NIOS 10th Exam Pattern 2026: Check Latest Pattern & Marking Scheme

A student has nine chances to appear in the public examinations that are spread over a period of five years. The credits gained are accumulated until the student gains the required credits for certification. NIOS has an evaluation system where the student has the freedom to answer the questions in public examinations in any one of the scheduled regional languages, although the question papers supplied are generally in English, Hindi and regional languages. 

The information about examination centres and results are available online. The public examinations are held twice a year in the months of April-May and October-November. Students can appear through On-Demand Examination at the secondary level in those subjects for which students have been given admission in NIOS. 

Students need to register by filling up the examination form and paying the examination fee as indicated. Examination centres are chosen by NIOS but they are normally district headquarters, sub-divisional headquarters and other available places nearest to the AIs. 

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NIOS Subjects Categories

The NIOS secondary course is equivalent to the tenth class and a student is required to complete a minimum of 5 subjects with a minimum of one language and a maximum of two languages, to be eligible for certification. The subjects are broadly divided into two categories- Group A and Group B.

NIOS has an On-Demand Examination System (ODES) at the secondary level and offers 28 subjects in eight mediums namely Hindi, English, Urdu, Marathi, Telugu, Gujarati, Malayalam and Odia for secondary examinations. NIOS also offers vocational subjects in combination with academic subjects at the secondary stage. 

To pass the exam, a student must attend all the classes at the centre so that he/she can get complete guidance from their tutors and also attain a good score in the tutor-marked assignment as it carries 20% weightage.

The grading of subjects is made of two parts, Tutor Marked Assignments, or TMAs and the final examinations. For subjects without practicals, such as the Group A subjects, TMAs account for 20% of the grade. The final exam for most subjects will be for 3 hours. However, a few subjects, such as Home Science, have an exam duration of 2.5 hours. 

The breakdown for Group A subjects without practicals will be as follows:

The final exam will be of 100 marks but will be scaled down to consider 80 as the maximum marks. 

The TMAs will be of 20 marks. 

Thus, 80 (exam)+ 20 (TMAs)= 100 marks total. 

For the subjects with practicals, such as some of the Group B subjects, the breakdown will be as follows:

The final exam will be of 85 marks but will be scaled down to take 64 as the maximum marks. 

The TMAs will be of 20 marks, but will also be scaled down to take 16 as the maximum marks. 

The practicals will be of 20 marks. 

Thus, 64 (exam) + 16 (TMAs) + 20 (practicals)= 100 marks total. 

For the final exams, students are mainly tested in three areas: knowledge, application and understanding. However, the weightage given to each area varies from subject to subject. Some subjects, such as science and Technology, also have an added skill component. 

The student has to choose the subjects and languages based on their interest and aptitude. Since there are no regular classroom teaching and coaching sessions, the students have to find resources and books on their own. 

Once the admission is done, NIOS sends all the subject books by post. Alternatively, students can get in touch with the chosen study centre to collect books on time. NIOS study material and guide books are also available online. These guides come with sample model papers and previous years’ question papers.

The NIOS syllabus and sample papers of the exam are available for Hindi, English, Science, Social Science, Business Studies, Psychology, Sanskrit, Home Science, Mathematics, Indian Culture & Heritage, Economics, Painting and Data Entry Operations. 

The NIOS course material is available for download on the official NIOS website. Students can find the prescribed course material in pdf format for Hindi, English, Sanskrit, Urdu, Arabic, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Social Science, Economics, Business Studies, Home Science, Psychology, Indian Culture and Heritage, Accountancy, Painting, Data Entry Operations, Sindhi, Hindustani Music, Carnatic Music, and Persian. Apart from these, students can find course materials for regional languages and for the above subjects in regional mediums. These are also available as links on other websites that provide coaching and learning materials.

Students can read some NIOS 10th preparation tips here.

• Do not get tensed.
• Give importance to high weightage lessons.
• Students should revise their short notes properly.
• They should relax by engaging in sports/yoga/fun activities.
• Stay calm and sleep properly.
• Do not try to learn any hard topic just before the NIOS 10th board exam.

FAQs on NIOS 10th Exam Pattern 2026