Full Breakdown
CBSE’s On-Screen Marking System Faces Scrutiny Over Grade-12 Results
5/29/2026, 5:26:01 AM
Digital Evaluation Errors Prompt Nationwide Concern
OSM scans answer sheets, uploads them and calculates marks. Within days of Grade-12 results, dozens of students reported mismatches between original papers and scanned copies, citing blurry images, missing pages, incorrect markings or swapped sheets, prompting a wave of queries to CBSE.
Timeline and Scale of the Issue
After CBSE released Grade-12 results, a student’s viral X post highlighted a mismatched physics paper. Within days, over 400,000 students requested scanned copies and 1.1 million asked for physical copies. On Thursday, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan acknowledged “some discrepancies” and pledged a solution. The following day, CBSE announced a team of technology experts to assist re-evaluation. Ethical hacker Nisarga Adhikary claimed access to evaluator accounts and identified six to seven security flaws, which CBSE dismissed as a test-site issue.
Official Statements & Responses
CBSE reaffirmed its commitment to a fair, transparent evaluation and said all genuine concerns would be reviewed by experts. It maintained the flagged URL was a testing site with no real evaluation data. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan described OSM as a student-centric system, accepted responsibility for the discrepancies and promised a glitch-free re-evaluation. CERT-IN has been approached for clarification but has not yet responded.
Criticism & On-Ground Accounts
Students blamed insufficient training and technology for errors. Rahul Gandhi accused the government of neglecting youth, called for education minister’s resignation and called system rigged. Grade-12 student Vedant Srivastava posted on X that his scanned copy showed handwriting and answers he never attempted, questioning evaluation. Screenshots shared displayed mismatched answer sheets and green-tick markings inconsistent with system.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
CBSE’s denial that the portal hosted real evaluation data conflicts with Adhikary’s claim of viewing actual scanned answer sheets and evaluator details. The board has not provided evidence for its testing-site claim, and CERT-IN’s investigation remains pending, leaving the breach unresolved.
Verbatim Quotes
- “I take responsibility for this and assure you that a solution will be found. We are working on it. We will not leave any student's query unaddressed,” — Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Education Minister
- “I studied for an entire year. I sacrificed sleep, peace of mind, outings, everything for these exams. And now I don't even know whether my actual physics paper was checked. Do students really deserve this?” — Vedant Srivastava, Grade 12 student (X post)
- “With that kind of access, one can tamper with the answer-sheets, change marks or even access peoples' phone numbers and bank details,” — Nisarga Adhikary, ethical hacker
- “no security breaches have come to light on the portal deployed for the actual evaluation work” — CBSE spokesperson
What's Next
CBSE has deployed technology experts for a glitch-free re-evaluation and awaits CERT-IN’s response on the alleged vulnerabilities. The board’s clarification on the portal and corrective measures will shape confidence in OSM for the next exam cycle.
