The CBSE 2026 board exams were comparatively tougher this year, and students are worried about whether CBSE will grant grace marks. The Central Board of Secondary Education has been providing grace marks in different scenarios every year and has a fixed passing mark criteria. Therefore, grace marks are provided only in specific situations to help students pass the exam.

However, grace marks are awarded only when a student is very close to passing marks. Sometimes, grace marks are also provided due to unusual paper difficulty. Let us clear the confusion once and for all. In this blog, we will be discussing the chances of CBSE providing grace marks in the 2026 class 10 and 12 board exams. Detailed information will be provided about the CBSE grace marks rules 2026, CBSE passing marks criteria, and how many grace marks a student can get in CBSE board exams.

CBSE Grace Marks Rules 2026 for Class 10 and 12

As per the CBSE official guidelines, Grace marks are additional marks awarded by CBSE to help students meet the minimum passing criteria in board exams. These marks are usually given in borderline cases where a student is short by 1 or 2 marks or when there are errors, ambiguous questions, or unusually difficult papers. This decision of allotting the grace marks and under what circumstances is decided on various factors. The table below provides a complete overview of the CBSE grace marks 2026 allotment. Students can go through the table below. The official notification of CBSE grace marks for class 10 and class 12 has not been released yet. The statistics mentioned below are purely derived from the past year grace marks trend analysis.

Situation	Class 10 Rule	Class 12 Rule	Grace Marks Given
Minimum passing marks	33% overall (theory + internal combined)	33% separately in theory and practicals.	No grace needed
Short by 1 mark	Grace Mark Applicable	Grace Mark Applicable	Up to 1 mark
Difficult question in the paper	Grace marks may be given to all students	Grace marks may be given to all students	Question-wise marks
Step marking in answers	Partial marks given for correct steps	Partial marks given for correct steps	Extra step marks
Marksheet display	Grace marks are included in final marks.	Grace marks are included in final marks.	Not shown separately

CBSE Grace Marks Criteria for Class 10

The passing marks criteria for CBSE Class 10 board exams are different if compared to the Class 12 exams. The CBSE class 10 paper consists of a theory paper of 80 marks and internal assessments of 20 marks. Students need to score 33% of the total marks combining the theory paper and practical exams.

• If a CBSE 10th class student needs 1 mark to pass the exam, they will be allotted a grace mark. For example, a student scored 32 marks, and 1 mark will be allotted as a grace mark to change the result to pass.

CBSE Grace Marks Criteria for Class 12

The passing marks criteria differ for the Class 12 board exams. A student has to score 33% marks in both practical assessments as well as theory paper. This means that a student will need to score 27 marks in the theory exam out of 80 marks to pass. Whereas a student has to score 6 marks in internal assessments to be considered passed. And then 33 marks total in overall to pass.

Hence, a student is eligible for grace marks if they are falling short of only one mark to clear the passing marks criteria.

What is Grace Marks?

CBSE provides the facility of awarding grace marks to students in various situations. The purpose of the grace marks facility is to help students prevent failing in case of minor setbacks. And grace marks ensure fairness in the board exams in case of unexpected difficult paper. The grace marks rule is only applicable for the theory exams and not practicals or internals. CBSE typically provides a grace mark of 01 if a student is short of 1 mark to clear the passing marks criteria.

In CBSE board exams 2026, both class 10 and 12 papers were difficult. Students are expecting to be awarded grace marks or some leniency in checking. The allotment of grace marks due to the increase in difficulty level in the Class 10 maths paper and class 12 physics paper is not yet fixed.

• Students do not need to apply for grace marks.
• It is allotted during the time of evaluation based on the CBSE guidelines, total marks, and the difficulty of the paper.
• The marks reflected in the final board exam result include the grace marks if given.
• If a grace mark is allotted, no separate mention of it will be made in the final marksheet.

How CBSE Decides Grace Marks in Board Exam 2026?

Students mostly stay confused regarding when CBSE gives grace marks and under what criteria. CBSE does not follow a specific pattern when it comes to allotting grace marks. But based on past year trends, it can be said that there are certain circumstances when CBSE gives grace marks to students of classes 10 and 12. Go through the CBSE grace marks criteria 2026 for class 10 and 12 below:

• If a student is short by 1 mark from the passing marks criteria.

For example, A student scored 32/100 marks. CBSE will allot 01 mark to pass the student.

• A student who is a borderline pass case in one subject and has passed in others will be given grace marks.

For example, a student has passed in all 4 subjects but is falling short of 1 mark in Maths to pass. They will be allotted a grace of 1 mark.

• If the question paper has any sort of error, then CBSE will allot grace marks to all students based on the error.
• If a student is falling short of a few marks to pass and has answered a question but not completely will be allotted grace marks for the partial answer mentioned.

When CBSE Does Not Give Grace Marks

Many students get confused about when CBSE gives grace marks and under what situations CBSE does not give grace marks. CBSE maintains discretion when it comes to assigning grace marks in board exams for classes 10 and 12. Hence, it cannot be said when exactly does CBSE gives grace marks. But here are the cases where a student cannot expect that CBSE will give grace marks in Class 10 and Class 12 board exams:

• The student is falling short by a larger margin in one subject.
• A student is failing in multiple subjects even though it is just 2-3 marks.
• If a student has been found to practice unfair means during the exam, they will not be allotted grace marks. Even if the student needs only 1 mark to pass.
• Grace marks are not given in practical exams.

