Class 10 Science Sample Paper 2026-27: How the Paper Is Built

CBSE has released the Class 10 Science sample paper for 2026-27, and many students want to know how the Board paper is built before they start practising. This post explains, in plain words, the question types, the share of competency-focused questions, the unit-wise marks and what has stayed the same from last year. Every rule is stated as CBSE has given it.

Has anything changed for 2026-27?

No. CBSE notified that there is no change in the question paper design and assessment pattern for the academic session 2026-27. The passing criteria also remain the same as in 2025-26.

The Sample Question Papers and Marking Schemes for Classes 10 and 12 for 2026-27 were released on 21 September 2026.

So if you are in Class 10 now (Board exam 2027), the sample paper is a reliable guide to how your paper is designed.

The kinds of questions in the paper

In Classes 9 and 10, about 50% of exam questions are competency-focused. These include:

• case-based questions
• source-based questions
• integrated questions
• data interpretation questions
• situational questions
• application questions

The rest are multiple-choice, short-answer and long-answer questions. Assertion-reason questions are also among the question types.

What this means for you: about half the paper will not ask you to simply recall a line from the book. It will give you a situation, a passage, some data or a case and ask you to apply what you know. Reading the chapter is the first step; using the idea in a new setting is the second.

What the paper tests: the three weights

In Class 10 Science, the paper is weighted like this:

Put simply:

• Knowledge and understanding: do you know the facts, terms and ideas, and can you explain them?
• Application: can you use an idea to solve a problem or explain a new situation?
• Formulate, analyse, evaluate and create: can you work with data, compare, judge and reason your way to an answer?

Unit-wise marks for Science

The Class 10 Board syllabus for 2026-27 has the same units and marks as 2025-26:

These add up to 80 marks. Chemical Substances and World of Living together carry 50 of them, so they deserve a large share of your time. But do not skip the smaller units, since every mark counts.

What CBSE has not told us in these facts

The official facts summarised here do not list the exact number of questions, the number of sections or the marks for each question type. Those details are in the sample paper and marking scheme themselves. Open the sample paper from CBSE's website and look at its structure directly, rather than relying on second-hand summaries.

How to use the sample paper this month

1. Read it once without solving. Notice the types of questions and how each section is set out.
2. Solve it under time limits once you have covered most chapters. Treat it like the real exam.
3. Check with the marking scheme. See which steps and keywords the scheme gives marks for, and compare them with your answers.
4. Sort your mistakes. Was it a gap in knowledge, a wrong application, or a misread case? Each needs a different fix.
5. Practise competency questions chapter by chapter. After each chapter, try a few case-based and assertion-reason questions on it.
6. Revisit weak units using the unit-wise marks table above.

Quick answers

• Is the 2026-27 Science paper pattern new? No. CBSE notified no change in question paper design and assessment pattern.
• How many questions are competency-focused? About 50% in Classes 9 and 10.
• Which units carry the most marks? Chemical Substances (25) and World of Living (25).
• Where is the sample paper? On CBSE's academic website, at the link below.

Practise Science chapter by chapter with case-based questions when you study this chapter with Joy on Learnijoy.

Last updated: 7 October 2026. Source: CBSE.