Bhubaneswar: Announcing the schedule for Annual Exams 2026 to be conducted by the Council of Higher Secondary Education, Odisha, the council’s Chairman Mrunal Kanti Das today informed the examinations will be conducted from February 18 to March 21. The examinations will span 22 days across the Arts, Commerce, Science, and Vocational streams.

He informed that practical examinations will be conducted from January 2 to 15.

A total of 4,00,737 students have registered for the 2026 examinations. Admit cards will be issued on December 15, Das added. As many as 2,56,043 students will appear for the Arts stream, 1,14,238 for the Science stream, 24,533 for the Commerce stream, and 5,923 for the Vocational stream.

To facilitate smooth conduct of the exams, CHSE has arranged over 1,350 examination centres and 210 exam hubs across the state. The hubs will be equipped with AI-assisted cameras, while practical exam centres will have webcast and live-streaming facilities. Last year 1,268 exam centres were arranged.

CHSE Controller of Examinations, Prasanta Kumar Parida, said that each district will have two flying squad units, with three members in each unit, to monitor the examinations.

The Annual Exams 2026 will be conducted in three phases. The first phase - internal examinations - will be held from December 22 to 31. This will be followed by the second phase, the Practical Examinations, scheduled from January 2 to 15. Students who miss the first round of internal exams will be given another opportunity to appear for them between January 10 and 15.

The theory examinations will begin at 10 a.m. sharp and conclude at 2 p.m. Students must enter the exam hall 30 minutes before the commencement of the exam. Answer booklets will be distributed five minutes prior to the start of the test, Parida said.

The results will be declared within 40 days of the completion of the examinations, the Controller stated.

Question papers will be dispatched to exam centres by February 15.