The first state higher secondary examination under the semesterised system begins on Thursday, with over 6.35 lakh students appearing across 6,837 schools in 23 districts.
The candidates include 59,452 students who, after writing the fourth-semester exams, will also write their third-semester supplementary papers from 1pm to 2.15pm on the same day.
The two-hour-long fourth- semester paper starts at 10am for most students. The supplementary exams are for students who failed the third-semester exams held in September 2025. “They will write the supplementary exam so they do not have to lose a year,” an HS council official said.
Around 15,500 candidates will appear under the old annual system. These are students who had failed the HS exam conducted last March. “Their timings are different. They will write from 10am to 1.15pm,” a council official said.
To avoid confusion between the three categories of examinees, separate colour codes will be used on question paper packets.
The state pollution control board’s order prohibiting loudspeakers near schools will be enforced. “The order... prohibits the use of loudspeakers or public address systems in areas where educational institutions are located from three days prior to the commencement of Secondary (Class X) and HS (Class XII) exams... till completion,” the council said.
Many Plus-II teachers are still engaged in SIR-related duties, so the council will also engage primary school teachers from Classes I to V as invigilators, said council president Chiranjib Bhattacharjee.
The deadline for scrutiny of SIR applications hasbeen extended, and teachers engaged in it have notyet been released by the administration, Bhattacharjee added.
“We will need 36,000 invigilators. Around 5,000 teachers will have to be engagedfrom the primary level,” the council president said.
The HS council introduced the semesterised Plus-II programme in 2024, splitting the two-year course into four semesters.
Schools conduct the first and second-semester exams in Class XI, while the council conducts the third and fourth-semester exams in Class XII.
