Students often oppose the 75% attendance rule in CBSE board classes, but the board is making it stricter year by year. Talking about the upcoming board exams of CBSE 2025, the board has again addressed the attendance notice to affiliated schools, in which 75% of attendance in CBSE is mandatory for all board class students. 

If you are a student and going to appear in the CBSE 10th or 12th exam in 2025, you must be worried about the 75% attendance in School for the upcoming board exams. Well, we have got your back with a detailed guide on the CBSE attendance rule so that you can clear all your doubts regarding the 75% attendance rule in CBSE 2025. 

75% Attendance in CBSE

The Central Board of Education recently sent a letter reinforcing the importance of 75% attendance in CBSE board. The letter says 75% attendance is necessary for students in class 10th or 12th. Students need to have high attendance if they want to qualify for the board exams.

While the letter says high attendance is necessary to qualify for board exams in 2025, it does not exclude future exams from this rule. It only emphasises the importance of having more than 75% attendance in school for the short term. 

Many news sites have discussed this letter and the main possible reason for this letter by CBSE. But are there any other reasons you need 75% attendance in school?

Why 75 Percent Attendance is Compulsory in CBSE

The first and most obvious reason is to have students attend school regularly for their classes. If they do not attend class, they could easily fail the exams. They could even fall far behind in their practicals, making it incredibly difficult to catch up on them before the board practical exams start.

The second reason is that teachers can aid students’ holistic development. This would benefit students’ studies and, importantly, their overall development. This significant development helps students mature enough to handle the tough world waiting for them.

Now that we know the rules’ reasons for existence, let’s examine the details of the CBSE attendance rules.

CBSE Attendance Rules

The Central Board of Secondary Education has also posted the letter/circular online, and we will discuss the details of these CBSE attendance rules here.

According to the CBSE attendance rules, the minimum attendance required for a regular student is 75%. Students who have subjects involving practicals also need 75% attendance for practical work in laboratories. 

The minimum required attendance for students participating in sports at national-level events organised by recognised Federations/CBSE/SGFI is 60%. This applies even to subjects involving practical work.

The CBSE attendance rules also state that students from a CBSE-affiliated school can only take their board exams if they have a minimum attendance of 75%. As mentioned above, the minimum attendance required for sports students is 60%.

Students who are absent from class without proper leave documents can be barred from appearing in board exams. This might seem strict, but it is a warning for students and the school to have all the relevant documents and all absences accounted for. This is due to the CBSE holding surprise inspections for students’ attendance.

So when you are absent from school, make sure you give the school a valid reason and give any required documents to the school.

NOTE:

• The rules in this circular are most important for classes 10th and 12th. 
• Attendance is counted from the first day of school until the first of the month preceding the month during which exams start. For example, if the board exam starts in February, then attendance will be counted until 1 January. 

Now that we know the main CBSE attendance rules let’s look at the exceptions where students have low attendance.

Exceptions to CBSE 75% Attendance Rules

The exceptions to the minimum 75% attendance in CBSE schools are written as CBSE Rules for Condonation of Shortage of Attendance in the circular. In exceptional cases, if you have a valid and acceptable reason, CBSE will allow you to take your board exams if your attendance is above 15%.

Here are the exceptional cases where such low attendance is allowed:

• Sports students absent due to their participation in national or international-level sports events organised by recognised Federations/CBSE/SGFI must submit all relevant and valid documents to the school.
• In other cases, attendance of below 60% to a minimum of 15% can be allowed for exceptional circumstances based on medical reasons or serious diseases that lead to long-term hospitalisation.

CBSE will allow a student’s attendance to be below 60% as long as there is a valid and acceptable reason, but at least 15%.

Conclusion

While requiring 75% attendance in CBSE may seem annoying to many students, it is necessary to ensure students are studying and promote their overall development.

If you participate in many national-level sports or suffer from a severe disease, the board will allow you to take your board exams as long as you have the proper documents and an acceptable reason.