ICSE Exam Pattern 2026: Know Marking Scheme & Exam Duration

Exam On - 17 Feb '26 - 30 Mar '26

Updated on Nov 2, 2025 16:18 IST

ICSE Exam Pattern 2026: Council of Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) released the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education or ICSE exam pattern 2026 through ICSE specimen question papers 2026 on the official website- cisce.org. The ICSE 10th exam pattern 2026 outlines the marking scheme, types of questions asked in the exam, their difficulty levels, and more.

The ICSE board exam 2026 is expected to be conducted between February 18 and March 27, 2026 in pen and paper format. The ICSE pattern outlines the marking scheme, duration, and the various types of questions asked in the exam. Students preparing for the exam must go through the ICSE 10th exam pattern 2026 and solve as many ICSE question papers of previous years’ for better preparation. The ICSE exam pattern for different subjects is provided below.

Table of contents

ICSE 10th Exam Pattern 2026 - Highlights
ICSE Pattern 2026
Subject-wise ICSE Board Pattern 2026
ICSE Exam 2026: Combination of subjects that are not allowed
ICSE 2026: Points to note
ICSE preparation tips
Marking Scheme for ICSE Exams
FAQs on ICSE Exam Pattern 2026

ICSE 10th Exam Pattern 2026 - Highlights

This year, the ICSE board exams will be conducted in February-March 2026 in pen and paper format.
They will be held in offline mode.
The duration for every paper is 2/2,5 hours (varying for different subjects).
Students will have to write the paper for a maximum of 80 marks. 20 marks are allotted for the internal assessment.
Students can click on ICSE 10th time table 2026 to check the tentative exam dates. These will be updated soon after the official dates are announced.
Students can check the ICSE board syllabus 2026 to know the chapters and topics to be covered for the exam.

Also read: Quick prep tips to score above 90% in CISCE 10th, 12th exams

Commonly asked questions

Q: How much percentage should I get to pass the ICSE 10th exam?

Students must note that in order to pass ICSE Board Exams 2026, students must score a minimum of 35 per cent in aggregate and per subject to pass. The official websites reads, “STATEMENT OF MARKS will be issued to all students who appeared for the examination. The pass marks for each subject is 35%.”

ICSE Pattern 2026

Groups

Subjects

Group-I – 80% exam + 20% internal assessment

History
Civics
Geography
English
Second Language

Group-II – 80% exam + 20% internal assessment

Physics
Chemistry
Biology

Mathematics
Economics
Modern foreign language
Classical language
Environmental Science

Group-III – 50% external exam + 50% internal exam

Performing Arts
Computer Applications
Commercial Applications
Economic Applications
Arts
Yoga
Cookery
Physical Education
Fashion Designing
Environmental Applications
Technical Drawing Applications
Home Science
Modern foreign language

Commonly asked questions

Q: If ICSE exams are conducted twice a year, will one term be held online?

The Ministry of Education plans to conduct all national and state board exams including ICSE board exam twice a year from the session 2025-26. Both the terms will be conducted offline or in pen and paper format. However, there is a possibility that term 1 exams will objective in nature while Term 2 exam will be subjective in nature.

The Board will release an official notification regarding the same very soon on the official website.

Subject-wise ICSE Board Pattern 2026

Students can find the ICSE exam pattern for some of the major subjects below.

ICSE Class 10 Exam Pattern 2026 for English

English Language (Paper-I)

The duration of the exam is 2 hours (for writing the answers)

The maximum marks allotted will be 80

Students will first get 15 minutes to read the question paper

The question paper will have five questions

The first question requires writing a composition. It is advisable to spend not more than 30 minutes on answering it.

The second question is letter-writing. Students should not spend more than 20 minutes on it.

Next question is on notice writing or email writing

For the fourth question, an unseen passage would be given and students have to answer the questions the given related to the passage. The students are also provided with a choice in this question.

The last question tests the students on their English Grammar skills.

English Literature (Paper-II)

The duration of the exam is 2 hours (for writing the answers)

Maximum marks allotted will be 80

Students will first get 15 minutes to read the question paper

Section A contains 16 MCQs. It is necessary to attempt all questions in this section

Students are to attempt one question each from all sections B, C and D and one more question from any Section of their choice

ICSE Exam Pattern 2026 for Hindi

Hindi (Second Language)

The duration of the exam is 2 hours (for writing the answers)

Maximum marks allotted will be 80

Students will first get 15 minutes to read the question paper

Section A will require students to write a composition (250 words approx), letter writing, answer questions related to an unread passage and some MCQs. It is important to answer all questions in Section A.

From Section B, students will have to attempt any four questions (It is important to answer at least one question from each of the two books read in class and any other two questions)

ICSE Pattern 2026 for Mathematics

Mathematics

The duration of the exam is 2.5 hours (for writing the answers)

Maximum marks allotted will be 80

Students will first get 15 minutes to read the question paper

Students must attempt all questions from section A and any four questions from section B

All working, including rough work, must be done on the same sheet as the rest of the answer. Omission of essential working will result in loss of marks

For more details on ICSE pattern 2026, students can click on ICSE specimen question papers 2026 and download them.

