Bhubaneswar, Jan. 8: The season of nail biting and having butterflies in the stomach for students has arrived. With all the examination boards having announced their dates and exams lined up one after another, there is no time to dilly-dally.

Board examination timetable of Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) Class X and XII is already out. The exams for both the classes will begin on March 1. While the Class X exams will end on March 19, the Class XII exams will end on April 17.

Officials at the CBSE office here said that they are getting several calls from anxious students and parents regarding exams. “The exam season have started and so have the number of calls. There are queries on the time table and if there is a possibility of changing of dates and others,” said a senior CBSE official.

The students said that the chemistry paper was scheduled on March 11, while the biotechnology exams are on March 8. They rued that just two days of gap was insufficient to complete the vast course. “Unlike last time, this year a few subjects such as chemistry have been scheduled in a way that there is very little time to prepare. I wish there was some more gap in between so that it could be prepared well. The course of chemistry is long and we need sufficient time to revise,” said Soumya Padhi a Class XII student.

Students are extra careful this time as their scores of Class XII will be calculated during the JEE Mains.

There are also a good number of students who will be taking board exams for the very first time as in Class X they opted for school-based board exams.

However, students of Class X appear relieved with their exam timetable, as their exams would be ending within 19 days.

“I am glad all the main papers will get over by March 15, as by then we will be able to happily enjoy Holi, which falls on March 17,” said Piyali, a Class X student.

Students of Council of Higher Secondary Education are getting worried about the question paper, which is coming with a host of new features this time. The exams will begin from March 3 to end on March 26 with a single sitting.

The new introductions include a 32-page stitched answer paper increased number of objective questions, and four separate sets of question papers ICSE exams will begin on March 3 and end on March 29 for Class X. For Class XII, the exams will begin on Feb 10 and end on April 7.