ISC Preparation 2026: Tips, Strategy & Guide

The ISC time table 2026 was released on November 13, 2025. The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) announced the ISC 12th time table on their official website, cisce.org. The ISC date sheet 2026 includes all subjects' exam dates and timings. The examinations will be held between February 12 and April 6, 2026. 

The exams are held in pen and paper format. Students are advised to go through the ISC syllabus and exam pattern 2026 thoroughly before the release of time table. 

Following are some tips to improve the writing and presentation skills for the ISC 12th board exams.

• Students must write the answers neatly. The hand writing should be legible.
• Write the answers with proper heading and subheading.
• Highlight your important points.
• Cross out the errors neatly with single line.
• Divide the time for each question to avoid rushing.  
• Practice writing the previous year question papers.

Cover the whole Syllabus: The Board has already released the whole ISC 12th syllabus 2025 online. Students must note that nothing will come out of syllabus ISC board exam 2025. Covering every bit of the syllabus will help student get through the tricky questions asked during the ISC Class 12 board exams 2025. Focus on one marker because those questions are the key to score 100 and be regular with your studies. Do at least one revision and at least the last three years' board question papers per subject to score well in ISC board exams

Text books only: One of the best ways to excel in the ISC Board Exam 2025 Class 12 is to focus on textbooks instead of any other books. Make proper notes of all subjects. Do not neglect any. Keep your revision game strong. It is just about balancing all the subjects. Revise and practice and focus on text books.

Utilise ISC 12th Time Table 2025: Students prepping to appear for ISC Board Exam 2025 Class 12 must download and save the ISC date sheet 2025, once it is out. Students are advised to use the official schedule for the ISC board exam to make a strategic plan and timetable for ISC board exam preparation 2025. Go through the date sheet to check how many preparatory leaves are provided between exams and prepare for all accordingly. I made sure to complete the whole syllabus and keep only revision bit for the preparatory days. Date sheets are not just dates on which the exam would be conducted, it helps you strategize and prepare well in advance.

Focus on Revision: It is all about revision after a point of time. Once the syllabus is over, all you need to do is revise your syllabus and solve as many sample papers as you can. However, you can always go back to the basics for a quick run-through. This will boost your confidence when you test yourself.

Practice ISC Sample Papers: Students prepping up for ISC Board Exam 2024 must note that ISC 12th Sample Paper 2025 are available online. These makes one familiar with the exam pattern, marking scheme, difficulty level of exam, types of questions asked every year and more.

Make short Notes: While preparing for the ISC Board Exam 2025,  students are advised to cover the whole syllabus and also keep on making short notes. These notes would help students utilise their last minute in revising all the important pointers and topics. Students must complete their syllabus before the board exams 2025 begin. During the preparatory holidays, they are advised to revise for ISC board exams 2025 using these short notes. This is one of the quickest preparation techniques that is commonly shared by all board exam toppers. 

Relax: Amid all the chaos and hurriedness to complete ISC 12th syllabus 2025, students must understand to relax. Taking short breaks, managing time and taking out some free hours to relax is important. Taking short breaks enhances productivity but while doing so, make sure that the breaks do not stretch since it breaks the flow. Managing your screen time is very important. 

According to ISC students who appeared for the ISC board exam last year, the Economics and mathematics subjects appeared to have been the toughest papers for both the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and the Indian School Certificate (ISC) students.

To begin with, know the complete ISC syllabus and exam pattern 2025. Check the weightage given to each chapter. Pick up the chapters which have a higher weightage and study them well. Similarly, you can pick up chapters and topics of importance. After completing the syllabus, you must download the ISC specimen sample papers and start solving them. These will give you an idea of the difficulty level and the types of questions that are asked frequently.  

Get all your dowbts cleared soon as they arise. Make notes of the important points and this practice shall help you obtain over 90 percent in your ISC 12th board exams 2025.

The students must follow the instructions given in the question paper. Attempting both the options will take away much of the time. They must read both questions carefully and attempt the question which they know the most. 

Candidates must carry their ISC 12th admit card with them. Students failing to bring the hard copy of the admit card will not be allowed to take the examination. Students must not bring electronic devices such as calculators, mobile phones, or smartwatches with them to the examination hall.

Along with the ISC admit card, students must also carry their pens, pencils, ruler. geometry box etc.

Yes, it is preferred that the sample papers/ question papers should be practiced within the specified time. This habit will let you strategise as to which questions one must answer first and others that can be answered later. Also, it will let lone know if they need to increase their writing speed so as to answer the paper within time.

In case you are unaware of the answers to certain questions, you must connect with your teachers/peers to understand the concept and then know the answer. This will help you prepare for the board exams. While reading/studying, you must make notes of the important points which can be referred later, a day before the exam.

ISC specimen question papers 2025 are released on the official website - cisce.org. Students are advised to download and practice the ISC specimen papers 2025 from our ISC question papers page. Practicing these sample papers help them to be familiar with the exam pattern and ISC marking scheme. 

Students are advised to reach the ISC exam centre at least half an hour before the commencement of exams. The exam timings are mentioned in the Maha ISC hall ticket. In case a student gets late in reaching the exam centre, he/she must understand that they will not be given any extra time to write the exam. 

