The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to grant students currently studying in Class 6 the same exemption from the mandatory three-language policy that is already available to Class 7 students.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana issued the direction while hearing petitions challenging the CBSE’s three-language formula. The court ordered that Class 6 students be treated on a par with Class 7 students under the transitional arrangement.

Under the order, Class 6 students will study the newly mandated third language but will not face a pass-or-fail consequence in it. Assessment will be limited to an appearance certificate, similar to the relaxation already given to higher classes. The court observed that there would be “no pass/failure. There will only be appearance certificate.”

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta informed the court that detailed discussions had taken place on the earlier suggestion to exempt the current Class 6 batch. He submitted that nearly 99 per cent of CBSE schools had adopted the third-language policy and possessed the necessary facilities, with only about 1.2 per cent of schools still facing difficulties.

The bench recorded this submission and directed that Class 6 students be granted the same exemption as Class 7 students. It also directed the CBSE to appoint an officer to contact the remaining schools and ascertain the difficulties they were facing. The court further asked the CBSE to file a counter-affidavit within four weeks.

The three-language policy, aligned with the National Education Policy 2020, requires students from Class 6 onwards to study three languages, with at least two being Indian languages. Implementation began in the 2026-27 academic session. Students in Classes 7 to 9 had already been given certain transitional relaxations, while the current Class 6 batch was earlier expected to follow the full framework, including a board examination in the third language at the Class 10 stage in future years.

During the hearing, the court had earlier raised concerns about introducing the new language framework midway for students who had already chosen their languages and about the readiness of schools. It had previously suggested giving “elbow space” to students, families and schools and had asked the CBSE and the Centre to reconsider the timeline for mandatory implementation.

The matter remains pending for further hearing after the CBSE files its response.