Education Ministry seeks report from CBSE on re-evaluation chaos, as students allege blurred sheets, portal failures

As complaints from students and parents over CBSE’s re-evaluation process continued to mount, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday sought a detailed accountability report from the Board — flagging server downtime, payment gateway failures.

According to the news agency ANI, Pradhan has directed the concerned authorities to explain the reasons behind the technical failures, the preparedness measures that were — or were not — in place, and the accountability of the agencies managing the end-to-end re-evaluation process. For more updates on CBSE exams, rechecking, etc, check IE Education.

The current crisis has its roots in CBSE’s Class 12 results this year, declared on May 13, which were clouded almost from the moment they were declared. A significant number of students reported receiving marks that were lower than expected — a pattern that drew attention to the Board’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, introduced this year as part of a broader push toward digital evaluation.

Also Read | CBSE Class 12 results: 16% fall in students scoring 90% or above; on-screen marking in focus

When CBSE subsequently opened the window for students to access scanned copies of their evaluated answer books, the problems became impossible to ignore. Students, parents and educators have reported on social media receiving blurred, sometimes illegible scans. Others pointed to entire responses left unmarked by examiners. Many flagged what appeared to be arithmetic errors in totalling.

Read | ‘Portal working, but payment not reflecting’: CBSE Class 12th answer-book copy glitch

The post shared by CBSE stated that, as part of the post-result process for the year, more than 886 lakh answer sheets had been evaluated under the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. It mentioned that, as is customary each year, students were allowed to obtain scanned copies of their evaluated answer books, which would then be followed by verification and re-evaluation in line with the framework.

The post further explained that CBSE had a mechanism in place to handle such requests, noting that every answer script flagged for review was examined by a panel of subject experts. These experts carefully verified the records to ensure accuracy and fairness in the evaluation process, thereby giving students a fair chance to seek review if they had any concerns.

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The Board added that the response to the facility has been extremely large, with a very high number of students applying within a short span of time. “As scanned answer books are generated and made available digitally, the Board has been processing and releasing them continuously,” it added.

At the same time, the Board informed that they have received feedback from some students regarding difficulties accessing the portal during peak demand, delays in payment confirmation, and concerns after viewing scanned copies, such as blurred or missing pages, as well as doubts about the evaluation, including unmarked or incorrectly marked responses.

The Board has continuously monitored all reported issues and has taken corrective measures, including extension of timelines and necessary technical intervention. The last date for making applications has been extended by a further day to May 24. In addition, it has been informed that the portal for receiving re-evaluation requests shall remain available for two days after the last scanned copy has been dispatched by the Board.

Also Read | ‘I scored over 99 percentile in JEE Main but got below 75% in Class 12th’: Students question CBSE’s first year of On-Screen Marking

“Parents are requested to encourage students to remain calm and to rely only on official information issued by CBSE. In times like these, incomplete or misleading information can create unnecessary worry and cause anxiety,” the Board added.

Students are also advised not to make repeated payment or application attempts where confirmation is pending, as this may lead to duplication and further delay. It further urged parents and students to rely only on official updates and avoid misinformation during the post-result phase.