NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has warned schools that students found absent without valid leave records during surprise inspections were liable to be treated as non-attending or dummy candidates and would not be allowed to appear in the board examinations 2026.

CBSE has decided to bar students enrolled in “dummy schools” – where pupils are enrolled on paper but skip regular classes to focus on private coaching for engineering and medical entrance examinations.

“We have amended our examination bylaws to prohibit such students from appearing in the board exams, requiring them to take the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) exam instead,” a senior CBSE official said.

CBSE exam controller Sanyam Bhardwaj on Monday told principals and heads of schools affiliated to the board to inform students and parents about the mandatory 75% attendance requirement criteria and the potential consequences of not meeting this criterion.

“Leave without a written request will be considered unauthorised absence from the school,” Bhardwaj said in his letter to the schools.

According to rules 13 and 14 of the CBSE’s examination bylaws, students must have at least 75% attendance to be eligible for board exams. A relaxation of up to 25% is allowed only in exceptional cases like medical emergencies or participation in national-level events, with proper documentation.

Bhardwaj told the schools in the letter that students must submit a leave application along with valid medical documentation immediately after availing the leave in case of medical emergencies and inform the school of their absence with a valid reason, and only in writing for other reasons.

“…If it is observed at the time of sudden inspection of the schools by CBSE that students are absent without proper leave records, it will be presumed that they are not attending the schools regularly and may be treated as non-attending/dummy candidates. CBSE shall not allow such students to appear in the Board examinations,” the letter said.

Bhardwaj also said schools with incomplete attendance records or evidence of irregular student attendance may face strict action, including disaffiliation and the affected students could also be barred from appearing in board exams.

CBSE has directed schools to maintain accurate daily attendance records, signed by the class teacher and school authorities, and keep them ready for inspection. The board has also directed the schools to inform parents in writing if a student frequently misses classes or falls short of the attendance requirement, warning that non-compliance may lead to disqualification from board exams.

Bhardwaj warned the schools that no changes to attendance records will be allowed after schools submit shortage cases, and stressed that regular attendance was crucial for both exam eligibility and student development.

According to information available on CBSE’s website, the board has 31,075 affiliated schools.

On July 31, CBSE conducted surprise inspections at 15 schools in Delhi, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh to verify suspicions that they were violating affiliation norms by enrolling “non-attending” or dummy students in Classes 11 and 12.

In January, the Delhi High Court called the dummy schools a “fraud” and directed the Delhi government and CBSE to take action against them. CBSE counsel informed the court that action had been taken against over 300 “dummy” schools across the country.

CBSE also withdrew affiliation from 21 schools in Rajasthan and Delhi in November last year, following a significant number of non-attending students in Classes 9 to 12 during surprise inspections in September. The board also downgraded the affiliation of six schools in Delhi.