Today, October 21, is the last day for CBSE-affiliated schools to submit the List of Candidates, or LOC, for the 2027 board examinations without paying a late fee. Principals across India have been racing the clock since the board issued a fresh reminder on October 19, warning that the portal closes tonight and there will be no further extension.
The LOC is not routine paperwork. It is the board exam registration itself for every regular student of Classes 10 and 12. Whatever a school enters here, the student’s name, date of birth and subject choices, is what will appear on the admit card and the marksheet. Which is why CBSE has been nudging schools with a series of reminders, the latest one asking them not to wait until the last minute when portal traffic spikes.
What the October 21 deadline means
Schools can submit the LOC with the regular examination fee until 11:59 pm today, October 21, 2026. The board’s original circular, issued on September 17, had set the submission window opening on September 24, and that window shuts tonight for normal-fee filing. The exam fee for students in India is Rs 1,600 for five subjects.
The October 14 circular, signed by Controller of Examinations Dr Sanyam Bhardwaj, laid down five essentials for schools: submit accurate student information, select the correct subjects, meet the prescribed deadline, include every eligible student, and complete the fee payment on time. Subject mismatches are the single biggest cause of trouble later, because the subjects on the LOC decide which question papers are printed for which candidate.
Missed it? The late-fee window runs to October 30
Schools that miss tonight’s cutoff can still file between October 22 and October 30, but will have to pay a late fee of Rs 2,000 per candidate on top of the prescribed exam fee. The board has made it clear there will be no relaxation of this charge.
There is one catch on payment mode. Schools paying through challan face an earlier closure: the late-fee window for challan payments ends on October 26, while online payments are accepted till October 30. The regular-fee challan deadline already passed on October 17, so any school still to file will now be paying digitally.
A correction window in November
Even after submission, schools get a small safety net. CBSE has scheduled a correction window from November 2 to November 4, 2026, during which errors in the submitted LOC data can be fixed. Principals say this matters because typos in names and wrong subject codes surface every year, and a missed correction can haunt a student all the way to the marksheet.
Still, the board’s advice is blunt: do not treat the correction window as a second deadline. File it right the first time, and use November only for genuine mistakes.
Date sheet 2027: what to expect next
With the LOC process wrapping up, attention will shift to the date sheet for the 2027 examinations. Going by last year’s pattern, there is a clear template. For the 2026 boards, CBSE released a tentative date sheet on September 24 and the final version on October 30, with examinations beginning on February 17. A similar timeline is expected for 2027, though the board has not announced a date.
One change is already baked in. In line with the National Education Policy 2020, CBSE has been conducting two board examinations for Class 10 students from 2026 onwards, a structural shift that schools had to absorb in the last session. How the 2027 schedule handles that will be closely watched.
Why students and parents should care now
The LOC is submitted by the school, not the student, but the data comes from families. This is the week for students and parents to double-check the spellings, date of birth and subject list their school holds. If the school files a wrong subject tonight, the correction may still be possible in November, but it is far better to catch it now.
School offices are also the bottleneck tonight. Data entry errors creep in when staff are rushed, which is why the board has advised schools to ensure the people entering candidate data are familiar with the prescribed guidelines.
Key dates at a glance
- October 21, 2026 (11:59 pm): Last date to submit LOC with the regular fee
- October 22 to 30: Submission with late fee of Rs 2,000 per candidate (challan only till October 26)
- November 2 to 4: Correction window for LOC data
- Official portal: cbse.gov.in
Frequently asked questions
What is the LOC in CBSE board exams?
The List of Candidates is the official record a CBSE-affiliated school submits for students appearing in the board exams. It carries each candidate’s personal details and chosen subjects, and the board uses it for admit cards, paper allocation and results.
What is the last date for CBSE LOC 2026-27 without a late fee?
October 21, 2026. Schools can file till 11:59 pm tonight with the regular examination fee. After that, a late fee of Rs 2,000 per candidate applies.
Can schools submit the LOC after October 30?
No. October 30 is the final date for late-fee submissions. Schools that miss it risk their students not being registered for the 2027 board exams at all.
Who pays the late fee, the school or the student?
The fee is payable to the board along with the examination fee, and CBSE expects schools to complete the payment as part of the LOC process.
When will the CBSE date sheet 2027 be released?
CBSE has not announced a date. Last year the final date sheet came on October 30, with exams starting February 17. Students should check cbse.gov.in and keep their LOC details correct in the meantime.
For lakhs of students, the road to the 2027 board exams effectively begins tonight, with a click of the submit button in a school office somewhere.
