the number of subjects they can choose. The students have requested permission to retain whichever result is more favourable.

On July 8, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear the petitions and sought responses from the Centre and the CBSE.

Separate policy for private candidates
The court is also hearing a separate petition filed by a private Class 12 candidate from Saudi Arabia challenging the June 21 notification that laid down the assessment method for private candidates affected by the cancelled examinations.

Earlier, the Centre informed the Supreme Court that the CBSE had introduced a new all-India policy for evaluating private candidates whose examinations were cancelled because of the conflict in West Asia.

According to the policy, marks for cancelled subjects are calculated using 40% of the theory marks obtained in the Class 10 board examination and 60% of the theory marks obtained in the candidate's last attempted Class 12 board examination.

The Centre told the court that private candidates could not be assessed using the March 27 formula because they did not have school-based internal assessment records such as periodic tests and pre-board examinations.

Why the exams were cancelled
The CBSE cancelled Class 12 board examinations in Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE because of the conflict in West Asia. The assessment schemes for regular and private candidates have since been challenged before the Supreme Court.

with PTI inputs