The CBSE has told schools that those who have not complied with the board policy and awarded higher marks to Class X students are being given an opportunity to “relook (at) the marks and redo moderation” according to “historical performance and given reference range”.

Tuesday’s circular said the schools would have to complete the work by Saturday 5pm.

To support schools, the circular said, the CBSE had given them the marks of best of three years and schools were expected to follow the reference distribution while awarding marks.

The circular said upon analysis post uploading of marks by schools, it had observed that “some schools have not done the same and bunched the marks in upper brackets of given reference range, eg instead of distributing theory marks in 70-80 range, marks have been bunched in 77-80 range”.

It said: “This is unfair to the few actually deserving candidates, whose performance will fall in this range of marks.”

The board has said if schools do not follow the directions, “CBSE before preparation of result will moderate the marks... and also initiate action against the schools”.