Datanomics: Four little-known facets of the CBSE examination system

Delhi High Court's scrutiny of CBSE's on-screen marking system raises questions about exam transparency, digital infrastructure and resource allocation amid record student volumes

The Delhi High Court has sought responses from the central government and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) regarding alleged irregularities in the on-screen marking (OSM) system. This controversy underscores deeper structural issues within the Indian education system. In 2026, India witnessed a decade-high turnout for board examinations, with the combined number of Class X and Class XII candidates surging from 2.3 million in 2014 to 4.2 million. Historically, this candidate pool is split roughly 60:40 between Class X and Class XII. Alongside this massive expansion in student volume, CBSE’s annual income grew exponentially from ₹405 crore in 2014-15 (FY15) to ₹1,966 crore in FY25. Nearly half of this revenue is generated directly from conducting secondary and senior secondary examinations. Despite this substantial influx of funds, the Board's expenditure on information technology (IT) infrastructure, specifically computers and software, remains a mere 1-2 per cent of its budget, with the vast majority of its financial resources allocated towards examiner remuneration.