SBA First Term Date Sheet 2026 – Schedule, Syllabus, Paper Pattern & SOPs

The SBA First Term Date Sheet 2026 has been officially issued for Grades 1 to 8 across Punjab. The notification covers the First-Term School-Based Assessment (SBA) 2026-27, including the assessment schedule, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), syllabus, paper pattern and date sheet. The PECTAA Punjab has issued a notification on 11 September 2026.

According to the notification, the First-Term SBA 2026-27 will be conducted from 18 September to 30 September 2026. Schools will generate their question papers through the Item Bank System (IBS), conduct assessments according to the prescribed schedule, and complete marking and report-card preparation by 4 October 2026.

Students, parents and teachers can use the following SBA Schedule 2026 to prepare for the assessments. The detailed date sheet for Grades 1 to 8 is provided below.

SBA Schedule 2026 – Important Dates

The following table gives a quick overview of the major activities related to School Based Assessment 2026:

These dates are specified in the official PECTAA notification for the first-term assessment.

SBA First Term Date Sheet 2026 for Grades 1 to 8

The official date sheet specifies separate subjects for Grades one to eight. The morning shift will be held from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM, while the afternoon shift will run from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM. On Friday, the afternoon shift will be from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

Complete SBA Date Sheet 2026

School Based Assessment 2026 – Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

The official notification also provides important SBA 2026 SOPs that schools are required to follow.

1. The Item Bank will be uploaded on the Item Bank System (IBS) on 14 September 2026. The assessment has been developed according to the syllabus in the Academic Calendar.
2. Question papers will generally be provided bilingually, except for English, Urdu, Tarjuma-tul-Quran-ul-Majeed and Ethics. Schools have the option to generate subject papers in English or Urdu where applicable.
3. Schools will generate papers by logging into the Item Bank System (IBS). The generated paper will contain a QR code showing relevant school information, including the EMIS code.
4. For Grades 3 to 8, the system-generated paper for each subject will be one page with a QR code. Marking will be carried out according to the Keys and Rubrics generated through IBS.
5. Assessment for Grades 1 and 2 will be oral for all subjects, with five sections of 10 marks each. For English and Urdu, one question for each subject will be written to assess writing skills.
6. Listening, speaking and reading skills in English and Urdu will be assessed on the same day, according to the provided rubrics.
7. Optional subjects will be developed and conducted by schools according to the PECTAA pattern and reflected in the Student Report Card.
8. PECTAA and School Education Department monitoring teams may re-check or verify papers according to the prescribed Keys and Rubrics.
9. Schools will arrange the Parent Teacher Meeting (PTM) on 5 October 2026 and share prescribed Student Report Cards with parents. Schools must also maintain an updated Assessment Register.
10. The First-Term SBA result must be uploaded on SIS before declaration of the result, while papers and Keys/Rubrics must be kept safely for validation purposes.

SBA 2026 Syllabus and Timeline

The official School Based Assessment 2026 document states that the syllabus will be as per the Academic Calendar. The assessment timeline is the 3rd and 4th week of September 2026, and the papers will be based on the Item Bank.

Grade 1 and Grade 2 Paper Pattern

For Grades 1 and 2, the assessment is primarily oral. The prescribed structure contains MCQs, fill-in-the-blanks, true/false, column matching and short question/writing components.

Each item/question will comprise 10 marks.

Grade 3 to 5 Paper Pattern

For Grades 3 to 5, the paper consists of 10 MCQs carrying 20 marks and 3 CRQs carrying 30 marks, making a total of 50 marks.

Grade 6 to 8 Paper Pattern

For Grades 6 to 8, the assessment includes 10 MCQs worth 15 marks and 3 CRQs worth 35 marks. The total assessment carries 50 marks.