CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026: Exam on July 15, Eligibility, Application Form and Result

The CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026 will be held on July 15, 2026, giving students who received a Compartment result in the Class 12 board exam a second chance to clear the subject(s) they did not pass. The List of Candidates (LOC) registration window closes on June 17, 2026 — your school must submit all candidate details before this deadline, as no submissions are accepted after June 17, 2026 under any circumstances. The admit card is expected around July 7, 2026, and the compartment exam result is expected in August 2026.

Students who failed in one or two subjects in the CBSE Class 12 Board Exam 2026 (result declared May 13, 2026) are marked "Compartment" and are eligible to appear. Students who failed in three or more subjects are classified as Essential Repeat and are NOT eligible for the compartment exam — they must re-enroll as regular students for the 2026–27 academic year.

Passing the compartment exam allows your marksheet to carry the status Pass (Compartment), accepted for most college admissions and employment. The compartment exam follows the same syllabus and question paper format as the main board exam — there is no reduced or modified paper for compartment students.

• Students who fail in 1 or 2 subjects in CBSE Class 12 are eligible for the compartment exam; failing 3 or more results in Essential Repeat status with no supplementary exam option.
• The CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026 is scheduled for July 15, 2026 — a single-day offline exam at designated CBSE centres across India and abroad.
• LOC registration via your school closes on June 17, 2026 (tomorrow) — no extensions are granted and no late submissions are accepted after this date.
• The compartment exam fee is ₹300 per subject plus ₹150 per practical subject for schools in India.
• Passing requires a minimum of 33% marks in each component separately — both theory and practical/internal assessment must be cleared independently of each other.
• CBSE allows a maximum of 3 attempts (the original board exam plus up to 2 compartment sittings) to clear a failed subject.
• Students who do not clear their compartment subject within the permitted attempts must repeat the entire Class 12 year as regular students in the next board exam cycle.

CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026

Every year, a significant number of students placed in the Compartment category after the CBSE Class 12 board exam use the supplementary exam to clear their failed subject(s) without losing an entire academic year. In the 2025 CBSE Class 12 board exam, approximately 1.7 lakh students were placed in the Compartment category out of over 16 lakh who appeared. The compartment exam is conducted once a year in July — shortly after the main board result in May — with results in August, allowing students to complete college admissions for the new academic year. Clearing the compartment exam is the fastest route back to academic progress for students who fell short in one or two papers.

CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam Datesheet 2026

The CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026 will be held on July 15, 2026 — a single-day examination in which students appear only for the specific subject(s) in which they received a Compartment result. The exam runs from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM (3 hours), with a mandatory reading window from 10:15 AM to 10:30 AM during which students may read the question paper but must not write. Students must report to their exam centre by 10:00 AM. The table below lists all key dates in the 2026 compartment exam cycle, with upcoming events listed first.

Note: Students must report at their exam centre by 10:00 AM on July 15, 2026. Reading time runs from 10:15 AM to 10:30 AM — students may read the question paper during this window but writing begins only at 10:30 AM. No student is permitted to leave the exam hall before 12:30 PM (one hour before the exam ends).

CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam Fee Structure

The CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026 fee is submitted by the school on behalf of regular students through the CBSE online portal. Fee payment is accepted only in online mode — cash, demand drafts, and in-person payments at CBSE regional offices or exam centres are not accepted. The fee depends on the number of compartment subjects and whether a practical examination is also included. Students appearing in two compartment subjects pay the per-subject fee twice.

Note: Students appearing in two compartment subjects pay ₹300 × 2 = ₹600 for theory (plus ₹150 per subject if practicals are also involved). There is no combined flat-rate fee for multiple subjects. The LOC submission and fee payment deadline is June 17, 2026 — no payments are processed after this date. Confirm with your school whether the fee has already been submitted on your behalf.

CBSE Class 12 Passing Marks Criteria 2026

To pass any subject in the CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026, students must score a minimum of 33% marks in each component separately — that means 33% in the theory paper AND 33% in the practical/internal assessment, evaluated independently of each other. Clearing only the theory while failing the practical — or passing the practical while failing the theory — still results in a fail for that subject, even if the combined total of both components exceeds 33%.

CBSE may award grace marks at its discretion if a student falls short of the minimum passing marks by up to 5 marks in one subject, depending on the overall result picture. However, grace marks are not guaranteed — they are applied selectively and cannot be relied upon as a preparation strategy.

Is 23 a passing mark out of 70 in CBSE Class 12?

Yes, 23 out of 70 is the minimum passing mark for subjects with a 70-mark theory paper (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Computer Science) in CBSE Class 12. This is 33% of 70, which equals 23.1 — rounded down to 23. However, securing 23/70 in theory alone is not sufficient to pass the subject. You must also separately clear the practical or project component by scoring at least 10 out of 30, because both components have independent 33% passing thresholds. Scoring 23/70 in theory and 9/30 in practical means you fail the subject overall, even though the combined total is 32 out of 100.

CBSE Class 12 Passing Marks — Quick Reference

CBSE Class 12 Grading System

CBSE uses a 9-grade absolute grading system for Class 12 marksheets. Grades A1 through D represent passing performance; grades E1 and E2 indicate failure — students who receive E1 (21–32 combined marks) are placed in the Compartment category and are eligible for the supplementary exam, while those who receive E2 (0–20 combined marks) are classified as Essential Repeat and must repeat the full academic year. The grade is assigned based on the combined total of theory and practical marks for the subject.

What Happens After Passing or Failing the CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam?

Understanding the outcomes after the July 15, 2026 compartment exam helps students plan their next steps for admissions, further attempts, or re-enrollment:

• If you pass the compartment exam: CBSE issues a revised marksheet with the result status Pass (Compartment). Your overall result changes from "Compartment" to "Pass." This revised marksheet is valid for college admissions, employment, and government purposes and is accepted by universities and institutions across India. Your grade in the compartment subject reflects the marks scored in the July 2026 exam — not the original failed score from the main board exam.
• If you fail the compartment exam: You still have one final attempt — you can appear as a private candidate in the next CBSE board exam cycle (February–April 2027) for the failed subject(s) only. This is your third and last permitted attempt. After three failed attempts in the same subject, you must re-enroll as a regular Class 12 student and repeat the full year including all subjects.
• College admissions impact: Most colleges open admissions in June–July following the May board results. If you are awaiting the August 2026 compartment result, you may miss the first round at some institutions. However, several state universities, open universities, and distance-learning institutions have later admission windows that specifically accommodate students awaiting compartment results — identify these institutions and keep those options open.
• Marksheet and certificates: After passing the compartment exam, your updated digital marksheet is available on cbse.gov.in and DigiLocker. Physical marksheets and migration certificates are issued thereafter. Retain both the original main exam marksheet and the revised compartment marksheet — some institutions ask for both documents during the verification process.