CBSE issues detailed guidelines on three-language policy under NEP 2020; no board exam for R3 — here's all you need to know

The Central Board of Secondary Education CBSE has issued comprehensive guidelines clarifying the implementation of the ThreeLanguage Scheme from the academic session 202627 emphasising that the third language R3 will be evaluated exclusively through schoolbased internal assessments There will be no CBSE Board examination for the third languageStudents who do not clear the third language while in Class 9 will still be promoted to Class 10 but must qualify it during Class 10 to receive the CBSE Secondary School Examination Pass Certificate Schools will provide a reassessment opportunity before the declaration of Class 10 resultsCBSE says that the Third language under CBSE R3 will be assessed only through internal schoolbased exams There will be no CBSE board exam for R3 this year Board says that students who donrsquot clear R3 will still be promoted to Class 10 but must clear it while in Class 10hellip pictwittercom2WYdEBfbYVmdash ANI ANI July 14 2026In its circular dated July 10 addressed to heads of all CBSEaffiliated schools the board outlined measures for the phased implementation of the policy in line with the National Education Policy NEP 2020 The policy aims to promote multilingualism by ensuring students learn three languages with at least two being Bhartiya Bhashas native Indian languages while making language learning meaningful engaging and balancedNo change for Class 10 students in 202627CBSE has clarified that there will be no change for students studying in Class 10 during the academic session 202627 They will continue with the existing twolanguage system and no third language is required for this batchThreelanguage requirement for Class 9Every student entering Class 9 in the academic session 202627 will study three languages Of these at least two must be Bhartiya Bhashas Examples include Hindi Sanskrit Tamil Telugu Kannada Malayalam Marathi Bengali Punjabi Gujarati Odia and Assamese Nonnative languages such as English French German Arabic and Spanish may be chosen as the third language R3 provided the other two are Bhartiya BhashasTo clarify the language combinations the circular provides the following scenariosStudents already studying two Bhartiya Bhashas may choose either another Bhartiya Bhasha or a nonnative language as the third languageStudents studying one Bhartiya Bhasha and one nonnative language must choose a Bhartiya Bhasha as their third languageAs a onetime relaxation for the 202627 academic session students studying two nonnative languages may continue with those languages and add one Bhartiya Bhasha as the third languageAssessment promotion and certificationThe third language R3 will be assessed only through an internal schoolbased assessment There will be no CBSE Board examination for R3 when this batch progresses to Class 10Students who do not qualify in R3 while studying in Class 9 will still be promoted to Class 10 However they must clear the schoolbased assessment during Class 10 to be eligible for the CBSE Secondary School Examination Pass CertificateStudents who fail to qualify in R3 during Class 10 will be given a reassessment opportunity by their schools before the declaration of Class 10 resultsCBSE has also clarified that students entering Class 9 in 202627 will continue studying the same three languages they had studied in Class 8 with one of them designated as the third language R3Provisions for lower classes and exemptionsFor students currently in Classes 7 and 8 during the 202627 academic session a transitional relaxation has been provided Those who had already opted for two nonnative languages will need to add one Bhartiya Bhasha and continue with the same language combination until Class 10For students currently in Class 6 and all subsequent batches two of the three languages studied must be Bhartiya Bhashas When these students reach Class 10 they too will not have a CBSE Board examination for the third languageDedicated R3 textbooks for Class 6 in 22 scheduled Bhartiya Bhashas are being made available on the NCERT websiteThe circular also provides exemptions for Children with Special Needs CwSN in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities RPwD Act 2016 students studying in CBSE schools outside India foreign students returning to India and students whose parents or guardians migrate to another state allowing them to continue with their existing language combinations subject to school provisionsSupport measures for schoolsCBSE said schools will receive support through flexible staffing arrangements including the use of existing teachers retired teachers postgraduate teachers interschool sharing through Sahodaya clusters and virtual or hybrid teaching wherever requiredThe board has released the Class 9 R3 Language Assessment Framework on cbseacademicnicin while NCERT has started making R3 Language Learning Resources available on ncertnicin Schools offering languages other than the 22 scheduled languages may continue using ageappropriate SCERT or statelevel learning material as has been the practiceReiterating that the objective of the policy is to promote meaningful language learning rather than increase examination burden CBSE urged schools to communicate the new provisions effectively to teachers students and parents highlighting the longterm benefits of multilingual proficiency and cultural rootednessFor further clarifications schools may contact the CBSE at cg2627cbsegovin