Class 10 Maths chapter-wise weightage, and Science

CBSE sets Class 10 weightage - the marks each part carries - by unit, not by chapter. So the CBSE Class 10 Maths chapter-wise weightage for 2026-27 gives Algebra 20 of 80 marks and Geometry 15. Trigonometry has 12, Statistics and Probability 11, Mensuration 10, and Number Systems and Coordinate Geometry 6 each. In Science, two units carry 25 marks each. CISCE prints no topic marks for ICSE Physics.

What is the CBSE Class 10 chapter-wise weightage for 2026-27?

CBSE publishes weightage by unit, and a unit is a group of chapters. Weightage means how many of the paper's 80 marks come from each part of the syllabus. CBSE prints it as a table in each subject's curriculum, often called the blueprint.

The board prints no marks for a single chapter. A chapter-by-chapter mark list found elsewhere is someone's own estimate. This article gives the units exactly as CBSE prints them, and lists the chapters that sit in each one.

What is the unit-wise marks distribution for CBSE Class 10 Maths?

CBSE's Class 10 Maths curriculum for 2026-27 splits the 80 board marks across seven units:

• Number Systems - 6 marks. Real Numbers.
• Algebra - 20 marks. Polynomials; Pair of Linear Equations in Two Variables; Quadratic Equations; Arithmetic Progressions.
• Coordinate Geometry - 6 marks. Distance formula and section formula.
• Geometry - 15 marks. Triangles; Circles.
• Trigonometry - 12 marks. Introduction to Trigonometry; Trigonometric Identities; Heights and Distances.
• Mensuration - 10 marks. Areas Related to Circles; Surface Areas and Volumes.
• Statistics and Probability - 11 marks. Statistics; Probability.

The other 20 marks are internal assessment - marks the school gives during the year. That makes 100 in all.

Is the weightage the same for Maths Basic and Maths Standard?

Yes. One unit table covers both codes, 041 for Standard and 241 for Basic. What differs is the kind of question. In Standard, 43 marks test recall and understanding. In Basic, 60 marks do. Maths Basic and Standard compared explains the rest of the difference.

What is the unit-wise weightage for CBSE Class 10 Science?

The Class 10 Science curriculum for 2026-27 has five units. These are the marks, with the topics CBSE lists under each unit:

• Chemical Substances - Nature and Behaviour - 25 marks. Chemical reactions and equations; acids, bases and salts; metals and non-metals; carbon and its compounds.
• World of Living - 25 marks. Life processes; control and coordination; reproduction; heredity.
• Natural Phenomena - 12 marks. Reflection and refraction of light, mirrors and lenses; the human eye; the prism, dispersion and scattering.
• Effects of Current - 13 marks. Electricity; the magnetic effects of current.
• Natural Resources - 5 marks. Our environment.

Some topics are taught but left out of the board paper. CBSE says they are assessed "only formatively" - in school work. They are: the periodic table; evolution; and the electric motor, electromagnetic induction and the generator.

Unit marks say where marks sit, not how they are won. Where the marks go in CBSE Science explains how answers earn them in diagrams, equations and numericals.

Has the Class 10 weightage changed for 2026-27?

No. For Class 10 Maths and Science, the 2026-27 unit marks are the same as in the 2025-26 curriculum. The 2026 board papers were set against this same table.

How the 2025 Maths paper matched these unit marks checks one real paper, unit by unit. The 2026 board season by the numbers looks at how the 2026 papers were built and how long they took to solve.

Which chapters are most important in Class 10 Maths?

By CBSE's table, Algebra is the biggest unit: 20 marks, a quarter of the paper, across four chapters. Geometry is next, with 15 marks across Triangles and Circles. Number Systems and Coordinate Geometry are the smallest, at 6 marks each.

But every unit is on the paper. Leaving out a 6-mark unit gives up those 6 marks before the exam starts. Weightage tells you where the marks sit. It does not tell you which questions will come.

The kind of question matters as much as the unit. In Science, CBSE gives 50% of the marks to knowledge and understanding, 30% to applying it, and 20% to analysing and evaluating. That is a split of marks. Questions set in a real situation are often called competency-based questions. CBSE's curriculum says about half the questions on a paper are of that kind. That is a share of questions, not marks. Case-based and competency questions, explained shows what they look like.

What is the weightage for ICSE Class 10 Physics?

CISCE, the board that runs ICSE, does not publish one. Its ICSE Physics syllabus lists six Class 10 topics, with no marks against any of them. The edition on its website is for the 2028 exam.

• Force, work, power and energy
• Light
• Sound
• Electricity and magnetism
• Heat
• Modern physics

The syllabus sets one paper of two hours for 80 marks, plus 20 marks of practical work. For how that paper gives marks to numericals, see how ICSE step marks work for formula, working and unit.

How should you use the weightage when you revise?

• Cover every unit first. A small unit still carries marks you can plan for.
• Then give time in line with the marks. Algebra carries more than three times the marks of Number Systems. Your practice time can reflect that.
• Practise whole answers, not only topics. Inside each unit, marks are won one correct step at a time. A skipped step costs marks in any unit.
• Look at where your marks went. After a practice paper, sort the marks you lost by unit. Why students lose marks they actually knew helps you name the cause of each one.

Past papers show how each unit's marks were asked. The Class 10 papers we cover lists them by board, subject and year.

How the four main Class 10 papers are built - sections, marks and choice - is set out in the CBSE Class 10 exam pattern for 2026-27.

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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