The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will begin the Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations on February 17, 2026. Class 10 papers will conclude on March 10, while Class 12 exams end on April 9. Ahead of the examinations, CBSE has issued a circular outlining major changes to the Class 10 Science and Social Science paper patterns.
Under the revised structure, the Class 10 Science question paper is categorised into three distinct sections aligned with subject areas:
• Section A – Biology
• Section B – Chemistry
• Section C – Physics
The new sample paper offers detailed, competency-focused questions across all three disciplines. Highlights from the Science and Social Science sample questions include the following:
Section A: Biology
Questions evaluate conceptual understanding of plant and animal systems, genetics, reproduction, and ecological relationships. Students are asked to justify whether plants produce excretory products, explain circulation in different organisms, describe water transport in plants, and construct food webs from given ecosystem data. The section also includes genetics problems based on monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, digestive system applications, and reproduction-based scenarios.
Section B: Chemistry
The Chemistry section covers periodicity, extraction of metals, corrosion, acid–base reactions, and organic compounds. Sample questions explore identifying reactive metals stored in kerosene, understanding why copper domes in Europe turn green, neutralisation experiments using phenolphthalein indicators, and combustion reactions of hydrocarbons. Students must write balanced equations, analyse observations in titration-style activities, and determine molecular formulas and structures based on reaction data.
Section C: Physics
Questions test students’ application-level understanding of electricity, resistance, household circuits, power ratings, and heat dissipation. The sample paper includes numerical problems requiring calculation of wire length for a given resistance, analysing the suitability of household fuses, computing total current for appliances, and determining heat produced by resistors connected in parallel.
The revised format is designed to promote analytical thinking and reduce rote memorisation by structuring questions around specific subject domains and real-world contexts.