For the first time this year, CBSE got the 12th board copies checked through On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. When the results came, there was an uproar. Students made allegations of missing copies, reducing marks and rigging the system. Then one after another there were such revelations that everyone’s eyes were left wide eyed. The rules of the tender were changed thrice, the contract was given to a controversial company, the portal was hacked and a 17 year old student presented the entire letter in the Parliament. So let us know the journey till now in this case till scam, hacking and politics…

What is OSM and why was it started?

OSM i.e. On Screen Marking is a digital evaluation system. In this, the physical copy of the student is scanned, it is uploaded on the computer screen and then the teacher checks it on the screen itself. The software itself calculates the total. Boards like Cambridge, IB and Pearson are already using it. CBSE first tested it on a pilot basis, then implemented it on a full scale in the 2025-26 session.

According to the board, this system is student-centric and globally accepted. Its objectives were to reduce teacher fatigue and bias, to bring transparency and to bring results quickly.

So what went wrong and what are the allegations of the students?

CBSE released the 12th result on 13 May 2026. This time the passing percentage was 85.20%. But as soon as the results came, students started complaining. The charges were:

• The scanned copies were blurry, due to which the marks were cut off.
• Pages of the copy were missing or numbers were not found even though the answers were correct.
• The biggest complaint was that there was no match between the digital copy and the actual copy.
• In the old system, teachers used to give extra marks for efforts. In OSM, marks were given strictly according to the marking scheme only, hence the marks appeared less.
• OSM is strict, but students were at a disadvantage compared to the old system.

Tender controversy: Was the contract fixed in advance?

This is where the real fire started. Hyderabad-based company Coempt EduTeck got this contract on 5 December 2025. Student Sarthak Siddhant made shocking claims:

CBES changed the tender rules thrice to favor Koempt. Let us understand how:

What changes took place in the tender?

1. Blacklisting clause removed: There was a strict provision in the original tender of August 2025 that if the vendor made a mistake, it could be blacklisted. Later this clause was removed. CBSE said that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had requested to remove this condition.
2. Eligibility criteria changed: It is alleged that the terms and conditions of the tender were adapted to allow for the exemption of big companies like Reliance Jio and TCS.
3. Koempt undercuts TCS by 60%: TCS had bid Rs 951.3 crore, while Quompt won the contract for 60% less i.e. about Rs 380 crore.
4. Koempt was formerly known as ‘Globarena’: The biggest revelation was that the same company was earlier known as Globarena Technologies, which had committed a big scam in the Telangana Board examinations in 2019 and 2023. Now the same company changed its name and got the contract of CBSE.
5. Implemented in just 66 days: The company took the contract on December 5 and within just 66 days, OSM was implemented across the country for board exams from February 17. It is difficult to test the system properly in such a hurry.

‘Student reached Parliament’: What did Sarthak Siddhant reveal?

The turning point of this entire matter was the 17 years’ meaningful principle reaching Parliament. He himself was a victim of OSM. This was the first time that a student was called to present his views on any matter. She gave a 7-page presentation before the Parliament Standing Committee (Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports), which was headed by Congress MP Digvijay Singh. 15 major flaws were counted. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met him and assured him of full support.

Cyber ​​security ‘game’: How students shook the CBSE system?

While there were allegations of scam in the tender, a 19-year-old ethical hacker named Nisarg Adhikari exposed the OSM portal. Nisarg claimed that with just basic technical knowledge, he could bypass OTP verification, become an examiner and change the numbers of students.

The AWS bucket (cloud storage) associated with CBSE was not properly configured, allowing anyone on the internet to download the scanned copies. Data of many organizations was also stored in this bucket. Nisarg said, ‘It was a child’s play.’

After this hacking claim, when CBSE launched the ‘Re-evaluation Portal’, it got cyber attacked on the same day i.e. on 2 June 2026. According to CBSE, there were 15 lakh hits in 2 minutes and more than 1 lakh attempts were made to access system files without permission. This was a denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.

