The Central Board of Secondary Education on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it will declare the results for Class 12 compartment exams by October 10, Bar and Bench reported.

The University Grants Commission, meanwhile, informed the court that its deadline for college admissions will be October 31, which will give students enough time to submit their applications. More than two lakh students are appearing for CBSE’s Class 10 and 12 compartment/improvement exams, which began on September 22 and will continue till September 29.

The top court was hearing a petition seeking an extension of the deadline for college admissions. Senior Advocate Vivek Tankha, appearing for the petitioners, had expressed concern that the students taking the compartment exams would not be able to get into colleges, since the admissions would be over by the time results are declared. The application cut-off dates for most colleges are before the expected date of compartment exam results.

A Supreme Court bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna had on September 22 directed the UGC and CBSE to coordinate on the dates of the class 12 compartment exams results and university admission deadlines as well as the academic calendar for 2020-21. The bench had noted that the coordination was necessary due to “exceptional circumstances” created by the coronavirus crisis.

The coronavirus crisis has adversely affected academic activities in India as the schools and colleges have been closed since March. Two important competitive tests – the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical admissions and the Joint Entrance Exam for engineering courses in the Indian Institutes of Technology – were held earlier this month, with strict safety protocols in place.

India has reported 57,32,519 coronavirus cases and 91,149 deaths so far, according to the Union health ministry.

Follow today’s updates on the pandemic here