Lucknow, February 17 Over 53 lakh students are expected to take the UP Board examinations at over 8,000 test centers on Wednesday.
The Uttar Pradesh Board of Secondary Education High School and Intermediate Board Examinations 2026 will be conducted from February 18 to March 12.
A total of 53,37,778 students have registered for the examination, including 27,61,696 class 10 and 25,76,082 class 12 students.
A state-level control room in Lucknow that will monitor the examination was inaugurated by UP's Minister of State for Secondary Education (Independent Charge) Gulab Devi on Tuesday.
A government statement said that the Uttar Pradesh Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, has been enacted to prevent malpractice and ensure transparency in examinations.
The statement said that it provides for strict action against those found indulging in unfair means.
In addition to question papers, reserve sets have been arranged for the exam. The reserve sets will be kept sealed in a secure, double-locked cupboard, and the answer sheets will bear the Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP) logo and the UPMSP marking in a micro-sized format.
Two CCTV cameras with voice recorders, routers, DVRs, and high-speed internet connections have been installed in all rooms in an examination center, allowing live monitoring through webcasting.
The students who are set to take the exam at 8,033 examination centers, which include 596 government, 3,453 aided-government, and 3,984 self-financed secondary schools, will be closely monitored.
All centers will be assigned a center administrator, an external center administrator, and a static magistrate, the government said.
In addition, 69 divisional and 440 district mobile squads have been constituted. State-level observers have also been appointed for all 75 districts and 18 divisions to ensure that there is no laxity in examination conduct.
A total of 18 districts have been declared sensitive, while 222 examination centers have been categorized as highly sensitive and 683 as sensitive.
Minister Gulab Devi wished all candidates a stress-free exams and good results. She also appealed to officials and teachers to provide guidance to students and conduct the exams properly.
She also said that misconduct in public examinations is an injustice to the future of youth, and the government is committed to strict action against such elements.
The Special Task Force and local intelligence units will remain active throughout the examination period, and highly sensitive centers will be inspected twice a day.
The state-level control room in Lucknow has issued toll-free helpline numbers: 18001806607 and 18001806608. Control centers have also been established at Prayagraj headquarters and the regional offices in Varanasi, Meerut, Bareilly, and Gorakhpur.
Complaints and suggestions can also be registered through email, Facebook, X, and WhatsApp.