CBSE vs ICSE: how the Class 10 papers compare
How a CBSE Class 10 paper and an ICSE one are built: the marks, the time, how choice works, and how Maths and Science differ. Read from the boards' rules and real papers.
Both boards set Class 10 papers of 80 marks, and the school adds 20 more. The difference is in how a paper is built. CBSE puts the choice inside a question and sets Science as one paper. ICSE makes half the paper compulsory, lets you pick whole questions, and sets three science papers.
What is the Class 10 exam pattern in CBSE and ICSE?
In CBSE, most subjects have an 80-mark board paper. The other 20 marks are internal assessment - marks the school gives for its own tests and work. CBSE's 2026-27 curriculum gives Maths and Science 3 hours each.
In ICSE, the CISCE regulations give Maths and Science 80% from the board's paper and 20% from internal assessment. The ICSE Maths syllabus sets one paper of three hours. Physics, Chemistry and Biology are separate papers, and CISCE's syllabus gives each one two hours.
How does choice work in each board's paper?
In CBSE, every question must be answered. Some questions print two versions with "OR" between them, and you answer one. The 2026 CBSE Maths papers had 38 questions and nine such pairs. So 54 marks had no choice and 26 came from the pairs.
In ICSE, Section A is 40 marks that everyone answers. In Section B you pick four whole questions of 10 marks. The 2026 ICSE Maths paper offered seven, so there were 35 ways to pick four. The ICSE sciences offered six, which gives 15 ways.
More choice means two students in the same hall can answer quite different papers. In ICSE Maths 2026, Algebra was anywhere from 23 to 31 of the 80 marks, depending on the four questions picked. In CBSE Maths 2026, Algebra was 20 marks whatever the choice.
CBSE vs ICSE Maths: what is different?
- CBSE has set two Maths papers, Basic and Standard. Maths Basic and Maths Standard are different papers. CBSE's 2026-27 curriculum says the two levels will be discontinued. Students in Class 10 during 2026-27 are the last who may take Basic. After that, there is one Maths paper and an optional 25-mark Maths Advanced paper. Maths Basic or Standard: which to take explains the choice for now.
- ICSE sets one Maths paper. Its syllabus says some questions may need mathematical tables.
- CBSE Maths has five sections, from one-mark questions to three 4-mark case studies. The 2026 ICSE Maths paper opened with 15 multiple-choice questions.
- The 2026 ICSE Maths paper had a construction with ruler and compass, worth 5 marks, in the compulsory section.
How do CBSE and ICSE Science papers differ?
CBSE sets one Science paper. In 2026 it had three sections: Biology for 30 marks, Chemistry for 25 and Physics for 25. The paper asked for each answer in its matching section. Where the marks go in CBSE Science looks at each section.
ICSE sets Physics, Chemistry and Biology as three papers, each 80 marks in two hours. So an ICSE student sits three science papers where a CBSE student sits one. How step marks work in ICSE Physics numericals covers the working those papers expect.
Do CBSE and ICSE mark answers differently?
Both expect the working, not just the answer. CBSE gives marks for each correct step, as its marking scheme sets out. What step marking means shows how a 3-mark answer is split. The 2026 ICSE Maths paper printed this instruction on its first page:
"Omission of essential working will result in loss of marks."
The same paper asked for all working, including rough work, on the same sheet as the answer. So in both boards, a correct answer with no working can lose marks.
Is ICSE harder than CBSE?
The papers cannot tell you that. We rate each question's difficulty one paper at a time, and those ratings are not on one scale across boards. They are also our judgement, not results from real answer sheets. What does differ is the shape: ICSE gives more choice, and it sets more science papers.
CBSE or ICSE: which is best for my child?
That is a family's choice, and the papers alone cannot make it. They can show what each board asks for. CBSE fixes more of the paper and offers smaller choices inside questions. ICSE lets a student pick whole questions, so choosing the four matters.
For a child already in one board, practise that board's pattern. A pre-board - a school's practice exam before the board exam is most useful when it copies that pattern too.
Can your child practise with the other board's papers?
- For one topic, yes. A quadratic equation is the same in both boards.
- For the exam itself, no. The time, the marks and the choice rules are what is being practised, and those differ.
- The CBSE papers' sections, marks and choice are set out in the CBSE Class 10 exam pattern.
- Our library holds 15 CBSE papers in Mathematics and Science, from 2022 to 2026. It holds 16 ICSE papers in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics, from 2023 to 2026. Which Class 10 papers we cover lists each one.
- For the 2026 papers from both boards read side by side, see the 2026 board season by the numbers.
Sources
Facts last checked against these sources on 30 September 2026.
- Secondary Curriculum 2026-27, Part 1: scheme of studies and assessment · CBSE
- ICSE Regulations for Examination, Examination Year 2028 edition (published January 2026) · CISCE
- ICSE Mathematics syllabus, Examination Year 2028 · CISCE
- ICSE Physics syllabus, Examination Year 2028 · CISCE
- Our analyses of the 2026 CBSE and ICSE papers, and the papers themselves, in the paper library · TRUpreBoards
About the author
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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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