Opposition’s attack: ‘This is a fraud, remove the Education Minister’

The opposition (especially Congress) has opened a fierce front in this matter…

• Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the transfer of CBSE Chairman-Secretary is just a fraud.
• Rahul Gandhi said, ‘The 17-year-old boy exposed how the entire system was sleeping.’ He demanded that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan be immediately removed and an independent investigation be conducted.
• Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the vendors were protected by changing the terms of the tender.
• Kapil Sibal demanded that an investigation be conducted in this matter by CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED). He said, ‘Blame the small fish, save the big fish.’
• Opposition parties allege that this is a ‘cover-up’ operation.

What has the government done till now?

The government finally took a big step:

• CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta were transferred.
• In his place, senior IAS Lokhande Prashant Sitaram was made the new chairman and Varun Bhardwaj was made the secretary.
• A one-member committee was formed to examine the tender and procurement process of OSM service.
• Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also took responsibility and said, ‘I take responsibility for this… will not leave the complaint of any student unresolved.’
• The government said that strict punitive action will be taken against the culprits.

Students’ problems and re-evaluation portal

• After the result, students complained that payment was failing on the re-evaluation portal and there was a delay in verification.
• The board said that it will review all genuine complaints related to scanned copies or marking.
• Cyber ​​attack on this portal increased the problem.

What will happen next in this whole matter?

• The investigation committee will prepare its report. It remains to be seen whether the allegations are proved true or not.
• Action may be taken against Koempt Edutech company. The board has indicated that action can be taken against this vendor.
• The opposition’s pressure on Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is increasing. In view of the upcoming elections, this can become a big headache for the government.
• The demand for a CBI investigation into the entire matter has intensified.

Is this a big scam like NEET?

CBSE OSM controversy is reminiscent of the NEET-UG paper leak case. Lakhs of students were affected there too. But there are two new twists in this case:

• Allegedly missing copies, giving less marks and rigging the system in the name of on-screen marking.
• Removing big companies from the tender and awarding the contract to a company which was already accused of scam.
• The government removed top officials and ordered an investigation, but the opposition and students are calling it an attempt to save the big fish.

Now it remains to be seen what the inquiry committee comes out and whether transparency can be restored in an educational institution like CBSE or not.

Education Loan Information:
Calculate Education Loan EMI

CBSE Class 12 results 2026 have been completely different from previous years in many ways. A total of 94,028 students have scored more than 90% marks. At the same time, 17,113 children scored more than 95% marks. The board conducted many big experiments this year, the effect of which is clearly visible everywhere from the checking process to the result numbers. Let us understand how good these changes have been and how bad they have been…

What was different and better this time?

1. ‘Touchless-Dust’ Digital Checking: On-Screen Marking (OSM)

In 2026, the method of checking 12th answer sheets (copies) changed completely. For the first time, the ‘On-Screen Marking’ (OSM) system was implemented, which the controller of examinations himself named ‘No Touch, No Dust – Clean Evaluation’.

• What used to happen earlier: Teachers would physically carry bundles of copies, turn pages and make additions and subtractions manually.
• Now what happened: Students took the exam using pen and paper only, but all the copies were first scanned and uploaded on the central server. Then the teachers did not get the bundle of any one school, instead they logged in on their computers and kept checking the scanned copies of different schools one by one.
• Advantages: Its biggest advantage was that the problem of addition-subtraction mistakes and missing any answer was almost eliminated. The entire process became faster and more reliable than before, as there was no need to collect, carry and store piles of papers.

2. Results will come soon and copy will also be available soon

Due to the new digital system, the wait for results also reduced. Whereas earlier it used to take about 60 days to examine the copies, thanks to OSM, this time the target was set to complete it in just 8-9 days. The result of this is that the 12th result was released on May 13 itself. Also, transparency in the system has increased to such an extent that students can order and view the scanned copy of their checked copy online.

3. This time numbers were not distributed randomly (effect of less moderation)

This was perhaps the biggest and most controversial change, whose impact was directly visible on the results. In the last few years, it has been alleged that CBSE is increasing ‘Marks Inflation’ by giving more marks than required under the moderation policy. For this reason, a huge increase of 247% was recorded in the last 10 years in the number of students scoring more than 95% marks in 2025.

This time, the Board implemented its rules of moderation and granting of grace marks very strictly to check ‘inflation’. Grace marks were given only to those students who were missing 1-2 marks from the 33% passing marks, or whose question paper had a proven mistake. The direct effect of this strictness was that this time more than 94,000 students scored above 90% marks, which is about 21,000 more.

