ICSE Class 10 Physics numericals: how the marks work
CISCE prints the working it expects for a Physics numerical, not a mark per line. What that working shows, the rule on units, and where the 2025 examiners saw marks go.
CISCE does not print a mark for each line of an ICSE Physics numerical. It does print the working it expects: the formula, the numbers put in, and the answer with its unit. Its examiners also name where marks went, including wrong unit conversions, missing units and a slip carried into the next part.
Is there step marking for Physics numericals in ICSE?
CISCE does not publish a line-by-line split. Each year it publishes an Analysis of Pupil Performance, a report on how candidates answered. The report on the 2025 ICSE Physics paper prints every question with its marking scheme. For a numerical, the scheme is the full working, line by line.
It does not print how many marks each line earns. So the honest answer is this. The scheme shows the steps an examiner looks for. It does not say what each step is worth. CBSE is different: its schemes print a mark against each step. How step marking works on CBSE papers shows that side.
The practical point is the same on both boards. A line that is not written cannot be matched against the scheme. That is the core of why students lose marks they actually knew.
What does the ICSE marking scheme show for a numerical?
Take question 6(iii) of the 2025 paper. Richa weighs 40 kgf and reaches the ground at 10 m/s on her skateboard. Part (a) asks for her kinetic energy there.
The scheme prints one line with three parts. First the formula, K = ½mv². Then the numbers put in, ½ × 40 × 100. Then the answer with its unit, 2000 J. The mass is in kilograms and the speed in metres per second, the SI units the syllabus asks for.
Part (b) shows something else. The scheme prints two routes to the height, joined by "Or": ½mv² = mgh, or the formula v² = 2gh. A correct method that the scheme lists is accepted. The working does not have to copy one model answer.
Are marks cut for not writing units in ICSE Physics?
The rule is in the ICSE Physics syllabus. Unless a question says otherwise, "only SI Units are to be used" for answering questions. So the answer's unit is part of what is asked.
The 2025 report names unit errors in several questions. On question 3(iv), the examiners list "Missed or used the incorrect unit". On question 7(ii), a sound numerical, they list a slip in turning minutes into seconds, and an incorrect unit.
Question 9(i), on heat, is the clearest warning. One error the examiners list is putting the specific heat in SI units while leaving the mass in grams. The number can still come out right, because the conversions cancel. The report says that "conceptually it is wrong and can result in loss of marks". Put every value in one system of units before you substitute.
Do significant figures matter in ICSE Physics?
The syllabus names significant figures - the digits in a measurement that carry meaning in one place: the practical work. There, candidates are expected to "appreciate and use the concepts of least count, significant figures and elementary error handling". That work is the 20 marks of internal assessment.
For the written paper, the documents we checked print no rule on significant figures. So we do not state one. Give the answer the way the question's own numbers are given, and keep the unit.
Where are marks lost in ICSE Class 10 Physics numericals?
The 2025 report lists the errors its examiners saw, question by question. Here are the ones inside numericals, in CISCE's own terms.
- A wrong unit conversion. On the skateboard question, changing kilogram-force to newton wrongly, or to grams.
- The wrong formula or sign. On the lens numerical, question 5(i): the wrong sign convention at substitution, and the incorrect formula.
- A slip carried forward. On question 6(iii)(b), a calculation error in part (a) made the next answer wrong, "though the concepts were clear".
- A step of the physics left out. On question 6(iii)(c), the energy lost to friction was not taken away before the final answer.
- A unit missing or wrong. On questions 3(iv) and 7(ii), as above.
These are not all the same kind of loss. Some are slips on the page, like a unit left off or a calculation error carried forward "though the concepts were clear". For others, CISCE points at the idea itself. On 6(iii)(c) it names "a lack of clarity of the concept of 'energy conservation'". On the lens question, its advice to teachers starts with explaining the rules and sign convention. The first kind needs checking habits. The second needs the idea taught again.
How is the ICSE Physics paper set out?
The syllabus sets one paper of 2 hours for 80 marks, plus 20 marks of practical work. The 2025 paper had two sections. Section A carried 40 marks and every question had to be attempted. In Section B, 40 marks, a candidate answered any four questions of the six.
The first 15 minutes are for reading only. CISCE's advice to candidates is to use them to read the paper carefully. How the CBSE and ICSE papers compare sets this beside the CBSE pattern. Where the marks go in CBSE Science shows the CBSE rules for numericals.
What does a full-mark numerical look like?
Nothing here promises a score. But CISCE's suggestions for candidates in the 2025 report describe what the scheme looks for. These are its points, in short.
- Write correct units for every quantity. In SI units, as the syllabus asks. Marks for units has the short version.
- Always draw arrows on rays. The report says this in so many words.
- Recheck calculations and steps. A slip in one part can carry into the next.
- Practise under timed conditions. Use past papers and CISCE's specimen paper. Turning a mark-loss report into a 30-day plan shows how to use the results.
For what the scheme rewards across a whole paper, see how to score 95%: what the marking scheme rewards. Where anything here differs from CISCE's own documents, CISCE's version wins.
Sources
Facts last checked against these sources on 30 September 2026.
About the author
Founder Member & Academic Lead
An IIT alumna (M.Sc., M.Phil.) with over 25 years in teaching, child psychology and learning assessment. As Academic Lead at EduBrahma, she leads the method TRUtesting uses to find where and why a child loses marks.
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