MSBSHSE has announced a major change in Maharashtra board question paper format for HSC and SSC students. The board is planning to reduce the question paper length by 60% to cut costs and ease student stress. Read further to know more.
Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has announced a change in Maharashtra board question paper format for its Class 10 (SSC) and Class 12 (HSC) board examination. As per MSBSHSE board exam latest news, the length of MSBSHSE question papers will be slashed by nearly 60% starting from the 2026-27 session.
As per the announcement by Board chairperson Trigun Kulkarni, the board is planning to compress MSBSHSE question paper length from 10-11 page booklet to 3-4 page. The board is planning to save paper, save cost and reduce cost. This further will help to reduce stress of students appearing for HSC, SSC Maharashtra board exams.
Maharashtra Board Exam 2026: Question Paper Length Reduced by 60%
According to an official announcement, the MSBSHSE question paper 2026 length will be reduced by 60 percent by printed on both sides. The board currently spends nearly INR 30 crore annually on printing question papers. This decision is likely to save state board around INR 18 crore per year and reduce mass paper consumption.
Commonly asked questions
Each exam of HSC 2026 will be for 100 marks. You have to appear for 5 compulsory subjects including English. You have the option to choose 6th additional subject. Maharashtra State Board 12th total marks are 500 or 600, depending on the number of subjects you chose. Minimum 35% marks in each subject are compulsory to pass the Maharashtra HSC exam 2026.
No, examiners will not deduct marks for exceeding the word limit. Marks will be deducted for spelling mistakes in the Language Papers. Students are advised to be careful with the spellings, so that they won't loose any marks. They are also advised not to waste time by writing much more than the word limit.
The board also aim to reduce the paper siz policy to make exam student friendly. The board also feels reduction in question paper size will also remove the stress of students. Under the Maharashtra Board Class 10 12 new paper format, questions will follow a sequence with clearer marks allocation. To improve readability, each main question and its corresponding sub-questions will be grouped together on the exact same page, preventing students from flipping through sheets.
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Mayank Uniyal is an MCom graduate in International Business. He has over 7 years of experience in content writing. He has been working in the education domain since the beginning of his career. He covers news and up
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