The Central Board of Secondary Education re-evaluation portal remained inaccessible on Monday, displaying an "under maintenance" message to students and parents [1].
This outage prevents thousands of Class 12 students from accessing scanned answer scripts and verifying marks during a critical window for academic appeals. The failure occurs amid growing scrutiny of the board's On-Screen Marking system, which has sparked concerns regarding the accuracy of the scanning process [1, 5].
Students attempting to access the website were met with an "under maintenance" message, a reporter from MSN said [1]. While the application window for answer-sheet verification opened on 19 May 2026 [6], the portal failed to go live on 1 June 2026 despite previous assurances [7].
More than 400,000 students are currently seeking answer sheets or re-evaluations [2]. The technical delay has intensified frustration for families who are paying for these services to ensure grading accuracy.
To address the ongoing scrutiny, the board has adjusted its pricing structure. Students will now have to pay Rs 100 to access scanned copies of their answer scripts, and another Rs 100 for verification of marks, a CBSE official said [3]. Additionally, the fee per correction request is Rs 25 [3].
The board has also provided a financial incentive for students who successfully challenge their marks. CBSE will give a full refund if a student's marks increase after re-evaluation, a CBSE spokesperson said [4].
Despite these fee reductions and refund promises, the inability to access the portal remains the primary hurdle for students. The outage persists as questions grow over whether the On-Screen Marking system is functioning reliably across all scripts [1, 5].
“"Students attempting to access the website were met with an 'under maintenance' message."”
The collapse of the digital portal during a high-stakes re-evaluation period suggests a gap between the CBSE's implementation of the On-Screen Marking system and its infrastructure's capacity to handle volume. By reducing fees and offering refunds, the board is attempting to mitigate student distrust, but the technical failure risks undermining the perceived transparency of the entire 2026 examination cycle.
