All You Need to Know About the CBSE X Exam 2020
- Updated on 15 Aug 2020
- CBSE Board
- orchidadmin
- 9 mins read

Introduction
CBSE X Exam 2020
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has officially released the date sheet for the X board examination. CBSE has announced the dates exactly two months before the exam starts to help students plan and prepare better. As far as the CBSE exam pattern for class 10, 2020 is concerned, with a specific timetable and disciplined approach, things will be much easier.
This blog is to help you get comprehensive details of the upcoming exam.
CBSE X Exam 2020: Notification
The Central Board of Secondary Education, which conducts the Class X board exam, has announced the dates for the exam. The exam will start on February 15, 2020, and end on March 20, 2020. Lakhs of students from across India and thousands more studying at CBSE schools outside the country or preparing privately will be eligible for the 2020 exam. The exam will be a pen and paper-based.
Important points to remember for the CBSE X board 2020 exam:
- Read the public notice issued by the CBSE X Exam 2020 to get some idea about the exam.
- Please download and save the date sheet as it will help you prepare better for the exam. The CBSE X time table 2020 mentions the exam dates for all subjects, timings as well as instructions that need to be followed on the exam days.
- Go through the CBSE class X syllabus to get the detailed subject-wise syllabus.
- Regular students will get the admit card from their respective schools.
- The practical exams will be held conducted from January 1, 2020, to February 7, 2020.
- CBSE 10th Exam 2020 results will be available on www.cbseresults.nic.in
CBSE X Exam 2020: Latest Update

The syllabus for the upcoming exam will be based on CBSE syllabus and not NCERT textbooks as was the practice earlier. The board released an official notification to this effect due to confusion among students regarding the syllabus. The board has also clarified that students need to refer to only CBSE books for the upcoming exam. It has also said that the question paper will be set according to the CBSE syllabus.
CBSE X Exam 2020: Overview
The CBSE X Exam 2020 will seal the fate of over 16 lakh students and based on the marks, students can choose their academic stream for Class 11 and 12.
Particulars | Overview of CBSE X Exam 2020 |
Full Name | CBSE X Exam 2020 |
Conducting Authority | Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi |
Exam Start Date | Saturday, February 15, 2020 |
Exam End Date | Friday, March 20, 2020 |
Exam Level | Matriculation |
Frequency | Annual |
Duration | 3 Hours |
Mode | Offline (Pen and Paper Based) |
Syllabus | As per CBSE syllabus |
Result Announcing Date | 1st Week of May 2020 |
Website | www.cbse.nic.in |
CBSE X Exam 2020: Eligibility and Registration

Students in their 10th standard studying in regular schools are eligible to write the exam. Only regular students that have cleared their 9th standard from a recognised school and who have studied 10th standard in a CBSE-registered school will be allowed to write the upcoming exam. To be eligible you must have obtained the required pre-exam pass percentage as well as attendance.
To write the CBSE Class X 2020 exam as a private candidate you must fulfill ONE OF THESE below conditions:
1. You have failed your class 10th state board exam OR
2. One or both of your parents work as teachers in schools affiliated to CBSE OR
3. You are physically challenged. To register for the exam, you have to provide proof of having difficulty in attending regular schools.
Private candidates who have registered on or before September 30, 2019, only are eligible to write the exam.
CBSE X Exam 2020: Exam Date Sheet

