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A wide range of concerns related to marking schemes, calculations and technical performance were reported during the CBSE OSM test. But, many issues remained unresolved.
The CBSE On-Screen Marking (OSM) controversy began after thousands of Class 12 students reported huge discrepancies. (PTI file)
CBSE OSM: What was touted as a major digital transformation of India’s school examination system is now facing intense scrutiny.
As the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) grapples with growing criticism over its new on-screen marking (OSM) system, questions are being raised whether early warnings about technical glitches and operational challenges were ignored before launching the platform for Class 12 board exams.
The controversy has deepened after students across the country reported discrepancies in evaluation, while a PIL has now reached the Delhi High Court, demanding a probe into the alleged irregularities, technical shortcomings and failures in grievance redressal related to the system.
on tuesday evening Government removed CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Board Secretary Himanshu Gupta. Removed from his posts and ordered an inquiry into the OSM controversy.
Warnings before rollout
Concerns regarding the OSM system were not new. According to information revealed from a pilot exercise conducted by the board in January, participants had flagged several concerns and reportedly recommended that the system requires at least a year of testing and refinement before full implementation.
The OSM platform, powered by Hyderabad-based Koempt Edutech, replaced the traditional evaluation process in which examiners marked physical answer sheets. Under the new system, evaluators evaluated scanned copies of answer sheets through a secure online platform.
Participants in the pilot exercise reportedly reported that the system relies heavily on well-equipped assessment centres, highly trained assessors and extensive preparation to ensure fair and error-free marking. He also expressed concern that technical glitches cannot be resolved quickly and additional time is needed to strengthen the system.
Three day dry run in Delhi
The pilot exercise was conducted over three days in Delhi in mid-January, less than a month before the Class 12 exams began on February 17.
Representatives from five reputed schools participated in the exercise, which included private institutions, Delhi Government schools, Kendriya Vidyalaya and Navodaya Vidyalaya.
Principals, evaluators, examiners and subject experts appointed by CBSE were trained on the system before being asked to evaluate the mock answer sheets using the digital platform.
According to official sources familiar with the exercise, a wide range of concerns related to marking schemes, calculations and technical performance were reported during the test. Sources said many of the issues identified on the first day remained unresolved even after the exercise ended on the third day.
What problems were identified by the evaluators?
Participants reportedly documented numerous technical and operational problems.
In one case, the marks increased by 1.5 marks by the Additional Chief Examiner (AHE) were reflected as a deduction of 1.5 marks by the system.
There were also reports of significant discrepancies between the official CBSE marking schemes and the marks displayed on the screen.
In some question papers, despite having marks in several components, marks for only one sub-part of the question were shown.
Assessors reported that the system sometimes forces the allocation of 0.5 marks, even when the official marking scheme does not allow such partial marking.
Frequent freezing of the platform was also reported, especially when evaluators used the “undo” function.
Other concerns include marks missing from the assessment interface, failure to automatically save assessment progress and the ability to award marks on blank pages or unanswered questions by clicking on the question numbers displayed on the screen.
Student complaints echo earlier concerns
Many similar issues later emerged in the complaints lodged by students after CBSE declared the Class 12 results on May 13.
Students who received copies of their evaluated answer sheets alleged that some answers were left unchecked, partially checked or evaluated inconsistently.
Others claimed that the scanned answer sheets were blurry, difficult to read or had mismatches, raising concerns that students may have been assessed on answers they had not written.
Before their removal, both CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta were contacted for comments regarding the feedback submitted during the dry run. No response received.
CBSE governing body had suggested extensive pilots
The minutes of the CBSE governing body meeting held in June 2025 show that the members had recommended implementing on-screen marking only after the completion of the pilot project in various regional offices and selected subjects.
That recommendation was not followed.
Instead, the board conducted a trial involving only five schools in Delhi in January before going ahead with the implementation.
But, CBSE says the issues have been rectified
After the allegations surfaced, CBSE released a document titled “On Regarding On Screen Marking” explaining the steps taken after the pilot exercise.
The board said teachers from Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, state government schools and private schools participated in the trial and submitted recommendations.
According to CBSE, the three-day exercise provided a blueprint for necessary amendments. The board said that several changes were made before the actual evaluation began.
These included the addition of a “save” option, simplification of the mark-deletion process, resolution of static IP issues, and repositioning of marks that had previously caused students’ written responses to become unclear.
CBSE also said that color coding was introduced for chief examiners, additional chief examiners and evaluators and the marking scheme was directly linked to the answer sheets.
there was a second warning too
A second report submitted by participants reportedly identified at least 36 technical, operational and evaluation-related concerns.
These included warnings about the risk of “blind or superficial scrutiny” and concerns that the platform did not allow raters to interact, discuss or reach common understanding when awarding marks.
The report also highlights the absence of a mechanism that allows additional principal examiners to return answer scripts for re-evaluation if multiple mistakes are found before final submission.
CERT-In flagged OSM vulnerabilities four times
CERT-In, the Indian computer emergency response team, had repeatedly warned CBSE about serious security vulnerabilities in its OnMark online assessment portal months before the controversy erupted publicly. According to information presented to the Parliamentary Standing Committee, CERT-In issued four separate alerts after confirming security flaws in three domains associated with the system – one in February 2026 and three more in May 2026.
The OnMark platform, developed by Hyderabad-based Koempt Edutech and hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) India infrastructure, was used for on-screen marking (OSM) of nearly one crore Class 12 answer sheets this year. During an emergency security assessment, CERT-In reportedly concluded that one of the portals was “not suitable for deployment in a production environment”, raising concerns about its readiness for large-scale live operations.
The issue gained widespread attention on May 25 when 19-year-old ethical hacker Nisarga Adhikari publicly disclosed the alleged SQL injection vulnerabilities and claimed that the flaws could provide full create, read, update, and delete access to production servers. He also alleged access to examiner level functions. While CBSE initially denied any breach and termed the concerns as misleading, the board later acknowledged the vulnerabilities on May 31 and thanked ethical hackers for flagging the vulnerabilities.
Coempt Edutech’s troubled track record
As the CBSE on-screen marking controversy deepens, attention has turned to Hyderabad-based Koempt Edutech, the company behind the OnMark assessment platform. The company formerly known as Globarena Technologies has previously faced scrutiny over major exam controversies, including the 2019 Telangana intermediate result crisis that sparked nationwide outrage.
The company later handled projects for several universities and examination bodies in Telangana, Karnataka and Odisha before securing the CBSE contract at TCS. Despite boasting of over two decades of experience and receiving industry recognition, Coempt Edutech is now facing fresh questions over its technology, security standards and assessment systems following the latest CBSE controversy.
As the OSM system comes under increasing scrutiny, these early warnings now center on questions about whether adequate attention was paid to the concerns raised before implementation.
About the author
Shuddhantha Patra, a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience, serves as Senior Sub-Editor at CNN News 18. With expertise in national politics, geopolitics, business news, he has influenced…read more
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