Every year, many students face difficulty in completing the exam in the stipulated time. So, students must use effective strategies to finish the exam on time without compromising quality. They are provided with 3 hours to complete the paper. Check out the important tips below to attempt the lengthy CBSE exam in 3 hours.
Tips to Attempt Lengthy CBSE Exam 2026
The Central Board of Secondary Education will conduct the board exams in February-March 2026. The CBSE Board exams are an integral part of students' academic journey. So, they must prepare well for the exams, remember all the instructions, and manage their time efficiently to maximise their performance.
Tips to Attempt a Lengthy CBSE Board Exam Paper
Candidates appearing for the CBSE 10th exam and the CBSE 12th exam must check out the following tips to attempt a lengthy CBSE board exam in three hours. These effective strategies will not only guide students but also help them finish the exam on time without compromising the quality of the answers.
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Students can through the CBSE previous year's question papers to check out the instructions and can quickly go through the instructions and guidelines carefully at the beginning of the starting the exam. There might be some instructions specific to a section like word limit, diagram, mapping, etc. If a student misses to read the instructions, he/she might lose valuable information and marks.
Understand the paper pattern in Advance
Students must understand the CBSE 10th exam pattern and CBSE 12th paper pattern in advance to familiarise themselves with the CBSE questions like long-answer questions, objective-type questions, and short-answer questions. Candidates must know the CBSE exam pattern structure to allocate time wisely to questions from every section. Objective-type questions will include fill-in-the-blanks, multiple-choice questions, etc.
Time management
Break down the 3 hours in minutes by catering time to every section. Time management will be critical to attempt all questions. Check out the points below -
Read the paper - Students must read the question paper thoroughly to understand the difficulty of the questions and they must plan the time accordingly.
Objective-type questions - Candidates must not take more time answering the objective-type questions as these will be easy and hardly take 15-20 minutes.
Short-answer questions - The SAQs will be of 2-4 marks mostly and students can concisely answer them within 45-60 minutes. Students can manage there based on how many questions they want to answer.
Long-answer questions - Students must plan to write the long-answer type questions and allocate time accordingly to maintain the word limit and answer quality.
Answer sheet review - After completing the exam, students should their answer sheets for errors, formatting, and other important information. They must make sure to attempt maximum answers from all sections.
Write Neatly and Avoid Overwriting
Candidates must write the CBSE exam neatly with good handwriting. The answers may look messy or evaluators may find it difficult to evaluate the answer sheet if the paper is not neat. Students should avoid overwriting the answer sheet and maintain neatness throughout the sections without any strike marks. This way, the answer sheet will look neat and students can save time.
Use Tables, Bullet Points, Flow Chart, and Diagrams
To make a better presentation in the answer sheet, students must utilise their ability to write the answers uniquely. This way they will be able to write the answers systematically. Using bullet points, flowcharts, tables, and diagrams in the answer sheet will help the exam authorities to correct the papers later. Students will score high by saving time. Subjects like science, geography, etc., will have answers to write in a different format, students must try to answer them in an organised way.
Prioritise and Try to Attempt Most of the questions
Students must begin their exam with short-answer questions with confidence. They must leave the difficult-to-answer questions later to avoid a tough situation during the exam time. Students can finish the SAQs first faster and answer the long and difficult ones later.
Important Note:
Students must attempt lengthy CBSE exams with the best time management techniques, careful planning, and good handwriting. They can follow the above tips and use techniques accordingly to answer the questions and finish the exam in 3 hours. Candidates can maximise their academic performance by using the above effective strategies.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: How many hours will be allotted to students for the CBSE board examination 2026?
A:
Students will be required to complete the CBSE Board 2026 paper in three hours. For more details, candidates can visit the official website at cbse.gov.in.
Q: When will the CBSE board exam begin?
A:
The CBSE Class 10 and 12 exams will commence in February 2026.
Q: What are the passing marks for the CBSE students studying Class 10 and Class 12?
A:
Students need to score at least 33% in the CBSE board examination to pass.
SASTRA University commonly provides concessions and scholarships based on merit in class 12 board exams and JEE Main purposes with regard to board merit you need above 95% in PCM (or on aggregate) to get bigger concessions, usually if you scored 90% and above you may get partial concessions. I suppose the exact cut offs may change yearly on application rates too.
CBSE generally forwards the marksheet for the supplementary exam to the correspondence address as identified in the supplementary exam application form. It is not sent to the address indicated in the main exam form. Addresses that differ will use the supplementary exam address.
Yes, if you’re not satisfied with your marks even after the improvement exam, many education boards allow you to reappear as a private candidate next year to improve your scores. This means you can register independently, study at your own pace, and take the exams without attending regular classes. It’s a good option to improve your results and open up more opportunities for higher studies or careers. Just make sure to check the specific rules and deadlines of your education board so you don’t miss the registration window. Keep your focus, and you will do better next time.
Yes, in the case that you appeared for the 2025 improvement exam and your roll number is different from what was on the previous year’s marksheet, the board will usually release a new migration certificate. This is because the migration certificate will reflect the most recent exam details, roll number and passing year. You can apply to get it from your board using the process prescribed by them either online or through your school/college.
5) During a trekking activity of 6km a student Ram will go to Sangam and return back up to 12 noon. He estimates that he can go to the Sangam at 1.5km/h on average, and return at half of that speed. These speeds take into account breaks and rest times. Using Ram's estimated speeds, what is the latest time he can begin his walk so that he can return by 12 noon?
(a) State the reasons for which Hershey and Chase carried out their experiments.
(b) Answer the following questions based on the experiments of Hershey and Chase :
(i) Name the different radioactive isotopes they used, and explain how they used them.
(ii) Why did they need to agitate and spin their culture ?
(iii) Write their observations and the conclusions they arrived at.
While studying the dependence of potential difference (V) across a resistor on the current (I) passing through it, in order to determine the resistance of the resistor, a student took 5 readings for different values of current and plotted a graph between V and I . He got a straight line graph passing through the origin. What does the straight line signify ? Write the method of determining resistance of the resistor using this graph.
A student holding a mirror in his hand, directed the reflecting surface of the mirror towards the Sun. He then directed the reflected light on to a sheet of paper held close to the mirror.
(a) What should he do to burn the paper ?
(b) Which type of mirror does he have ?
(c) Will he be able to determine the approximate value of focal length of this mirror from this activity ? Give reason and draw ray diagram to justify your answer in this case.
Two identical billiard balls strike a rigid wall with the same speed but at different angles, and get reflected without any change in speed, as shown in Fig. 5.6. What is (i) the direction of the force on the wall due to each ball? (ii) the ratio of the magnitudes of impulses imparted to the balls by the wall ?
A police jeep on a petrol duty on national highway was moving with a speed of 54km/hr. in the same direction. It finds a thief rushing up in a car at a rate of 126km/hr in the same direction. Police sub – inspector fired at the car of the thief with his service revolver with a muzzle speed of 100m/s. with what speed will the bullet hit the car of thief? CLASS - XI PHYSICS (Kinematics)