The CBSE X exam date sheet is available on the official website. However, for your convenience, we have reproduced the schedule here. Please compare this date sheet with the one given by your school.
Date, Day, Time | Subject | Code |
Saturday, February 15, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 12.30 pm | Retailing | 401 |
Security | 403 | |
Automotive | 404 | |
Introduction to Financial Markets | 405 | |
Introduction to Tourism | 406 | |
Beauty and Wellness | 407 | |
Agriculture | 408 | |
Food Production | 409 | |
Front Office Operations | 410 | |
Banking and Insurance | 411 | |
Healthcare | 413 | |
Apparel | 414 | |
Media | 415 | |
Multi Skill Foundation Course | 416 | |
Monday, February 17, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 1.30 pm | Home Science | 064 |
National Cadet Corps | 076 | |
10.30 am to 12.30 pm | E-Publishing and E-Office | 354 |
Thursday, February 20, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 12.30 pm | Information Technology | 402 |
Marketing and Sales | 412 | |
Saturday, February 22, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 1.30 pm | Kannada | 015 |
Arabic | 016 | |
French | 018 | |
German | 020 | |
Japanese | 094 | |
Gurung | 132 | |
Monday, February 24, 2020 10.30 am to 1.30 pm | ||
Urdu Course A | 003 | |
Punjabi | 004 | |
Bengali | 005 | |
Tamil | 006 | |
Telugu | 007 | |
Sindhi | 008 | |
Marathi | 009 | |
Gujarati | 010 | |
Manipuri | 011 | |
Malayalam | 012 | |
Odia | 013 | |
Assamese | 014 | |
Tibetan | 017 | |
Russian | 021 | |
Persian | 023 | |
Nepali | 024 | |
Limboo | 025 | |
Lepcha | 026 | |
Telugu- Telangana | 089 | |
Bodo | 092 | |
Tangkhul | 093 | |
Bhutia | 095 | |
Spanish | 096 | |
Kashmiri | 097 | |
Mizo | 098 | |
Bahasa- Melayu | 099 | |
Rai | 131 | |
Tamang | 133 | |
Sherpa | 134 | |
Thai | 136 | |
Urdu Course-B | 303 | |
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 1.30 pm | English Communication | 101 |
English Language and Literature | 184 | |
Friday, February 28, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 1.30 pm | Elem Book-K and Accountancy | 254 |
Saturday, February 29, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 1.30 pm | Hindi Course-A | 002 |
Hindi Course-B | 085 | |
Monday, March 02, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 12.30 pm | Carnatic Music Vocal | 031 |
Carnatic Music (Mel Ins) | 032 | |
Carnatic Music (Percussion) | 033 | |
Hindustani Music (Vocal) | 034 | |
Hindustani Music (Mel Ins) | 035 | |
Hindustani Music Percussion Instrument | 036 | |
Wednesday, March 04, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 1.30 pm | Science Theory | 086 |
Science Without Practical | 090 | |
Friday, March 06, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 1.30 pm | Elem. of Business | 154 |
Saturday, March 07, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 1.30 pm | Sanskrit | 122 |
Thursday, March 12, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 1.30 pm | Mathematics Standard | 041 |
Mathematics Basic | 241 | |
Saturday, March 14, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 12.30 pm | Painting | 049 |
Wednesday, March 18, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 1.30 pm | Social Science | 087 |
Friday, March 20, 2020 | ||
10.30 am to 1 pm | Information and Communication Technology | 166 |
10.30 am to 12.30 pm | Computer Applications | 165 |
CBSE X Exam 2020: On the day of the Exam
CBSE has announced a list of guidelines that students need to follow on the day of the exam. The exam will be for 3 hours for the most part and will start at 10.30 am exactly on all days.
Entry for CBSE X Exam 2020

