CBSE re-evaluation opens today: 11 lakh answer scripts requested amid OSM controversy

The window for CBSE Class 12 re-evaluation has opened, and the sheer volume of students seeking a second look at their answer sheets reflects just how badly trust in the board's evaluation process has eroded.

More than four lakh students have submitted requests to view their scripts, generating over eleven lakh answer book requests in what has become one of the most contentious post-result episodes in the board's recent history. Here is the full picture of how the situation developed and where things stand today.

The numbers behind the anxiety

The official data released by CBSE lays bare the scale of student concern. A total of 4,04,319 students applied to access their answer books, resulting in 11,31,961 individual answer book requests. Of these, 8,98,214 have already been made available digitally.

Speaking to the media on May 28, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan suggested that roughly one in five students might ultimately go through with re-evaluation. However, the actual figure would only crystallise as the process advanced. A significant number of students are expected to stop after reviewing their copies, with only those who identify specific issues likely to proceed further toward verification or full re-evaluation.

ALSO READ: ‘Entire system is not wrong’: CEO of firm that handled CBSE OSM says complaints were one-of-a-kind

How the controversy began

The root cause of the unrest is CBSE's decision to introduce the On-Screen Marking system for Class 12 board evaluations this year. Under the new approach, examiners assessed digitally scanned versions of answer sheets rather than the physical papers themselves. The board positioned the change as a modernisation measure that would make the process both quicker and more accountable.

The backlash followed swiftly after the results were published. Students took to social media in large numbers, raising concerns about unexpectedly poor scores, incomplete or missing pages in their scripts, answers that appeared to have gone unassessed, poor quality scans, and a portal that repeatedly failed under load.

Screenshots began circulating of answer sheets that bore no resemblance to the work students claimed to have submitted, including documented cases where scripts were matched to the wrong students entirely. CBSE was compelled to acknowledge at least two such instances and committed to revising the marks in both cases.

Fees revised after public pressure

As criticism mounted, the board overhauled its fee structure for post-result services. Under the new rates, accessing a scanned copy of an answer sheet costs Rs 100 per subject, verifying marks carries the same charge, and re-evaluation is billed on a per-question basis. Before the revision, students were being charged Rs 700 for scanned copies, Rs 500 for mark verification, and Rs 100 per question for re-evaluation, amounts that drew considerable public ire given the simultaneous technical difficulties. CBSE also announced that the re-evaluation fee would be refunded to students whose marks go up following the review.

Steps for students applying now

Students going through the re-evaluation process must follow a structured path on the official CBSE portal. The first step is obtaining a scanned copy of the evaluated answer book. Students are then advised to go through it thoroughly, looking for answers that may not have been assessed, checking whether page totals have been correctly added up, and identifying any missing or illegible sections. Those who find irregularities can apply for mark verification, and subsequently request re-evaluation for individual questions where they believe their responses were undervalued.

One important caveat: CBSE has made clear that re-evaluation can result in a higher, lower, or unchanged score, and whatever figure emerges from the process will be treated as the definitive result.

DO CHECKOUT: 'I take responsibility': Dharmendra Pradhan on CBSE On-Screen Marking row, digital evaluation firm begs to differ

A controversy that kept widening

What began as a dispute over marks has since taken on considerably more dimensions.

The board has faced questions over the technical reliability of its systems, the transparency of the OSM process, the management of its vendors, and the handling of data security. A claim by a teenage hacker about vulnerabilities in a CBSE-linked portal circulated widely online before the board issued a clarification stating that the core evaluation system had not been breached and that the screenshots doing the rounds were from a test environment containing dummy data.

The episode also drew attention from the opposition as well. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi raised questions about the integrity of the digital marking process and the procurement arrangements behind the OSM system. CBSE pushed back against the allegations and stood by its evaluation framework.