CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026: Admit Card Out at cbse.gov.in, Eligibility and Result

The CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026 is scheduled for July 28, 2026, giving students who failed in one or two subjects in the CBSE Class XII Board Exam 2026 a structured second opportunity to clear those subjects without repeating the full academic year. The CBSE Class 12 Board Exam 2026 results were declared on May 13, 2026, after which eligible students received "Compartment" status in their mark sheet. The application window for the July 28 attempt closed on July 8, 2026, and the admit card is now available for download at cbse.gov.in.

• Students who fail in 1 or 2 subjects in CBSE Class 12 receive "Compartment" status and are eligible to appear — failing in 3 or more subjects results in "Essential Repeat" (full year repeat required).
• The CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026 is scheduled for July 28, 2026, conducted offline from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM with a mandatory 15-minute reading window.
• The application / LOC submission window closed on July 8, 2026; the admit card is currently available for download at cbse.gov.in.
• You must score a minimum of 33% marks in each subject — theory and practical/internal assessment evaluated independently — to pass the compartment exam.
• CBSE allows up to 3 attempts to clear a compartment subject, spread across July 2026, the 2027 board exam cycle, and July 2027.
• Students who pass the compartment exam receive a revised CBSE Class 12 mark sheet with Pass (Compartment) status, which is accepted by colleges and universities for higher education admissions.
• The compartment exam result is expected in August 2026, shortly after the July 28 exam.

CBSE conducts the Class 12 Compartment Exam every year in July, following the main board results in May, to ensure students who narrowly fail in one or two subjects are not required to repeat the entire academic year. Students who pass the compartment exam are eligible for higher education admissions on equal footing with regular pass students, though the "Compartment" notation appears on the mark sheet as a matter of record. The exam is held across the same CBSE-affiliated centres as the main board exam.

Students who do not clear the compartment exam in the first attempt retain further opportunities. CBSE’s three-attempt policy — covering the main board exam and two subsequent compartment sittings — gives every student a fair runway before requiring full-year repetition.

CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026 — Overview

The CBSE Class 12 Board Exam 2026 was conducted between February and April 2026, with results announced on May 13, 2026. Students who received "Compartment" in one or two subjects became eligible to register for the July 2026 compartment attempt. Registration ran from June 30 to July 8, 2026 — schools submitted the List of Candidates (LOC) on behalf of regular students, while private students registered directly with CBSE. The original exam date was subsequently revised to July 28, 2026 (as confirmed in the updated CBSE datesheet), giving students additional preparation time compared to the initial July 15 schedule.

CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam Datesheet 2026

The CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026 is confirmed for July 28, 2026 — this is a revised date (the original schedule listed July 15, 2026, which was updated in the CBSE revised datesheet). The exam is conducted in offline mode from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM with a mandatory 15-minute reading window from 10:15 AM to 10:30 AM. Students must report to their designated exam centre by 10:00 AM and must carry a valid printed admit card — no entry is permitted without it. The full subject-wise schedule is available on the official CBSE website at cbse.gov.in.

The table below lists all key events in the CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026 cycle. Upcoming events are shown first in chronological order, followed by past events in chronological order.

The exam timing of 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM is uniform across all subjects and exam centres. Students are strongly advised to download and verify their admit card immediately — check the exam centre address, subject name and code, and reporting time, and report any discrepancy to the school or CBSE Regional Office before July 28.

Note: The compartment exam date was revised from July 15 to July 28, 2026 as per the updated CBSE datesheet. Students should verify the final schedule from the official CBSE website and their individual admit card. No student is permitted to enter the exam hall after 10:30 AM, and no student may leave 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 was collected during the LOC/application window that ran from June 30 to July 8, 2026. The fee is charged per subject, with different rates for theory subjects and practical/project subjects, and was payable in online mode only — no cash or offline payments are accepted by CBSE. For regular students, schools collected the fee and remitted it to CBSE through the CBSE affiliated school portal. Private students paid directly via the CBSE online portal. The window is now closed for the July 28 attempt; the next fee payment opportunity will be during registration for the February–April 2027 board exam cycle.