Students must reach the examination centre before 10 am. Examination gates will close at exactly 10 am and no students will be allowed inside under any circumstances after that. This rule is applicable across the country.
Admit Card for CBSE X Exam 2020
All students must strictly carry their admit card and school ID card with them on the days of the exam. Students will not be allowed into the exam centre without these documents. The admit card must be signed by parents/guardians. You can also carry government ID cards like Aadhar card with you. Although it’s not an essential document, keep this handy just in case you are asked to produce one.
Stationery during CBSE X Exam 2020
The stationary permitted in the exam hall are pens, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, geometry box, rulers and other stationery as permitted by the board. The stationery must be carried in a transparent pouch. You can only use blue or black pens. You cannot use whiteners. Carry extra pens with you as borrowing pens are not allowed in the exam hall.
Food and medicine during CBSE X Exam 2020
Students with diabetes and any other illnesses can carry essential food or medicines with them to the exam hall. The permitted foods and medicines are diabetic or other medicines, chocolates, candies, fruits, sandwiches, and water (500 ml in clear and transparent bottle only). Students must let the invigilator know about their health condition before settling down in their designated seats in order to get the permission.
Wallet/Bags/Purses during CBSE X Exam 2020
During CBSE X Exam 2020, students are allowed to carry wallets/bags/purses with them to the exam centre; however, they will have to deposit these with the invigilator as these are not allowed in the exam hall. Non-compliance with this will led to a student being penalized. Remember one thing- not all exam centres may be equipped to store wallets, bags, or purses, so it’s better to leave these at home.
Phones and calculators during CBSE X Exam 2020
During CBSE X Exam 2020, students should not carry any electronic devices like phones or calculators with them on the day of exams as these are not allowed. Keep in mind that the exam centre might not be equipped to keep your devices in safe custody so it’s better to keep these at home.
Watch
You can only wear an analog watch. Digital or smartwatches are not allowed. All classrooms are equipped with clocks to help you manage time.
At the Exam Centre CBSE X Exam 2020
As soon as you reach the exam centre, check and go to the room designated to you. The invigilator will give you the answer books between 10 am and 10.15 am. Please fill all the details asked in the answer book. Do not write anything else. After you have finished writing the details, the assistant superintendent will check and sign the answer book.
The invigilator will give you the question paper at 10.15 am. As per the CBSE board rules, you can read the question paper from 10.15 am to 10.30 am in order to give you time to strategise and plan. You can start writing the answer only at 10.30. The question paper will have the time mentioned on it. As soon as the exam time is up, the invigilator will ask you to stop and will take away the answer books from you. You will not get extra time.
Uniform for CBSE X Exam 2020
CBSE has made it mandatory for students to appear for exams in school uniforms. Regular students may be barred from writing the exam if they don’t go to the exam centre in uniforms. However, no such rule is applicable to private students.
CBSE X Exam 2020: Admit Card
During CBSE X Exam 2020, students studying in regular schools will get their admit cards from their schools, private candidates will have to download the admit card from the official website after the last week of January 2020. To download the admit card, you will have to enter details like application number, previous year’s roll number or your name.
The admit card will contain details like your name, roll number, admit card ID, date of birth, exam date, and exam centre name and address, name of the examination, subjects and the codes for which the student is appearing, and other important instructions.
If you find a discrepancy in any data, please get in touch with your school authorities at the earliest.
If you lose the admit card, you can download a duplicate copy from the official website.
CBSE X Exam 2020: Results
CBSE will declare the CBSE X Exam 2020 results in the first week of May 2020. The results will be available on its official website and will available only online. You can also check the results on a dedicated government result website. To check the results, you’ll have to enter details like your admit card number, roll number, school centre number along with the date of birth. The results will also be available through SMS and IVRS.
To get results through IVRS, you need to dial XXXXX (your city or town code) 24300699. This call will be charged at 30 paise per minute.
To get the result through text message, students need to send a text message by following these steps: type “cbse10 (space) your roll number (space) date of birth (space) school number (space) centre number” and send message to 7738299899.
For example type cbse10 XXXXXXX (your role number) date of birth (DDMMYYYY) XXXX (school number) XXXX (centre number). Send a message in this format to 7738299899. You will instantly get your result via SMS with the list of subjects and marks scored.
CBSE has tied up with Microsoft to enable students to get messages on their phones through SMS. To get results through SMS, you will have to download and install the SMS Organizer app by Microsoft. This official Microsoft link gives you step by step details on how to get results through SMS.
Besides the official website, several other portals will give you the option of checking the results.
The results that will be declared in May will be provisional and will include subject-wise marks, grades as well as pass or fail status. The marks card hardcopy will be available in the schools a few days after the results are announced. Based on the class X results, you will be able to choose the right stream for classes XI and XII in CBSE or study at other state-level boards.
Re-evaluation
If you are unhappy with your marks, CBSE gives you the option of getting your marks re-evaluated or rechecked. The process is simple. Get in touch with your school and raise a request for re-evaluation, pay the required fees and you are all set. The results will be released between early and mid-June 2020 and will be available through Digilocker, just in time for the +2 or pre-university admission.
Question Paper Pattern
The CBSE has introduced certain changes in the examination pattern for the upcoming exam. The changes include reduced number of overall questions and subjective questions. There is an increase in the number of objective type questions. They have also introduced an internal assessment in all subjects.
According to CBSE, the changes have been done to discourage rote learning and to develop critical thinking and reasoning abilities of students.
As per CBSE, 25% of questions in all subjects will be objective type and internal assessment will account for 20% marks in subjects that do not have a practical assessment.
CBSE has released new question paper pattern and marking scheme to help students get an idea of how the upcoming exam will look like.
Each exam paper will be for 100 marks and this will be further subdivided into two parts:
Annual Exam | 80 Marks |
Internal Assessment | 20 Marks |
Internal assessment includes periodic tests (10 marks each), notebook submission (5 marks), and subject activities (5 marks). Over the entire academic year, three periodic tests will be conducted and the average of the top two marks will be considered for the final tally.
Conclusion

We have covered most questions that you may have for the CBSE X exam 2020. CBSE is one of the largest examinations in the world and is also one of the easiest. The board makes regular changes to the exam pattern to help reduce the stress on the students.
This blog is in a way to help you get complete information about the exam and help you prepare better.
We wish you all the best for the exams.
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