Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE 10th Board Exams 2026 are about two months away. Nearly 28 lakh students are expected to appear for the board examination this year. Teachers with years of experience of evaluation the CBSE Board Exam answer sheets have shared a few common and avoidable mistakes many students make. To help your child ace them, here is a look at many reasons why most students lose marks in board examination.
While marks are not important, it still hurts to lose them. Many students, unfortunately, score less not because they did not know the answer but because they did not know how to present the answer correctly. Teachers often claim that on an average a student loses 5 to 8 marks due to silly mistakes that are avoidable. Here is a quick list and also advise on how students can avoid them.
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Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them in CBSE 10th Board Exams 2026
Not Reading the Full Question
This is usually one of the most common reasons why students lose marks in the board exams. Teachers point out that usually a two- or three-mark question asks multiple things from student. It has been often noted that most students answer only one part of the question and completely forget about the other thing that was asked.
In such situation, even if the student has answered the first part correctly, they still end up losing the mark for the second part of the question. Also, while CBSE does clearly divide the parts, some questions do not. For instance, let us look at the question below.
- You are given four resistors each having resistance of R ohm. Find the maximum and minimum resistance that can be made with these four resistors.
Now in this question, students are required to give both minimum AND maximum resistance, but many students miss out on this.
Reason and How to Avoid This – Teachers share that often the reason is the hurry students are usually in. This is usually the case with long answer questions and students tend to be stressed by the time they reach that point. Also, many students do not use the reading time carefully to read the paper thoroughly. A good strategy would be to read the question paper carefully and UNDERLINE using a pencil the key things that are asked in the question. By following this, students will be able to quickly note what is required and avoid this mistake when they attempt the paper.
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Calculation Errors
As simple as it may sound, more students lose marks due to wrong calculations – in science and mathematics that is. What is more, usually the errors are not in the long-drawn calculations but rather the smaller calculations.
Teachers share that an inherent fear of error usually makes a child focus on lengthy calculations. However, simpler calculations often are bungled due to carelessness. Many times, students do not carefully use the ‘+’ and ‘-’ symbols and end up making mistakes. Many times, students do not write the formulae and directly start with the calculations. These also lead to mistakes.
How to Avoid: Follow steps. Mental calculations may save a child one minute but writing them down and following steps on paper would ensure that careless mistakes are avoided. Parents are often advised to insist that their child calculates on the paper and not mentally. Another important advice is to do all calculations on the same page as the question and not on a ‘rough page’ at the end of the answer booklet. Shuffling through pages may lead to an error in copying. It is always better (and teachers insist the only way) to draw a rough column on the page and use that for calculations.
Incorrect Question Number
Another rather simple error is the incorrect question number that is written. While many teachers while evaluating the answer sheets correct the question number erroneously written by the child, many don’t. Also, wrong numbering also leads to students missing out on a few questions as well.
Most teachers have highlighted that this is essentially a case of bad nerves. Anxious students are often more prone to making this error. Students sometimes repeat the question number while attempting the next question or marks the wrong part of the question.
How to Avoid: This is, as mentioned, an error caused due to nerves more than anything else. Students need to be calm while attempting the paper and this is achievable only when parents help them. Anxious parents often make their children anxious as well. It is hence important for parents to speak with their child, talk about the importance of examination and not of marks and reinstate their trust in the child. A kind word can make all the difference here.
Focus on Creativity over Format
This is the case for language papers. Teachers have pointed out that mostly students are keen on showing their creativity and miss out on the more technical aspects. In writing section, for instance, students are required to follow the format. However, most students are focused on the creativity.
Teachers reiterate that while creativity would surely impress the examiner, the format holds points. In a 5-mark question, usually a mark or two are reserved for proper syntax. Students miss out on these small things and lose marks without meaning to.
How to Avoid: Emphasise on practicing the written section in languages with proper format. While it is important how your child articulates and represents the information, the format is essential. Often students practice without formats and end up making errors in the examination. This can be simply avoided if parents insist that the student practices with proper format – always.
Not Attempting Multiple Choice Questions
This is perhaps more about probability than anything else. Many teachers have lamented that students choose not to answer multiple choice questions that they are not sure about. For obvious reasons the lose marks. However, students must always attempt.
Teachers reason that in MCQs there is a 25% probability of getting the answer right (when you don’t know the answers). Since there is no negative marking, not attempting the MCQs does not make any sense.
To Avoid, teachers request all students to answer the MCQs. Sometimes using intelligent guesswork helps. If they are not sure about the answer, think of what choices are incorrect and then choose whatever their instinct tells them. Not attempting and wrong answer both will have the same implication of marks but writing one choice increases the probability of scoring by 25% – which is more than the 0 probability of getting marks.