MP Class 5 & 8 Board Exams 2026 to Begin on Feb 20; 25 Lakh Students to Appear

The Madhya Pradesh government will conduct the 5th and 8th class examinations for the 2025-2026 academic year on the board pattern. The exam will be scheduled to begin on February 20, according to an official update issued by the Rajya Shiksha Kendra.

The examination will be held between February 20 and February 28 across 12,920 centers in the state. Around 25 lakh students from government schools, private institutions, and madrasas are expected to appear for the exams.  The Rajya Shiksha Kendra states that the board pattern examinations will apply to students in government, non-government, and madrasa schools. All necessary facilities have been arranged at exam centers based on student numbers to ensure their exam is conducted smoothly. 

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The Rajya Shiksha Kendra director, Harjinder Singh, states that around 24,9 lakh students from 11,06,15 schools are appearing for exams this year. These include students from 86,109 government schools, 23,980 private schools, and 525 madrasas. He also clarified that separate question papers are prepared for language subjects as per the NCERT syllabus for 20,736 students from 522 private schools. 

Officials said every eligible student will be allowed to appear for the MP Board examination. Centers' heads have been instructed to allow students who could not complete registration before the exams, with technical details to be updated on the portal after the exam. 

MP to Hold Class 5 and 8 Exams: Exam process 

To streamline the exam process:

• The School Education Department has developed a dedicated online portal. 
• The portal will be used for students' verification, allocation of examination centers, mapping of center heads, distribution of materials, issuance of roll numbers, admit cards, attendance recording, evaluation, and generation of marksheets. 

Important Note: The MP Board of Secondary Education will also conduct the 2026 exams for class 10 and 12 in February 2026. According to the latest updates, the class 10 exams are scheduled to begin on February 11, 2026, and end on March 2, 2026. The class 12 exams are scheduled to begin on February 7, 2026, as per the revised timetable. 

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Board Exam Date Sheet of States

The following table comprises the board exam date sheets of major boards and states:

Frequently Asked Questions 

Ques. When will the MP Class 5 and 8 exams be held?

Ans. The Class 5 and Class 8 board-pattern exams in Madhya Pradesh are scheduled from 20 February to 28 February 2026. 

Ques. Who is conducting the MP Class 5 and 8 exams?

Ans. The MP class 5 and 8 exams are organized by the Rajya Shiksha Kendra State Education Centre, Madhya Pradesh, under the state’s education department. 

Ques. What’s new about the Board pattern format?

Ans. The exams for Classes 5 and 8 will follow a formal “board-exam pattern” similar to secondary board exams. This means standardized question papers and formal evaluation across all schools, instead of regular school-level tests.

Ques. How many exam centers are there?

Ans. There will be around 12,920 examination centers set up across Madhya Pradesh to handle the large number of students. 

Ques. Why is this change significant?

Ans. Conducting formal board-pattern exams for lower grades, Class 5 and 8 marks a shift toward standardized evaluation and earlier formal assessment, which many educators say can improve learning outcomes and fairness.