BCBR exam dates 2026
Every date below comes from the BCBR course announcement page on SWAYAM–NPTEL, where ICMR–NIE posts them. None comes from a third-party site: two of the dates those sites still show were moved months ago.
Next exam you can still register for: Sunday 15 November 2026. On ICMR-NIE's calendar, but not yet confirmed by a registration notice. The Sunday 27 September exam is still to come, but its registration closed on 3 September 2026.
| Exam date | Status | Registration |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday 15 March | Past | — |
| Sunday 12 April | Past | — |
| Sunday 10 May | Past | — |
| Sunday 19 July | Past | Closed 19 June |
| Sunday 23 August Moved from 16 August | Past | Closed 3 August |
| Sunday 27 September Moved from 13 September | Confirmed | Closed 3 September |
| Sunday 15 November | Calendar only | Not yet announced |
| Saturday 5 December See the note below | Calendar only | Not yet announced |
5 December 2026: The calendar prints 5 December, which is a Saturday. Every other BCBR exam in 2026 has been on a Sunday, so wait for the registration notice before planning around this one.
Confirmed means ICMR–NIE has posted the registration notice for that sitting. Calendar only means the date is on the 2026 calendar it published on 16 September 2025 and nothing since has confirmed it. The calendar has been wrong twice this year, so treat those as provisional. There are no exams in January, February, June or October 2026.
What the official notices say
- Registration closes weeks before the exam, and there is no late entry. The calendar says 30 days. The deadlines actually announced in 2026 were 20 to 31 days before the exam: 3 August for the 23 August paper, and 3 September for the 27 September paper after an extension from 27 August.
- You can only register once all 23 assignments are at 50% or more. Otherwise the registration page shows “No Enrolled Courses Available to Register”.
- After the deadline, nothing can be changed. No cancellation, date change, rescheduling, change of exam centre or refund, and only one registration at a time.
- The hall ticket arrives by email a few days before. The August 2026 paper ran 9:00 am to 12:00 noon, in the forenoon session. Carry a valid government photo ID.
- There is a compulsory mock on the exam software. For the 23 August paper it had to be done by 20 August. This is the official practice run on the real exam screen, and it is separate from anything you do here.
- Results come within a month. The 23 August results were published on 2 September. A score of 50% or more earns an e-verifiable certificate, downloaded from NPTEL’s portal.
The announcement page is visible only once you have enrolled in the course on SWAYAM–NPTEL, and every notice on it ends the same way: check it regularly. That is the most reliable advice on this page. I read it on 23 September 2026 and update this page from it. I am not affiliated with ICMR–NIE or NPTEL.
Plan from the deadline, not the exam day
The date that decides your preparation is when registration closes, because that is when you commit. If you are unsure you will be ready, that is the moment to decide, not the week before the paper. Set your exam date in BCBR Buddy and it turns the days you have left into a daily number of questions.
Common questions
When is the next BCBR exam?
The next BCBR exam you can still register for is on Sunday 15 November 2026, according to ICMR-NIE's 2026 calendar. It is not confirmed until ICMR-NIE posts its registration notice, and two dates on that calendar have already moved, so check the course announcement page before booking travel.
What time does the BCBR exam start?
The hall-ticket notice for the August 2026 exam gave the forenoon session, 9:00 am to 12:00 noon: three hours, which matches the 180-minute paper. The time for your own sitting is on your hall ticket, which NPTEL emails a few days before the exam.
When does BCBR exam registration close?
ICMR-NIE's calendar says registration closes 30 days before the exam, and late registration is not permitted. The deadlines actually announced for the 2026 sittings ranged from 20 to 31 days before the exam, so go by the registration notice for your sitting rather than the rule of thumb.
Is there a BCBR exam every month?
No. There are 8 sittings in 2026. ICMR-NIE's calendar says there are no exams in January, February, June or October 2026.
Can I change my BCBR exam date after registering?
Not once the registration deadline has passed. The official notice says that after it there is no cancellation, change of exam date, rescheduling, change of exam centre or refund, and you cannot hold more than one exam registration at a time.