Commonly asked questions

Q: What score do I need to clear ICSE 10th exams?

Students must note the subject-wise ICSE passing marks in ICSE. To acquire the pass certificate, students must score at least 35% in 5 subjects out of 6 and achieve an aggregate mark of 33% as the passing marks out of 100 in ICSE. The ICSE passing marks out of 80 is 26.

ICSE Exam 2026: Combination of subjects that are not allowed

In the ICSE 2026, students are not allowed to select certain combinations of subjects. These are:

Environmental Science in Group II and Environmental Applications in Group III
Economics in Group II and Economic Applications in Group III
Commercial Studies in Group II and Commercial Applications in Group III
Sanskrit as a second language in group I and Sanskrit as a classical language in group II
Modern Foreign Language must be a different language for all groups

Commonly asked questions

Q: What should I carry on ICSE exam days with me?

Students must remember to carry the ICSE 10th admit card 2026 along with the important stationery like pens, pencils, ruler, geometry box etc. It is important that they do not forget the ICSE admit card 2026 Class 10 or they will not be allowed to write the exam.

ICSE 10th exams 2026 will be held between February and March 2026 in pen and paper format.

Q: Is ICSE Board exam checking strict?

For Class 10th, it is considered to be strict. However, it is said that the checking done by evaluators is lenient in comparison to the checking done by them in Class 9 in their schools.

So, if u have covered the entire ICSE 10th syllabus and your preparation is on point, then you must not worry about the strict checking.

ICSE 2026: Points to note

Students will be required to choose their optional subjects during Class 9 registration. Also, they will not be allowed to change the subjects in class 10.
Apart from the two optional subjects, students can also choose one additional subject from group II.
Students have the choice to opt for one additional secondary language if they have already chosen Hindi as one of their second languages.

ICSE preparation tips

Students must go through the complete ICSE syllabus and ICSE 10th exam pattern thoroughly before beginning to prepare for exams
Complete the syllabus at least one or two months before the commencement of the examination. This will leave them ample time for revision
Make a plan of study and follow it religiously
By following the latest ICSE 10th exam pattern 2026 and practicing more with previous year papers and sample papers, students will perform better

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Commonly asked questions

Q: How should I prepare for my 10th ICSE examination?

Hi Vasima, The only formula to success is hard work and dedication. Go through your syllabus properly and after that, go through sample question papers like ten years for practice and to understand the pattern of the examination.

Marking Scheme for ICSE Exams

The marking scheme of ICSE (CISCE Class 10) is given below:

Group 1 is Compulsory for all
Students may select any 2 subjects from group 2 and any 1 subject from group 3.

Group 1

Subject Name	Percentage Marks - External Exams (%)	Percentage Marks-Internal Exams (%)
English	80	20
Second Language	80	20
History, Civics & Geography	80	20
Environmental Science	80	20

Group 2:

Subject Name	Percentage Marks-External Exams (%)	Percentage Marks-Internal Exams (%)
Mathematics	80	20
Science	80	20
Economics	80	20
Commercial Studies	80	20
Technical Drawing	80	20
A modern Foreign Language	80	20
Classical Language	80	20
Computer Science	80	20
Environmental Science	80	20
Agricultural Science	80	20

Group 3

Subject Name	Percentage Marks-External Exams (%)	Percentage Marks-Internal Exams (%)
Computer Applications	50	50
Economic Applications	50	50
Commercial Applications	50	50
Art	50	50
Performing Arts	50	50
Home Science	50	50
Cookery	50	50
Fashion Designing	50	50
Physical Education	50	50
Yoga	50	50
Technical Drawing Applications	50	50
Environmental Applications	50	50
A Modern Foreign Language	50	50

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Commonly asked questions

Q: Are all the topics mentioned in the ICSE syllabus there in the books prescribed by CISCE?

Yes, the books prescribed by the CISCE includes all the topics mentioned in the ICSE syllabus. Students must go throtugh these books thoroughly before picking up ay other reference book.

FAQs on ICSE Exam Pattern 2026

Students can check the FAQs on ICSE exam pattern 2026 below:

Commonly asked questions

Q: Is the ICSE 10th result taken out through Digilocker valid?

Yes, the online ICSE report card is valid. You may also go to Digilocker and extract your ICSE 10th result 2026 from there. It is electronically signed and valid as the original hard copy.

Q: Will I get my ICSE 10th result only in online mode?

ICSE Class 10 result 2026 will be released online on the official website cisce.org. The results can also be checked via SMS and DigiLocker app. To check the ICSE result 2026 via SMS, students need to send a message in the format-

SMS format: ICSE send the same to this number: 09248082883.
SMS Example: ICSE 1786257

Students must note that they will need to collect the original marksheet from school after a few days of the announcement of the result.

Q: In case the ICSE exam goes digital, will they follow the same exam pattern?

There is no information about ICSE 10th exams going digital this year. In case this happens, the board will inform if any changes are made in the ICSE exam pattern.

For now, the Council will conduct ICSE exams in pen and paper format in February, March 2024. Students must go through the detailed ICSE syllabus and exam pattern to know the topics, units to study and to know the marking scheme, the difficulty level and more.