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For UAE families with children who sat the CBSE Class 12 board exams this year, the past few days have brought significant relief. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) released the first phase of its Class 12 verification and re-evaluation results on Sunday, June 21, 2026, with thousands of students globally seeing their grades revised upward. UAE students have been among the most visible beneficiaries, with many reporting gains of four to six marks per paper and some achieving increases of up to 20 marks.

For a cohort that had its academic year heavily disrupted by the wider geopolitical fallout of the US-Israel-Iran conflict and graded under an alternative assessment policy combining completed exams with internal school-based assessments, the boost matters. With university admissions cycles tightening, even a handful of marks can determine whether a student secures their target programme. The wider picture, however, is more complicated, and worth understanding in full.

The headline results

CBSE has confirmed that it has resolved over 87 per cent of verification and re-evaluation applications received globally in the first phase. School officials told Gulf News that the re-evaluation process was strictly applied to written CBSE examination papers, rather than internal school assessments, coursework or practical projects, which is an important point of clarity for families.

Across UAE schools, the pattern of mark increases has been consistent and significant. Three school groups have shared specific outcomes from their student cohorts:

Sharjah Indian School and the Northern Emirates. Dr Pramod Mahajan, School Director and Principal of Sharjah Indian School and CBSE City Coordinator for Sharjah, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah, confirmed that approximately 937 students across the Northern Emirates applied for review. Many received photocopies of their answer scripts, raised their concerns, and are now reporting strong outcomes. The vast majority saw their marks increase in line with expectations, with many students scoring 11 to 13 marks higher. A few who were initially placed in the compartment (supplementary exam) category have now passed.

Delhi Private School Dubai. Rashmi Nandkeolyar, Principal and Director of DPS Dubai, said while the school had not yet officially received the amended transcripts, several students have reported increases of four to six marks. She emphasised that students only applied for the exams they physically sat before the cancellations, and that every single mark counts. The CBSE, she said, has ensured transparency and redressal, bringing total relief to families.

Indian High Group of Schools. Punit MK Vasu, CEO of the group, reported the most striking outcomes. Heads of Department conducted internal reviews of answer sheets, paired with one-to-one counselling sessions for students. The result, he said, was that 100 per cent of students who applied received higher marks. The breakdown was:

• 44 per cent gained one to three marks
• 28 per cent gained three to five marks
• 16 per cent gained five to 10 marks
• 12 per cent saw a major jump of 10 to 20 marks

Improvements were most evident in Physics and Chemistry, where students had expressed the strongest concerns. Subject-specific patterns of this kind matter because they identify where the original evaluation pressure had concentrated.

Two student stories from the UAE bring the numbers to life. Prathigashri, a Grade 12 Science stream student, expressed her gratitude after seeing her Physics marks upgraded, saying it had opened new doors to apply to universities that previously felt beyond her reach. Lakshana Kondal, another Science student, said the school's internal review system was decisive in her case: her Physics marks rose from 73 to 80 after she was guided to carefully go through her answer script and apply for re-evaluation.

Why this is happening now: The OSM controversy in plain terms

The unusually large mark adjustments did not come out of nowhere. They sit inside a wider, ongoing controversy over CBSE's Online Scanned Marking (OSM) system, which was rolled out fully for the 2025-2026 Class 12 cycle.

OSM is a digital evaluation method where physical answer booklets are scanned, converted into high-resolution digital copies and uploaded to a secure CBSE portal. Examiners then mark answers directly on computer screens, rather than handling physical paper. The system was introduced for Class 12 with the stated aim of improving accuracy, transparency and the efficiency of result generation, with auto-calculation eliminating manual addition errors and full digital audit trails of every action taken during evaluation.

In practice, the rollout has been more turbulent than expected. After the May 2026 results were declared, large numbers of students nationally reported scores that were lower than expected, particularly in technical and quantitative subjects. Concerns escalated quickly, and several actions followed:

• CBSE re-scanned 68,018 answer books and pulled 13,583 for manual rechecking
• A team of IIT Madras experts was deployed to review CBSE's digital infrastructure and stabilise the post-result portal
• The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education stepped in to audit the entire OSM marking scheme
• The verification and re-evaluation portal was delayed from its originally scheduled launch on May 29 to June 2, 2026, to ensure a more transparent, secure and glitch-free process

In direct response to the controversy, CBSE took the unprecedented step of slashing post-result fees by up to 85 per cent: scanned copies dropped from Rs 700 to Rs 100, verification of marks dropped from Rs 500 to Rs 100, and re-evaluation fees dropped from Rs 100 to Rs 25 per question. For the first time in the board's history, CBSE also introduced a full fee refund rule: if marks increase, even by one mark, the student receives a full refund of the relevant fees.

For UAE families, this background matters. The mark increases are not just the result of fresh evaluation; they are the result of an evaluation system that the board itself has acknowledged needed extra layers of review and quality assurance this year. The fee cuts and refund policy were a clear signal that CBSE recognised the original scoring process had created legitimate concerns.

How the process actually worked

The CBSE re-evaluation process for the 2025-2026 cycle ran in three sequential stages, with each stage mandatory before the next:

Stage 1: Photocopy of answer sheets

Students obtained a digitally scanned copy of their evaluated answer book between May 19 and 25, 2026. This stage was the mandatory entry point, allowing students to review how each answer was marked before deciding whether to proceed.

Stage 2: Verification of marks

A clerical check for totalling errors, unmarked questions or uncounted sections. This is what Dr Mahajan and others refer to as re-checking: it is a recount, not a re-mark.