Note: The fee and application window for the CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026 (July 28 attempt) closed on July 8, 2026. Students who did not complete registration by that date are not eligible for the July 28 exam and must appear in the next opportunity (February–April 2027 board exam as a private student). Students appearing in two compartment subjects pay the per-subject fee for each subject independently.

CBSE Class 12 Passing Marks Criteria 2026

To pass the CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026, students must score a minimum of 33% marks in the subject. Theory and practical/internal assessment components are evaluated independently — clearing one component while failing the other still results in a fail for the subject. You must score at least 33% in the theory paper AND at least 33% in the practical/internal assessment separately — a high practical score cannot compensate for a failing theory score.

Since most students appearing in the compartment exam already passed the practical component in the main board exam, the July 28 outcome depends entirely on the theory paper score for most subjects. For an 80-mark theory paper, the minimum passing mark is 27. For a 70-mark theory paper (Science subjects and Geography), the minimum passing mark is 23. The compartment result, once declared in August 2026, will reflect the marks scored in the July 28 exam for the compartment subject(s).

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

Yes, 23 out of 70 is the minimum passing mark in the theory component for CBSE Class 12 subjects that carry 70 marks in theory — specifically Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Computer Science, and Physical Education. This equals 33% of 70, which calculates to 23.1 and is rounded down to 23 as the passing threshold. However, a theory score of 23 alone does not guarantee passing the subject. You must also independently clear the 30-mark practical component with a minimum of 10 out of 30 (33% of 30 = 9.9, rounded up to 10) — scoring 23 in theory and 9 in practical means you fail the subject despite a combined score of 32 out of 100.

CBSE Class 12 Passing Marks — 33% Rule Quick Reference

What Happens After Passing or Failing the CBSE Class 12 Compartment Exam 2026?

• If you pass the compartment exam: CBSE issues a revised Class 12 mark sheet replacing the "Compartment" notation with the actual compartment exam score and updated grade. The overall result status changes to "Pass (Compartment)". This revised mark sheet is accepted for college admissions, government purposes, and employment across India. Your updated digital mark sheet becomes available on cbse.gov.in and DigiLocker after the result.
• If you fail the compartment exam: You retain one more opportunity — appearing as a private student in the CBSE Class 12 Board Exam 2027 (February–April 2027) in the failed subject(s) only. This is the third and final permitted attempt. Practical/internal marks from the original 2026 main exam are still carried forward, so only the theory paper needs to be cleared in that attempt.
• College admissions and the August result: Most college admission rounds open in June–July. Students awaiting the August 2026 compartment result may miss the first admission round at some institutions. Many state universities, open universities, and distance-learning programmes maintain later admission windows specifically to accommodate students whose results arrive in August — identifying these options proactively is important.
• Mark sheet documentation: Retain both the original Class 12 mark sheet (showing "Compartment") and the revised mark sheet issued after passing the compartment exam — several institutions ask for both documents during verification to confirm the academic timeline.

CBSE Class 12 Grading System

CBSE uses a nine-point absolute grading scale for Class 12 results, with grades assigned based on the combined marks scored in each subject. Grades A1 through D indicate passing performance; Grades E1 and E2 indicate failure — students who receive Grade E1 (combined marks 21–32) in one or two subjects are placed in the "Compartment" category and are eligible for the supplementary exam, while those who receive Grade E2 (combined marks 0–20) are classified as "Failed" and are not eligible for the compartment scheme in that subject.

The CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) for CBSE Class 12 is computed from the best five subjects’ grade points. Students who clear the compartment exam receive an updated grade on their revised mark sheet — the E1 grade for the compartment subject is replaced by the grade corresponding to the marks scored in the July 28 exam. A student who scores 55 marks in the compartment exam will have the E1 replaced by C1 (grade point 6) on their revised mark sheet.

Note: The CBSE grading system operates on an absolute basis — grades are assigned based on marks scored, not relative performance within a cohort. Grade D (33–40) is the lowest passing grade. Students who clear the compartment exam will have their result status updated from "Compartment" to "Pass (Compartment)", and CBSE will issue a revised mark sheet reflecting the updated subject grade and overall result status.