The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has sharply reduced the fees students need to pay for obtaining answer sheet copies, verification of marks, and re-evaluation of answers after concerns surfaced over the board’s new digital evaluation system.
The decision comes days after discussions intensified online around CBSE’s use of On-Screen Marking (OSM) for checking Class 12 board examination papers this year.
Several students and teachers had questioned whether the shift from physical checking to digital evaluation may have impacted scores, especially after the Class 12 pass percentage dropped from 88% last year to 85% this year.
However, CBSE officials have maintained that the marking scheme and moderation policy remained unchanged and that there is “no direct correlation” between OSM and the dip in results.
What are the new CBSE re-evaluation fees?
Under the revised fee structure announced by CBSE:
- Scanned copy of evaluated answer sheet: Reduced from Rs 700 to Rs 100 per subject
- Verification of marks: Reduced from Rs 500 to Rs 100
- Re-evaluation fee per question: Reduced from Rs 100 to Rs 25
The revised rates are expected to benefit lakhs of students planning to apply for verification or re-evaluation after the declaration of board results.
Students can apply for scanned answer sheets between May 19 and May 22, while applications for verification and re-evaluation can be submitted from May 26 to May 29.
Why did CBSE reduce re-evaluation fees?
The reduction comes after many students expressed concerns about marks this year, especially after the overall Class 12 pass percentage dropped from 88% last year to 85%.
Several students and teachers had questioned whether the shift to digital evaluation may have affected scoring accuracy.
CBSE re-evaluation dates announced
CBSE has announced the following schedule:
- Scanned answer sheet applications: May 19 to May 22
- Verification and re-evaluation applications: May 26 to May 29
Officials said all applications would be reviewed through the standard process.
What is CBSE’s On-Screen Marking system?
CBSE used On-Screen Marking (OSM) this year for evaluating nearly 98.6 lakh answer sheets.
Under this process:
- Physical answer sheets are scanned
- Examiners evaluate them digitally on-screen
- Marks are uploaded directly into the system
According to officials, the system helps reduce totalling mistakes, improves standardisation, and strengthens security during evaluation.
CBSE said it had first tested OSM in 2014, but infrastructure limitations at the time prevented large-scale rollout.
Did digital evaluation reduce students’ marks?
CBSE and the education ministry have denied any connection between the digital evaluation process and lower marks this year.
School education secretary Sanjay Kumar told TOI that there was “no direct correlation” between OSM and the decline in pass percentage.
“Board examination results vary every year,” he said, adding that the marking scheme and moderation policy remained unchanged.
As per TOI reports, CBSE chairperson Rahul Singh also clarified that artificial intelligence was not used to evaluate answer sheets.
“Only the mode of marking has changed,” he said.
What happened to answer sheets that could not be scanned properly?
Officials revealed that around 13,853 answer sheets had to be checked manually because the handwriting or ink used by students became unclear after scanning.
According to the board, some students used very light-coloured ink, making parts of the answer sheets illegible in scanned versions.
Those copies were separated and physically evaluated to ensure students were not disadvantaged.
(With TOI inputs)
