The second term board examinations of the Central Board of Secondary Education for Class 10 and 12 will begin on April 26, according to a notification issued by Controller of Examinations Sanyam Bhardwaj on Wednesday. The complete date sheet will be released soon, it added.

The question paper pattern for these second term exams will be the same as the sample papers posted on the CBSE website, said the notification. Unlike the format for the first term exams, which used only multiple choice objective type questions and had a 90 minute duration, the second term sample papers include subjective type questions, with short and long answers, and are meant to be completed in two hours.

According to the notification, candidates will appear for the exams from allotted centres, as done in previous years.

The board exams were split into two for the 2021-22 academic year, with each covering half of the reduced syllabus, in order to avoid further disruptions to the schedule due to COVID-19 uncertainty. The pandemic had resulted in the cancellation of exams in the previous two years.

The first term board examination was held in December and January 2021, but results have not yet been declared despite the usage of machine scannable optical mark recognition (OMR) answer sheets. Dr Bhardwaj told Rashtra News that results are still being processed as the board is taking time to ensure that the large volume of data from the answer sheets is correct.