CBSE re-evaluation portal glitches leave Class 12 students in lurch

Dubai: Class 12 students of India's Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have been dealt another blow, this time by technical glitches on the re-evaluation portal, just as hundreds of students, including Indian expats in the UAE, were attempting to dispute their results and seek a fresh review of their answer books.

Students, who were already dissatisfied with their low marks attributed to the On-Screen Marking (OSM) evaluation system, found themselves unable to even begin the re-evaluation process, hampered by repeated login failures, delayed activation of answer-sheet access links, and payment errors on the portal.

Deadline extended

CBSE extended the deadline on Tuesday night for obtaining scanned copies of evaluated answer books from May 22 to May 23, after a flood of complaints from students across India and abroad.

"Due to a technical problem encountered on the CBSE website for Post-Verification Facilities, and to ensure sufficient time for students, the last date for obtaining scanned copies of evaluated answer books has been extended," the board posted on X on Tuesday evening.

Shortly after 10am on Wednesday, CBSE posted a fresh update acknowledging that the problems had persisted.

"The online application for obtaining scanned copies of Class XII answer books is temporarily facing technical glitches," it said, adding that a team of experts was working to resolve the issue and that the portal was expected to be back online by 2pm IST (12.30pm in the UAE).

CBSE had on May 17 slashed re-evaluation fees from Rs 100 to Rs 25 per question and offered a refund if marks improve. The Board also cut the cost of obtaining scanned answer copies from Rs 700 to Rs 100, in a bid to make the grievance process more accessible.

'Please be patient'

The board on Wednesday morning urged students to remain calm and asked those seeking scanned copies specifically for re-evaluation to use the facility first once it resumed.

"Students who wish to obtain scanned copies for archival purposes will be provided the opportunity immediately after the current re-evaluation process is completed. We kindly request such students to wait until the facility is made available," CBSE added.

But for many families in the UAE, patience has been wearing thin.

Still not working

Several students and parents attempted to log in again after 12.30pm UAE time as directed, only to find the glitches unresolved.

Parents and students told Gulf News that attempts to access the site, both from the UAE and through relatives in India, continued to fail, with the portal displaying the messages: "This site can’t be reached, or the site is under updation (sic)."

Students and parents are now calling for a further extension, warning that CBSE must recognise the gravity of the situation and allow adequate time for students to complete the re-evaluation process.

'We feel so helpless'

Dubai resident Arun B, whose daughter is among those trying to apply for re-evaluation, described an exhausting ordeal spanning two days.

"Both my daughter and I have been trying to log in since yesterday morning. I managed to create a profile for her after trying until late into the night, but we still could not complete the payment. We tried until 11.30pm and started again at 4am this morning," he said.

"We feel completely helpless. Students need to access their answer books, cross-check them against the marking scheme, and ideally review them with their teachers before deciding whether to apply for re-evaluation. That process takes time, and every hour of delay makes things worse."

Arun added that even if the portal came back online later in the day, another surge in traffic would likely bring it down again.

He also pointed to the broader issue fuelling this year's unusually high volume of re-evaluation applications.

"Until last year, I believe far fewer students opted for re-evaluation. This year, applications are far higher because the OSM evaluation system appears to have caused a drastic and widespread drop in scores," he said.

University admissions at stake

Parents, including Arun, said they had already met principals and school leaders to raise concerns about the low marks achieved by students who had consistently performed well throughout their academic years.

"Our primary concern is how these marks will be factored into university admissions, particularly where institutions calculate subject-specific weightage," he said.

His daughter, he explained, had secured a strong ranking in the JEE exam for engineering in India but fell short of the 90 per cent her school had predicted.

"Parents like us are worried about how Physics, Chemistry, and Maths scores will be assessed when it comes to securing seats in good universities that are unlikely to lower their cut-off percentages. We urge CBSE to extend the deadline further so that every student who wishes to apply for re-evaluation has a genuine opportunity to do so and get better marks."

'A disaster in Maths'

Another parent, Mariam B, said her daughter's result in Mathematics had been devastating.

“She had scored 95 out of 100 in Maths in Grade 10, but her Class 12 score came in at just 58. Because of this one subject’s mark, she will be shut out of several universities we had carefully shortlisted. Her overall score is 79 per cent. She has never dropped below 90 per cent before. She was on course to score 95 per cent and apply to her first-choice institutions and even UAE golden visa," Mariam said.

The timing, she explained, had worked against UAE-based students in compounding ways. CBSE had cancelled several Class 12 exams across the UAE and neighbouring countries amid regional tensions.

According to Mariam, her daughter’s school rushed to finish the full syllabus by October and conducted model exams in the first week of November, leaving students underprepared. With the JEE scheduled for January, students then had little option but to focus on competitive exam preparation through November and December. She alleged that, despite repeated requests from parents, the school refused to hold additional tests.

When the board later allowed schools in the region to adopt an alternative assessment scheme, parents allege that the marks submitted were widely seen as failing to reflect students' true potential.

"In previous years, over 70 per cent of students in Class 12 cohort scored above 90 per cent. This year, that figure has collapsed to just 17 per cent and most of those students are from commerce and humanities, not science streams," Mariam said.

The consequences, she warned, would cast a long shadow.

"This will follow these students into campus interviews and postgraduate applications. An entire cohort's future has been put in jeopardy by decisions that were not theirs to make."

Payment woes

Practical barriers are adding yet another layer of difficulty for students based overseas: obstacles that CBSE appears not to have anticipated.

Parents told Gulf News that the portal's payment system does not accept non-Indian bank cards. Google Pay does not work from the UAE, and the one-time password required to complete transactions using Indian credit cards is sent to Indian mobile numbers.

"CBSE is well aware that students abroad will need to make payments through this portal, yet no workable solution has been provided. I told my sister in India to help me make the payment," one parent said.

Parents said the CBSE regional office in Dubai acknowledged being aware of the issue but had not offered a resolution at the time of publication.

They said re-evaluation and improvement exams are the only avenues available to affected students, and the stakes could not be higher. Yet for now, many cannot even clear the first hurdle of simply logging on.

Mariam said several students of this batch hade been chasing their dreams for over a year, but their experience had turned out to be a nightmare.

"Several students have to learn continuously without any breaks for 16 months. Typically, they would receive vacations after their March exams. But after Grade 12, soon after, they had to appear for their JEE and other college admission entrance exams. Now, CBSE has scheduled improvement exams for June 15 and July 15, meaning they would be under relentless strain for 16 months straight. This is truly the most unlucky batch. They have endured a war, the glitches of the CBSE, and countless other traumas," she added.