The Central Board of Secondary Education is making the largest set of structural changes in a decade. For families in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi these changes land at the same time as a wider shift in the UAE school calendar. Here is what each one actually means.
1. Class 10 now has two board sittings
Since 2026, CBSE Class 10 has two board examinations a year. The first, from mid-February, is compulsory for every student. The second, in May, is optional: eligible students may use it to improve up to three subjects out of Science, Mathematics, Social Science and the languages. A student who misses three or more subjects in the first examination cannot sit the second. Both examinations cover the full syllabus.
Full rules, including which score counts and when results come out: CBSE Class 10’s two board exams, explained.
What it means for you: a poor February paper is no longer final. But it also means the revision year is longer, not shorter. A child who treats February as optional will arrive at May underprepared in every subject rather than one. Plan the year as a single arc with two checkpoints.
2. A third language becomes compulsory
CBSE now requires three languages through to Class 10. From 2026-27 it applies from Class 6 and in Class 9; students already in Class 10 during 2026-27 stay on two languages. CBSE’s general rule is that two of the three must be native Indian languages, but its July 2026 guidelines give CBSE schools outside India, including those in the UAE, a full exemption from making the third language a native Indian language. Students in Classes 7 to 9 in 2026-27 are assessed in the third language by their school, with no board exam. Today’s Class 6 and later batches will sit a board exam in it in Class 10.
What it means for you: if your child is in Class 9 or below, a third language is now part of their path to Class 10. Starting it as speech rather than script, early, makes the difference between a subject that helps a percentage and one that damages it.
Studying Hindi at a CBSE school in the UAE? What the language rule means for UAE schools.
3. Mathematics and Science move to two levels
Every student takes the common Mathematics and Science courses. Mathematics Advanced and Science Advanced are optional extras, each examined in an additional 25-mark paper, with the first two-level Class 10 board examinations in 2028.
What it means for you: a genuine choice arrives in Class 9. Advanced marks are not added to the overall total, so the choice is about what your child is ready to learn, not about protecting a percentage. Make it on evidence from Class 8 performance, not on ambition alone. CBSE Class 9 Advanced Maths and Science, explained.
In Class 10 this year? Class 10 Maths this year: Standard or Basic? For every subject, see CBSE Class 10 online tuition.
4. Computational thinking and AI become compulsory
Computational Thinking and AI (CT & AI) is compulsory in Class 9 from 2026-27, as modules the school assesses, and becomes a full subject from 2027-28. CBSE’s curriculum schedules Class 10 board examinations in CT & AI from 2029. Students in Class 10 during 2026-27 stay on the existing scheme. From 2026-27, CT & AI is also introduced in Classes 3 to 8, within existing subjects.
What it means for you: coding is no longer an enrichment activity that families opt into. Children who arrive in Class 9 having never written a line of code will be starting a compulsory subject from zero alongside board-year pressure.
5. Art, vocational and physical education become mandatory
All three become mandatory components in Classes 9 and 10.
What it means for you: more of the school week is committed, which compresses the time available for academic catch-up. The gap that used to be closed in a free period now has to be closed elsewhere.
What we would do with this, if it were our child
- Classes 3 to 5: begin a second and third language conversationally now, well before it is examined.
- Classes 6 to 8: take Mathematics seriously this year, because the Class 9 standard-versus-advanced decision is made on this evidence.
- Class 8 onward: get some coding in place before AI arrives as a compulsory subject.
- Class 9: treat it as the first half of a two-year board programme, not as a quiet year before one. See CBSE Class 9 online tuition.
- Class 10: plan for February and May. Both, from the start of the year. See how to prepare for the CBSE board exams.
For live support through these changes, see our CBSE online tuition.
Sources: CBSE’s Secondary School Curriculum 2026–27, Circular Acad-49/2026 on the three-language scheme, and CBSE’s notifications on two board examinations in Class X (25 June 2025 and 14 February 2026). Always confirm specifics with your child’s school, as implementation dates vary by institution.
Written by the academic team at Progmetics Education. Book a free demo class to see how we work.
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