Lucknow. The high school and intermediate board examinations of Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Council (UPMSP) for the year 2026 will be held from 18 February to 12 March 2026. This year a total of 53,37,778 students will appear in the examination. Of these, 27,61,696 high school and 25,76,082 intermediate candidates are registered. To make the examinations cheating-free, transparent and well-organized, 8033 examination centers have been created across the state. These include 596 government, 3453 non-government aided and 3984 self-financed schools.

State level control room and monitoring of sensitive districts

Before the examination, Minister of State for Secondary Education (Independent Charge) Gulab Devi inaugurated the state level control room in the camp office of the Director of Education (Secondary) located in Lucknow. He said that this year the examination system has been made completely technology based and transparent.

18 districts of the state have been declared sensitive. Whereas 222 examination centers have been kept in highly sensitive and 683 centers have been kept in sensitive category. STF and Local Intelligence Unit at these centers will remain active throughout the examination period. Highly sensitive centers will be inspected twice a day.

Monitoring through CCTV and live webcasting in every room.

To prevent cheating and ensure transparency, two CCTV cameras with voice recorders have been installed in each examination room. Along with this, the facility of router, DVR and high-speed internet is also provided. Live monitoring of the entire examination process will be done through webcasting. The strong rooms of all the examination centers will be under 24×7 CCTV surveillance. Apart from this, the strong room, question paper distribution room and answer sheet sealing-packing room of every examination center of 75 districts will be monitored online.

Comprehensive administrative arrangements for conducting examinations

To keep the system strong, 8033 center administrators, 8033 outer center administrators and 8033 static magistrates have been deployed. Apart from this, 1210 Sector Magistrates and 427 Zonal Magistrates have also been appointed. 69 divisional and 440 district level mobile teams have been formed. State level observers have also been appointed from the government level for all 75 districts and 18 divisions, so that there is no shortage in conducting the examinations.

Control center and helpline numbers from Lucknow to Prayagraj

To assist the candidates and parents, toll-free helpline numbers 18001806607 and 18001806608 have been issued at the state level control room in Lucknow. Toll-free numbers 18001805310 and 18001805312 of the Board of Secondary Education, Prayagraj will also remain active. Complaints and suggestions can also be lodged through email, Facebook, X (Twitter) and WhatsApp. Along with Prayagraj headquarters, regional control centers have also been established in Varanasi, Meerut, Bareilly and Gorakhpur.

Strict security measures to prevent copying

Special security arrangements have been implemented to prevent copying. Additional reserve question paper sets of all subjects are kept safe in a double locked cupboard. Special security features like serial numbering in four colors, Council logo and subtle “UPMSP” marking have been added to the answer sheets to eliminate the possibility of tampering. This year, for the first time, the UP Sanskrit Shiksha Parishad examination will also be monitored online.

Strict laws and action against unfair means

Under the 'Uttar Pradesh Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024', there is a provision for strict action if irregularities are found in question paper preparation, printing, distribution and evaluation. The government has clarified that malpractices in public examinations are injustice to the future of the youth and strict action will be taken in such cases. An appeal has been made to the candidates to take the examination with confidence, without stress and fear and take it as a positive opportunity.

On this occasion, Additional Chief Secretary (Basic and Secondary Education) Partha Sarathi Sen Sharma, Secretary Secondary Education Chandra Bhushan Singh, Director General School Education Monica Rani, Special Secretary Umesh Chandra and Director of Education (Secondary) Dr. Mahendra Dev were present.