CBSE Class 10 exam pattern: papers, marks and choices

The CBSE Class 10 exam pattern for 2026-27 gives each main subject 100 marks. Eighty come from a 3-hour board paper, and 20 from the school. Each paper has fixed sections and some choice inside questions. CBSE says the pattern is unchanged from last year.

What is the CBSE Class 10 exam pattern for 2026-27?

Each main subject is marked out of 100. Eighty marks come from the board paper, which CBSE sets and marks. Twenty come from internal assessment - the school's own tests, projects and portfolio. CBSE's 2026-27 curriculum says a student must sit both parts.

The board paper covers the whole syllabus for the year. The 2026-27 sample papers carry the same line: there is no change in the question paper design and assessment pattern this session.

For now, about half the questions test whether your child can use what they know. The curriculum says "approximately 50% of the questions are competency-focused", such as case-based and data questions, and adds that this "may be reviewed periodically". Competency-based questions, explained shows what they look like.

How are the marks distributed in each paper?

This is the CBSE Class 10 marks distribution - the paper pattern - in the four main papers, from the 2026-27 sample papers. Every paper is 80 marks and 3 hours.

Marks are also split by unit of the syllabus - Algebra carries 20 of the 80 Maths marks, for example. Class 10 Maths chapter-wise weightage gives every unit, as CBSE prints it.

What is the Class 10 Maths paper pattern?

All 38 questions are compulsory. There is a choice in 2 questions each in Sections B, C and D, and in the 2-mark part of each case study. Calculators are not allowed.

Maths Basic and Maths Standard share this structure; the questions differ. CBSE's circular for the 2027 exams still lists both. Maths Basic vs Standard explains the difference. To see the pattern in a real paper, read the Maths Basic 2026 paper analysis or decoding the Maths 2025 paper.

What is the Science paper pattern?

The Science paper has 39 questions in three sections: Biology (30 marks), Chemistry (25) and Physics (25). Each section has 1-mark multiple-choice and assertion-reason questions, 2- and 3-mark answers, one 4-mark case-based question and one 5-mark long answer.

CBSE's Science curriculum provides "an internal choice of approximately 33%". On the 2026 board paper, students were also asked to divide the answer book into the same three sections.

What is the Social Science paper pattern?

Social Science has 38 questions in four sections of 20 marks each: History, Geography, Political Science and Economics. It mixes 1-mark questions, longer answers of 2, 3 and 5 marks, and 4-mark case-based questions. Map work carries 5 marks: 2 in History and 3 in Geography.

It sets a maximum length for each kind of answer: no more than 40 words for 2 marks and 60 for 3 marks. A 5-mark answer may run to 120 words, and a case-based answer to 100.

What is the CBSE Class 10 English paper pattern?

The English Language and Literature paper has 11 questions in three sections: Reading (20 marks), Writing and Grammar (20) and Literature (40). Choice is built into the questions - for example, any ten of twelve grammar tasks, and one of two long answers. It also gives word lengths: about 40-50 words for a short literature answer and 100-120 for a long one.

Is there reading time before the paper starts?

Yes, on CBSE's 2026 Class 10 papers. They gave 15 minutes to read the paper, from 10.15 to 10.30 am, with no writing in the answer book until 10.30. The 3 hours of writing came after that.

CBSE has not yet published the 2027 papers. Managing time in the 3-hour paper shows how the marks can guide your child's time.

Is the pattern the same in both board exams?

Yes. CBSE's notification on the two board exams says both are on the full syllabus and "the scheme of examinations will remain the same". CBSE's circular for the 2027 exams says the first exam is in February-March. It gives no dates yet (checked 1 October 2026).

From the 2027-28 session, CBSE's curriculum adds optional 1-hour, 25-mark Advanced papers in Maths and Science, whose marks are not added to the total. They do not apply to the 2027 exam.

How is the ICSE Class 10 exam pattern different?

ICSE also splits most subjects 80 marks external and 20 internal, with a pass mark of 33%. But its papers are shaped differently. On CISCE's 2027 specimen papers, Maths runs 3 hours and each science runs 2 hours, after 15 minutes of reading.

Each of those papers has a compulsory Section A of 40 marks, then any four questions from Section B. So in these papers an ICSE student leaves out whole questions in Section B. A CBSE student instead picks between two versions of a set question. CBSE vs ICSE: how the Class 10 papers compare goes paper by paper.

Where can your child practise the pattern?

• The sample papers. CBSE publishes the 2026-27 sample papers and marking schemes for every subject. They are the clearest view of the pattern.
• Past board papers. Which Class 10 papers we cover lists every past paper in our free library, 2022 to 2026.
• A whole season at a glance. CBSE Class 10 exam analysis 2026 puts every 2026 paper we hold side by side.

About the author

Mohit Sardana

Chief Architect

An engineer (B.Tech, Computer Science) with over 20 years of preparing students for entrance exams, including as Dean at FIITJEE and Vice-President at Aakash. He is the chief architect of the TRUpreBoards evaluation engine.

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