What is the worrying aspect of the result this time?

1. Big drop in passing percentage and top scorers

The biggest blow to strict checking and limited moderation has been on the pass percentage and the number of top scorers.

• 12th pass percentage: It was only 85.20% in 2026, which is a big decline of 3.19% compared to last year (88.39%).
• Those who scored more than 95%: While last year 24,867 students had secured more than 95% marks, this time the figure fell to only 17,113. This decline clearly shows how strictly the Board has banned the policy of ‘number distribution’.
• Girls’ performance: Although girls are still better than boys, their pass percentage also fell to 88.86% from 91.64% last time.

2. Digital checking has its own initial problems

While OSM is the way of the future, its introduction also faced many technical hurdles. For many teachers, checking copies on the screen for hours was a difficult task. During the investigation, complaints like the scanned copies being blurred and the server running slow came to light at some places.

3. Maths and Physics papers increased the difficulties of students

This time the examination was difficult for the students because some papers were quite challenging. Especially in the 10th Maths and 12th Maths papers, there was a lot of difference in the level of difficulty of different sets. Some sets were so difficult that they were compared to competitive exams like JEE, due to which a teacher even filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in this matter.

4. Noise of false news and fake website of ‘Grace Marks’

To take advantage of the chaos at the time of results, various kinds of rumors were spread on social media. At many places it was claimed that all the students would get 25-25 marks for free. CBSE had to clarify that grace marks are only for those students who have missed passing by 1-2 marks. Besides, fake result links also went viral. In such a situation, it was a big challenge for the board to make the students aware.

So overall, the CBSE 2026 results have proved to be a strong step towards curbing ‘inflation of numbers’ and digital transparency. This change has increased the ‘real value’ of marks, but its impact was also clearly visible in the form of decline in passing percentage and the number of top scorers. This is the beginning of a reform, but it is equally important to understand the technical challenges associated with it and the mental pressure of the students.

Education Loan Information:
Calculate Education Loan EMI

Cbse 12th Result 2026: The wait for the results of CBSE 12th Board Exam 2026 has now reached the final stage. More than 18 lakh students are eagerly waiting for their results, because this result will play an important role in deciding the direction of their college admission and career. The board has not yet announced the official date for the result, but based on the trend of the last few years and current updates, there is every possibility of the result being released in the second or third week of May.

When can 12th board result be released?

This year CBSE 12th examinations were held between 17 February to 10 April 2026. After this, the work of evaluation of copies started in a step wise manner. According to the report, the result can be released between May 10 and 15. If we look at the pattern of previous years, the results in 2025 and 2024 were declared on 13 May, whereas in 2023 the results were declared on 12 May. On this basis, this time too the results are expected to come by mid-May. However, in some updates, the possibility of results being released even by the third week has been expressed.

How is the marksheet prepared?

The process of preparing CBSE marksheet has become completely digital. After checking the copies at the evaluation centres, the examiners upload the marks directly into the digital system. The board is using technologies like real time data entry and on screen marking, which reduces the chances of error and makes the process faster. After this, moderation policy is implemented, so that the difficulty level of different question paper sets can be balanced. If the paper on any set is more difficult then adjustments in marks can be made accordingly, so that injustice is not done to any student.

Also read- Recruitment from Junior Executive to Associate Executive in BPCL, apply before May 17

Grace marks and rechecking

The board also provides relief to those students who are failing by one or two marks. In such cases, grace marks can be given as per internal policy. Apart from this, random re-checking is also done in some copies, so that the quality of evaluation can be ensured. At the same time, in the final marksheet, not only the theory marks are included, but the marks of internal assessment and practicals sent by the schools are also added.

How to check result?

• After the release of the results, students first go to the official website results.cbse.nic.in.
• After this click on CBSE Class 12 Result 2026.
• Now fill roll number, school number, admit card ID and date of birth.
• At last, after clicking on OK, the result will be shown.
• Students who do not have internet facility can also check their results through SMS or IVRS.
• Apart from this, digital marksheet can also be downloaded through DigiLocker and Umang app.

Also read-Who was the first chairman of ISRO, how much salary did he get for this post?

Education Loan Information:
Calculate Education Loan EMI