The Central Board of Secondary Education Class 10 and Class 12 board exams will begin from March 5, the board announced on Wednesday. While Class 10 students will have their final exam on April 4, Class 12 students will have their last exam on April 12. The datesheets can be accessed on cbse.nic.in.

The board exams for both classes will begin at 10.30 am.

More than 16 lakh students, including six transgenders, have registered for Class 10 exams while 11,86,000 students, including two transgenders, will appear for Class 12 exams.

Earlier, there were reports that the board was mulling a proposal to hold the exams in February to give examiners more time for evaluation. But in November, the CBSE confirmed that it will hold the board exams for Class 10 and Class 12 in March.

The CBSE had also said that it was looking at making the duration of the board exams shorter to give the evaluation process more time.

In December 2016, the CBSE had made it mandatory for Class 10 students to appear for board exams starting March 2018. Earlier the students were free to choose between a board examination in Class 10 and a school-based evaluation.

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations also announced the schedule for the Class 10 and Class 12 exams on Wednesday. The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education exams for Class 10 will begin on February 26 and get over on March 28. The Indian School Certificate exams for Class 12 will commence on February 7 and end on April 2.