CBSE Grace Marks Moderation Policy 2026

CBSE has a moderation policy to ensure fairness in the evaluation of the answer sheets. And in the case of any discrepancies found, students will be allotted the grace marks for it. In such a condition, all the students who have appeared for the exam will be allotted the grace marks. However, the moderation policy is applied only under the following conditions given by the CBSE:

• A grace mark is given if any question is found to be ambiguous, has an error, or is incorrect.
• Students can get grace marks if a question is found to be unusually lengthy and does not fit the time limit given during the exam.
• Moderation marks can be allocated if different examiners evaluate an answer and there is a difference due to subjectivity. To ensure fairness, grace marks might be allotted.
• If the overall difficulty of the board exams was observed to exceed past year trends, CBSE will allot grace marks to maintain balance.

CBSE Passing Marks Criteria | Class 10 & Class 12 (Subject-Wise)

The Central Board of Education has a fixed passing marks criteria for Class 10 and Class 12 board exams. The passing marks percentage is 33% for both classes 10 and 12. Below is detailed information about the CBSE passing marks criteria. Students who will fail to score 33% can either sit for improvement or compartment exams. Students can also go for the re-evaluation process. Whereas if a student has failed to score 33% in more than 2 subjects, they will be considered as failed and not be eligible for compartment exams. Hence, they will have to repeat the year.

CBSE Class 10 Passing Marks Criteria

The class 10 CBSE 2026 passing marks criteria is scoring 33% in the theory paper and an overall score as well. Check the subject-wise passing marks criteria for CBSE board exams 2026 below:

Subject	Total Theory Marks	Internal Assessment Total Marks	Minimum Marks to Pass
English	80	20	33 out of 100
Hindi	80	20	33 out of 100
Mathematics	80	20	33 out of 100
Science	80	20	33 out of 100
Social Science	80	20	33 out of 100

CBSE Class 12 Passing Marks Criteria – Science Stream

Check the passing marks criteria for CBSE class 12 science stream board exams 2026 in the table below for both theory and practical exams:

Subject	Theory Marks	Practical Marks	Minimum Marks to Pass
Physics	70	30	23 in theory and 10 in practicals.
Chemistry	70	30	23 in theory and 10 in practicals.
Biology	70	30	23 in theory and 10 in practicals.
Mathematics	80	20 (Internal Assessment)	33 out of 100 overall
English	80	20 (Internal Assessment)	33 out of 100 overall

CBSE Class 12 Passing Marks Criteria – Commerce Stream

Check the passing marks criteria for CBSE class 12 commerce stream board exams 2026 in the table below for both theory and practical exams:

Subject	Theory Marks	Practical / Project	Minimum Marks to Pass
Accountancy	80	20 (Project)	33 out of 100 overall
Business Studies	80	20 (Project)	33 out of 100 overall
Economics	80	20 (Project)	33 out of 100 overall
Mathematics / Applied Mathematics	80	20 (Internal Assessment)	33 out of 100 overall
English	80	20 (Internal Assessment)	33 out of 100 overall

CBSE Class 12 Passing Marks Criteria -Arts/Humanities Stream

Check the passing marks criteria for CBSE class 12 arts/ humanities board exams 2026 in the table below for both theory and practical exams:

Subject	Theory Marks	Practical / Project	Minimum Marks to Pass
History	80	20 (Project)	33 out of 100 overall.
Political Science	80	20 (Project)	33 out of 100 overall.
Geography	70	30 (Practical)	23 in theory and 10 in practicals.
Psychology	70	30 (Practical)	23 in theory and 10 in practicals.
English	80	20 (Internal Assessment)	33 out of 100 overall.

Benefits of the CBSE Grace Marks Policy

The grace marks policy or moderation marks allotted by CBSE is definitely a benefit for students. The policy was created with the idea that students should not lose a year just because they are falling short of 1 mark to pass the board exams.

Benefit	What It Means for Students
Helps borderline students pass	Students who miss passing marks by 1 mark may still clear the subject.
Prevents loss of an academic year	Students do not have to repeat the entire class because of a very small mark gap.
Ensures fair results	Grace marks help compensate for difficult or confusing questions in the paper.
Supports student confidence	Students avoid failing due to minor mistakes or evaluation differences.
Maintains fairness in evaluation	Helps balance differences in checking across examiners and centres.

Conclusion 

The confusion about whether CBSE allots grace marks or not ends now. CBSE does give grace marks, but only when the situation is valid, just to ensure fairness in the board exam results. If a student meets those criteria and conditions, they will be awarded the grace marks.

CBSE provides the facility of giving grace marks to help students avoid repeating a year again if they are short of only a few marks to pass. Hence, students can be relieved as the grace marks system ensures that students are fairly evaluated and given the benefit of passing the exams when they are falling short of marks. Apart from this, CBSE also provides the facility of CBSE supplementary exams for class 10 and 12 to avoid repeating a year.

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