Stage 3: Re-evaluation

A full re-examination of specific challenged questions by a subject expert committee. Students were required to specify the exact question numbers they wanted reviewed. Marks can go up or down at this stage. If the expert finds that an answer was originally over-marked, the total can go down, and the revised lower score becomes the final mark. CBSE's guidance, and that of UAE school principals, was therefore to apply only where there were clear, specific grounds for review.

The application window for verification and re-evaluation ran from May 26 to June 7 (deadline extended), submitted through the official portal at postresult.cbseit.in/pvr. Results from the first phase have now been released, with CBSE confirming that further phases will follow as remaining applications are processed.

For students whose marks have been revised, the change is reflected on DigiLocker first, with the physical marksheet sent to schools. Schools then process the hard copy, and students contact the principal's office to surrender the original marksheet and claim the new one.

What this means for UAE university applications

This is where the practical stakes are highest. UAE CBSE families typically apply to a mix of Indian, UAE, UK, US, Canadian and Australian universities, with admissions cycles operating on tight windows over June, July and August.

For students with revised marks, the priority is to update active university and counselling portals quickly. UK universities, for example, accept revised marks for offers conditional on board results, but only within defined post-deadline windows. Indian university admissions, particularly to Delhi University and other competitive central universities, are timed around early July deadlines and any revised marks should be entered immediately into the relevant portal.

For students whose marks did not change, the revised first-phase results provide certainty that allows applications to move forward. The same applies to families who were holding off on conditional offers pending the verification outcome.

For UAE families more broadly, the broader takeaway is that the support infrastructure around the disrupted cycle has worked, and worked relatively quickly. The 87 per cent global completion rate on first-phase applications is fast by historical standards.

Practical guidance for families

For families whose children are still navigating the re-evaluation process, or for those whose younger children will sit CBSE Class 12 in coming years, several practical points are worth holding on to.

Photocopy of answer scripts is non-negotiable. Without the scanned copy, neither verification nor re-evaluation can be applied for. This is the single most important first step in the process, and the cost has been dramatically reduced this year.

Review the answer script with a subject teacher. The most effective re-evaluation applications, as the Indian High Group of Schools experience demonstrated, are those where students have gone through the script line by line with a teacher and identified specific question numbers where evaluation appears to be at odds with the marking scheme.

Apply only where you have clear, specific grounds. Marks can go down as well as up. If a student is broadly happy with their result and the script does not reveal clear errors, applying for re-evaluation in the hope of a fortunate uplift is not recommended.

Use the verification stage where the issue is mechanical. If the concern is around unmarked sections, an obvious totalling error or an uncounted answer, verification is the right route. Re-evaluation is the right route only where the issue is the substantive marking of a specific answer.

Engage with the school's support process. The most successful UAE schools in this cycle were those that built structured internal review processes around the re-evaluation window. Heads of Department and subject teachers can identify legitimate evaluation issues far more effectively than a student or parent reading the script in isolation.

Check the portal directly. CBSE does not send individual messages when results change. Students need to log into the post-result services portal directly to check status, which will display one of three outcomes: Marks Increased, No Change, or Marks Decreased.

The wider context for UAE CBSE families

Beyond the immediate re-evaluation cycle, two broader patterns are visible.

First, this year's disruption has accelerated the conversation about a more resilient assessment framework for international CBSE schools. The new CBSE Global Curriculum, expected to begin rolling out from April 2026 onwards for foreign CBSE-affiliated schools including those in the UAE, is part of that conversation. The wider direction of travel is toward a more flexible, internationally-aligned, competency-based model that will be less vulnerable to single-cycle disruption.

Second, the role of UAE schools as advocates for their students has been visible throughout. Dr Mahajan's coordination of the re-evaluation process across the Northern Emirates, DPS Dubai's careful framing for parents, and the Indian High Group's structured internal review system are all examples of UAE-based CBSE schools running active support layers that went beyond what the regulator itself was providing. For UAE parents researching schools, this is a useful data point: how a school handles a difficult cycle says a great deal about how it operates in normal years.

For Class 12 students whose grades have been revised, the next step is straightforward: update your university applications, share the revised marksheet with your school, and use the boost to keep momentum heading into the next stage of your academic journey. For Class 10 and 11 students watching this cycle unfold, the takeaway is simpler still: the support is there, the process can deliver real results, and the system this year has, on balance, worked harder for students than in any previous cycle.

The wider OSM story will continue to evolve. The Parliamentary Panel audit, the IIT Madras infrastructure review and CBSE's own ongoing reforms will all shape how Class 12 evaluation looks in future years. For UAE families today, however, the first-phase re-evaluation results are unambiguously positive news.

Sources:

Gulf News, "UAE CBSE students report major grade boost in class 12 re-evaluation" by Zainab Husain (June 23, 2026). https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/uae-cbse-students-report-major-grade-boost-in-class-12-re-evaluation-1.500584253 

Gulf News, "CBSE Class 12 results update: Verification and re-evaluation results released in phases" (June 21, 2026). https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/cbse-class-12-results-update-verification-and-re-evaluation-results-released-in-phases-1.500581963 

Gulf News, "India's CBSE slashes re-evaluation fees, offers refund for improved marks" (May 2026). https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/indias-cbse-slashes-re-evaluation-fees-offers-refund-for-improved-marks-1.500543792 

Business Standard, "CBSE launches class 12 verification, re-evaluation portal amid OSM row" (June 2, 2026). https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/cbse-launches-class-12-verification-re-evaluation-portal-amid-osm-row-126060200104_1.html 

CBSE official guidance, "Verification of Issues Observed & Re-evaluation - Class XII" (June 21, 2026). https://www.cbse.gov.in/cbsenew/documents/GUIDANCE_STUDENTS_PARENTS_21062026.pdf