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The ongoing controversy surrounding the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) new On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for Class 12 evaluations has taken a serious turn. What began as complaints about blurry scans and unexpectedly low scores has escalated into a much larger issue. Now, multiple students are claiming that the scanned answer sheets provided by the board do not even belong to them.

After CBSE opened its online portal for students to access scanned answer sheets and request re-evaluations, a wave of alarming allegations emerged. Numerous students claim that the handwriting in the uploaded files is not theirs, the answers do not match what they wrote, and several pages appear to have been swapped or misallocated during the digital scanning process. These claims have intensified scrutiny of the OSM system, which was introduced this year to digitize physical answer sheets for electronic grading.

Viral Social Media Posts Spark Major Concerns

The issue gained widespread attention after a Class 12 student, Vedant Shrivastava, shared his experience on social media. He alleged that the Physics answer sheet linked to his roll number was completely unfamiliar.

“The Physics answer sheet sent by CBSE is not my answer sheet at all,” the student wrote on X. He added, “I KNOW this is not my handwriting and it did not have the questions I attempted.”

His post quickly went viral, prompting other students to share similar stories of alleged scanning errors and mixed-up documents.

Shortly after, more students came forward with similar accounts, stating that the digital copies did not reflect their actual exam performance.

One student shared, “I applied for CBSE revaluation. The scanned copy of my chemistry sheet I received does not match my handwriting or written responses.”

Another student raised further concerns, alleging, “A student’s Chemistry answer sheet had TWO ENTIRE PAGES replaced with someone else’s. Half the MCQs? Gone.”

These fresh allegations add a new layer of complexity to the situation. Following initial complaints about surprisingly low grades after the OSM rollout, CBSE allowed students to apply for re-evaluation and view their scanned scripts. However, this fix has now introduced a entirely new set of problems.

Technical Glitches and Missing Answer Sheets

In addition to handwriting and content discrepancies, many students report that they have not yet received their documents despite paying the required fees on the official portal. Social media platforms are filled with complaints about pending requests, transaction errors, inaccessible links, and prolonged delays.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, one student asked online, “CBSE should give a clear answer — will the remaining photocopies be uploaded or do students simply not matter after payment?”

CBSE previously acknowledged experiencing "temporary technical glitches" on its website during the initial phase of the re-evaluation and document access window.

Education Ministry Steps In With IIT Experts and Banks

As public concern grows, the Union Education Ministry has stepped in to address the technical vulnerabilities in CBSE’s post-result and re-evaluation infrastructure.

On May 24, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan directed teams of professors and technical experts from IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur to assist the board in stabilizing the process. According to official updates, these expert teams will focus on:

• Implementing key technological improvements
• Reviewing portal stability and server performance
• Assessing the overall robustness of the IT infrastructure
• Enhancing login authentication, user access systems, and payment gateways

Additionally, the Education Minister met with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to resolve ongoing payment gateway failures. Following their discussion, four major public sector banks—State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, and Indian Bank, were brought in to help CBSE strengthen its financial transaction systems and portal integration.

Understanding the OSM Controversy

This year marked the first time CBSE fully implemented the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for Class 12 board examinations. Under this method, physical answer scripts were converted into digital PDFs so examiners could grade them on screen.

The board originally introduced the system to increase transparency, eliminate calculation errors, reduce manual handling, and accelerate the declaration of results. However, the transition has faced significant pushback due to allegations of grading errors, unreadable scans, and potential mismatches. Because Class 12 marks remain crucial for university admissions, competitive cut-offs, and scholarship eligibility, the resolution of these technical issues remains vital for the affected students.