Thus, it is advised that students leave for the exam centre early considering the traffic or any other deterrent. 

Students must go through the points below to avoid the ISC board exam-day hassles:

• All communication devices like mobile phones, Bluetooth devices, headphones, pagers, fitness bands, cameras, etc., are barred from carrying to the examination hall.
• Accessories like wallets, goggles, handbags, and purses are not to be carried.
• Students must not forget to carry all the stationary items that are required to appear for the ISC 12th board exams as sharing of stationery is not allowed
• However, do not forget to carry your ISC hall ticket on all exam days
• Students without the hall ticket will not be allowed to write their ISC board exams

ISC 12th exams 2025 were held between Feb 13 and April 5, 2025. Students must read the tips below to score well in Class 12 exams 2025. 

Complete the whole syllabus: The Board has already released the whole ISC syllabus 2025 online. Students must note that nothing will come out of syllabus. Covering every bit of the syllabus will help student get through the tricky questions asked during the ISC board exams 2025. Focusing on one marker because those questions are the key to score 100 and being regular with your studies. Do your best and prepare in advance so you don't panic in exams. 

Do at least one revision. Also, do at least the last three years' board question papers per subject to score well in ISC board exams.

Cover Textbooks thoroughly: One of the best ways to excel in the ISC Board Exam 2025 Class 10 is to focus on the textbooks instead of any other books. Make proper notes of all subjects, especially science, and SST. The most important thing to focus on is never to ignore SST. This subject can make your percentage very low as it contains most chapters. Hence, do not neglect it. Keep your revision game strong. It is just about balancing all the subjects. 

Utilise ISC time table 2025: Students prepping to appear for ISC Board Exam 2025 must note that ISC date sheet 2025 will be out in December 2024. Students are advised to use the official schedule for the ISC exams to make a strategic plan and timetable for ISC board exam preparation 2025. 

Focus on Revision: Once the syllabus is over, all you need to do is revise your syllabus and solve as many sample papers as you can. However, you can always go back to the basics for a quick run-through. Emphasize on revision and practice sample papers as it boosts confidence when you test yourself. 

Practice ISC Sample Papers 2025: Students prepping up for ISC 12th Exam 2025 must note that ISC Sample Paper 2025 are available online. These will make you familiar with the marking scheme, exam pattern, the types of questions asked in the exam etc. 

ISC practical exams 2026 will likely be conducted in January 2026. The ISC time table 2026 is expected to release in the last week of November 2025. The ISC Board theory exams 2026 will be held offline or in pen and paper format between February 13 and April 5, 2026, tentatively. 

 

No, the board officials decide on the ISC exam dates after carefully considering all events, holidays etc. Thus, no request for changes willn be entertained. 

Students must prepare for the board exams according to the date sheet released. The ISC 12th board exams 2025 were held between February 13 and April 5, 2025. The exams will be held in offline or pen and paper format.   

Yes, Shiksha.com has released the ISC question papers 2024 for some of the major subjects. Students can click on the link provided to download them for free. 

Practising the previous years' question papers gives students an idea of the type of questions asked and the difficulty level of the exam. 

For ISC 12th, the checking 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, 11 in their schools.

So, if u have covered the entire ISC 12th syllabus and your preparation is on point, then you must not worry about the strict checking. Know the ISC exam pattern well and practice solving as many sample papers and previous years question papers as possible. You will definitely perform very well in the examinations. 

All students need to score at least 40 per cent in all subjects in order to clear the ISC examinations. They also need to have a minimum of 75% of attendance. 

To clear the ISC exams, students must be thorough with the ISC syllabus and exam pattern. They must also solve and practice the ISC sample papers and previous year's question papers to get familiar with the marking scheme, types of questions asked in the exam and more.  

Hi Nilanjana, A few helpful tips that should work out for you - 1. Study regularly, take out time for at least three subjects in a day. Work more on those subjects, in which you feel you are weaker than other subjects. Follow the syllabus, NCERT books are best. 2. Do not leave any subject for more than 2-3 days. Every subject should be taken up for study at least in every alternate day. 3. Devote at least 6-7 hours for self study. Take out a bit of time for relaxing and entertaining also. 4. Keep checking previous years papers, sample papers etc. 5. Class tests are important so don't miss any.

Hi Abhishek, The Secret of scoring above 90 % (or even 95%) is - to study NCERT's fully and solve past year question papers. NCERT's play an important role, as if you have read the NCERT properly, then most of the questions in the papers would be known to you. Just read the NCERT's again and again instead of going into guide books. Secondly, solve previous years question papers seriously as in CBSE questions do repeat. Lastly, Study efficiently, cover all the topics and just believe in yourself. This above mentioned technique was adopted by me also, and I have myself scored 95.2 % in CBSE 2017. Hope it helps you.

In order to clear ISC Class 12, a student is required to have obtained at least 40% marks in four subjects including English on the cumulative average and a minimum attendance of 75% of the working days. 

So yes, attendance is very much compulsory to clear the ISC board Class 12. Students must go through the exam pattern and know the ISC syllabus. They must also solve and practice the ISC sample papers and previous years question papers to score well in the exams. Maintaining consistency in studies from the beginning will help students stay focused and will help them stay regular in school and maintain the attendance.