ICSE Class 10 Exam Overview
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) conducts the ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) examination in India. It is a private board of school education in New Delhi that administers the ICSE (Class 10) and ISC (Class 12) exams. Every year, the ICSE tests are usually held in February or March.
The board is known for its focus on teaching in English and a curriculum that tries to improve students' analytical skills and real-world knowledge.
The ICSE timetable for 2026 is expected to be posted on the official website, cisce.org, in November 2025. The ICSE 10th exams for 2026 will probably be a Pen-paper based exam to be held between February 18 and March 27, 2026. Students must check this page regularly to stay updated on the release of the ICSE timetable 2026.
Students preparing for the Class 10 ICSE exams 2026 must go through the complete ICSE syllabus 2026 and must know the exam pattern well.
ICSE Exam Pattern and Grading System
The Council of Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) put out the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) exam pattern for 2026 on its official website, cisce.org, along with ICSE specimen question papers for 2026.
The ICSE 10th exam pattern for 2026 shows how the questions will be graded, what kinds of questions will be asked, how hard they will be, and other things.
To commence with the preparation for ICSE 10th examinations, one should necessarily go through the complete ICSE syllabus 2026 for various subjects. The board has published the ICSE 10th syllabus 2026 for all on the official website. All the chapters and topics covered in the examination are mentioned in the ICSE syllabus.
Students should try and cover the entire syllabus of ICSE at least a month before the release of the timetable if they want to secure good marks. After finishing the syllabus, the students must also keep time for revision.
The ICSE Class 10 study plan gives a full list of the required subjects and the choices for Groups II and III for the school year. When students know what subjects are on the ICSE 10th grade test, they can choose subjects that interest them.
Group I – Compulsory Subjects
Group II – (Any two of the following subjects)
Group III – (Any one of the following subjects)
Class 10 Exam Pattern Highlights
The board provides a detailed exam pattern for each subject. Some examples from the board website are mentioned below:
Grading / Mark Distribution
ICSE Class 10 Study Materials
The learning materials cover content from subjects such as English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Science through the lens of understanding, not memorization. Each topic is deconstructed using examples from real-life scenarios, diagrams and step-by-step solutions to aid comprehension of complex concepts.
At ALLEN, we always ensure that our ICSE study materials are current in accordance with the board and previous exam trends. The materials include mock tests, sample exercises and integrated question banks to aid the student in developing speed, accuracy and confidence.
Practicing ICSE Class 10 Sample Papers/ Specimen Papers (2026) is one of the best and smartest ways to prepare thoroughly for the board examinations. ALLEN provides subject-wise sample papers made by academic experts who create the sample papers based on their observations of the past years’ trends and the latest question patterns of ICSE. These sample papers also replicate exam conditions, which allows students to gauge their preparation level, build their time management, and self-evaluate areas to improve.
Every sample paper has a mix of objective-type, short answer type, and long answer type questions from each of the subjects respective syllabus. The following subjects have separate sample papers: English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History & Civics, Geography and Economics. The detailed answer keys and marking schemes explanations help students understand how to present their answers in the board-exam formatting style.
Previous year question papers for ICSE Class 10 act as good resources to familiarize you with the examination experience. ALLEN classifies their past question papers into subject-wise collections for students to understand the pattern of distribution of questions, repetition of topics, and given marks for the questions. Solving the past five years and up to ten years of question papers, students can easily capture the significance of chapters, question types they are comfortable tackling, and what techniques ICSE is seeking in regard to conceptual knowledge.
By previous year question papers actually asking questions from subjects of the English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology), Social Science (History, Civics, Geography), etc. Completing these previous year papers in the time frame of the exam helps students gauge their performance, writing exam responses, and then the discipline for the exam.
In February 2026, the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) is expected to send out the ICSE admit card 2026. The official website only lets school officials see the ICSE Class 10 admit card 2026.
Students must go to their schools to get their ICSE 10th admit card 2026. You need to have your ICSE admit card 2026 with you on all exam days because it is an important document. Students can't take their tests without it.
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations declares results for the class 10th ICSE examination usually in the first week of May. The results will be made available on the official website of CISCE — www.cisce.org.—by entering their unique ID and index number.
After the declaration of results, original mark sheets and certificates of passing will be issued by the schools, which are necessary for higher secondary admissions.
After getting their results, students are allowed to select the academic stream of their choice for Classes 11 and 12, such as Science, Commerce, or Humanities, according to their interests and performance.
Students who do not get satisfactory marks, may apply for rechecking or re-evaluation on the official CISCE online portal. The re-evaluation application and result verification window is tentatively scheduled to open in May–June 2026, just after the declaration of results.
(Session 2026 - 27)