The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is under fire over its use of the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for the evaluation of Class 12 examinations. Now, it has come to light that an internal observation report had identified at least 36 technical, operational and assessment-related issues during a trial run of the system.
The board has faced criticism from students and parents over technical problems, payment-related difficulties and issues in accessing services during the verification and re-evaluation process.
The row escalated after several Class 12 students claimed there were irregularities in their marks. Some also alleged that the scanned answer sheets uploaded by the board did not match their handwriting, leading to concerns about possible mix-ups within the OSM system.
The many ‘red flags’ that CBSE ignored during OSM implementation
A report prepared after a trial of the on-screen marking system at five Delhi schools in January 2026 flagged at least 36 technical, operational and evaluation-related concerns, HT had reported earlier.
Among the concerns were the possibility of “blind or superficial checking”, weaker supervision, a lack of protections against data loss, and the absence of any system that allowed evaluators to discuss or agree on marking standards. These concerns were raised weeks before the board rolled out the system across the country.
Hindustan Times reviewed the report, which was prepared by internal observers and submitted to the board on January 21, just 19 days before CBSE officially announced roll out of full-scale usage of OSM for class 12 answer sheets evaluation on February 9. CBSE begun OSM evaluation on March 7.
A FAQ document released by CBSE in May, after the results sparked controversy, suggests the board would have been aware of at least some of these concerns. Several measures that the board later described as safeguards corresponded directly to issues raised in the January report.
The warning signs that the report flagged
- The report said that the system “does not provide opportunities for evaluators to interact, deliberate, or arrive at a consensus while allotting marks, which is essential for fair and standardised assessment.”
- It also warned of a “risk of superficial evaluation”, noting that “answer scripts were submitted after adding annotations and assigning arbitrary marks without a comprehensive reading, leading to instances of blind or superficial checking.”
- Another concern was the lack of “a mechanism enabling additional head examiners (AHEs) to return answer scripts to evaluators when multiple errors are detected, allowing re-evaluation and correction before final submission.”
- The report noted that AHEs were “unable to review answer scripts of their choice, as the application assigns scripts automatically, limiting effective monitoring and quality assurance.”
- Two observations specifically pointed to system shortcomings: “Remarks Not Visible to AHE Even After Verification” and “No Provision for Viewing Modifications on HE Portal.”
- Technical issues created more problems. These included slow performance during step-marking, the absence of an auto-save feature, the inability to view question papers and marking schemes together, cases where marks entered digitally covered students’ written responses, inconsistencies in subject codes, and the lack of a question-wise marking option for incomplete answers.
- CBSE’s FAQ document, released on May 18 under the title ‘Know About OSM’, came as complaints from students regarding marks continued to grow. Many of the measures listed in the document addressed concerns that had already been raised in the January report.
- According to the FAQ, a save feature had been introduced, the process for deleting marks had been changed, and the issue of marks covering written content had been resolved. It also said internet-related problems had been addressed through high-capacity servers. Each of these issues had been flagged during the trial run.
CBSE on the report’s findings
CBSE did not respond to HT’s queries regarding the observation report or the concerns mentioned in it.
An official said the FAQ described the trial run as providing “a blueprint of what modifications were needed in the system.”
CBSE earlier said its OSM evaluation portal is a “secure and robust IT platform” and maintained that no compromise or vulnerability has been reported on the live evaluation system.
Earlier, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that concerns had emerged regarding the evaluation process. “Today, certain issues have come to light regarding the CBSE Class 12 examination evaluation process, and a re-evaluation process will now begin,” he said.
Calls for regional trials ignored?
Among the “red flags” ignored by the board include overlooking suggestions from members of its own governing body to conduct pilot projects across regional offices before introducing the OSM system, HT had reported earlier, citing meeting records.
Instead, the board carried out a two-day trial involving only 100 teachers across five Delhi schools in January.
Teachers who took part told HT they had advised the board against moving ahead with the rollout, saying the system needed better features, additional training and more time for users to become familiar with it.
Minutes of the governing body meeting held in June 2025 show that members had suggested OSM “may be implemented in all subjects only after completion of pilot projects in some subjects across various regional offices of the board”.
The governing body had “noted the suggestion.” CBSE has 22 regional offices, but no such pilot projects were carried out before the system was introduced this year.
One evaluator told HT that teachers were under pressure from the board to complete assessments quickly so that results could be announced on schedule and the digital system could be presented as a success.
