Unit-wise marks
| Unit | Book | Marks | Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| History | India and the Contemporary World - II | 18 + 2 map = 20 | A |
| Geography | Contemporary India - II | 17 + 3 map = 20 | B |
| Political Science | Democratic Politics - II | 20 | C |
| Economics | Understanding Economic Development | 20 | D |
| Total | 80 |
These totals held in all four papers studied (the 2026-27 sample paper and the board papers of 2025, February 2026 and May 2026). Inside a section, marks move between chapters from paper to paper; the section totals do not.
Chapter-wise marks and the questions each chapter gets
The marks below come from the sample paper and the two 2026 board papers, which follow the current pattern. The 2025 paper used an older layout, so it appears only in the last column. "The three recent papers" below means the sample paper and both 2026 papers. How the marks are counted: an OR is counted under its first option (both options were from the same chapter anyway), a case-based question under the chapter of its passage, and an "any three of four" map question by its first three items.
| Section | Chapter | Sample paper | Feb 2026 | May 2026 | What is usually asked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A History (20) | The Rise of Nationalism in Europe | 4 | 5 | 5 | The 5-marker in February 2026 (unification of Germany OR Italy) and 2025 (Napoleonic Code OR liberalism); the 3-marker in the sample paper (female allegory OR the Greek war) and May 2026 (the Polish language); MCQs in the sample paper, May 2026 and 2025 (censorship after 1815, a chronological order, a stamp picture, unified Italy) |
| Nationalism in India | 8 | 7 | 8 | The 2-mark History map question in every paper. The 5-marker in the sample paper (economic effects of Non-Cooperation OR merchants in Civil Disobedience) and May 2026 (women in Civil Disobedience); the case study in February 2026 (Quit India); a 3-marker on Non-Cooperation in 2025; an MCQ in all three recent papers (a procession picture, a chronological order, the Lahore session) | |
| The Making of a Global World (pre-modern world only) | 3 | 3 | 2 | Q5, the History 2-marker, in all three recent papers: germs as the Spanish conquerors' weapon, food and cultural exchange OR trade and culture, how Europe's empire spread into America. Sometimes also an MCQ (silk routes; silver from Peru and Mexico) | |
| Print Culture and the Modern World | 5 | 5 | 5 | The History case study in the sample paper (print comes to India), May 2026 and 2025 (print and censorship, both times); the 3-marker in February 2026 (print and the French Revolution OR Buddhist missionaries); one or two MCQs, such as a chronological order or matching writers with their works (both 2026 papers) | |
| B Geography (20) | Resources and Development | 2 | 2 | 3 | MCQs on types of resources, resource planning, soils and land use (two each in the sample paper and February 2026); a 3-marker in May 2026 (renewable and non-renewable resources); a 2-marker in 2025 |
| Forest and Wildlife Resources | 4 | 2 | 1 | The case study in the sample paper (community conservation, Chipko); otherwise MCQs: national parks and their states, Beej Bachao Andolan (February 2026), an Assertion-Reason on forests (May 2026), forest categories by area (2025) | |
| Water Resources | 3 | 5 | 4 | The case study in both 2026 papers (Sardar Sarovar; water demand of industries and cities); the 2-marker in the sample paper (rainwater harvesting); a dam on the map in the sample paper and February 2026; dam-and-river matching in 2025 | |
| Agriculture | 5 | 3 | 3 | The 5-marker in the sample paper (tea OR coffee; rice OR wheat, for a farmer); MCQs naming a crop from clues or matching slash-and-burn names with states; a 2-marker in February 2026 (modern farming), a 3-marker in 2025 (slash-and-burn farming); a leading crop state on the map in May 2026 and 2025 | |
| Minerals and Energy Resources | 2 | 7 | 2 | Two MCQs in the sample paper and May 2026 (placer deposits, iron-ore belts and types, bauxite states); the 5-marker in February 2026 (petroleum OR coal: importance 3 + distribution 2); a nuclear power plant on the map in February 2026 and 2025 | |
| Manufacturing Industries | 4 | 1 | 6 | The 5-marker in May 2026 (why manufacturing matters OR agriculture and industry); a reasoning MCQ and an Assertion-Reason in the sample paper (weaving; Bengaluru's IT industry); a steel plant, cotton textile centre or software technology park on the map in every paper | |
| Lifelines of National Economy (map only) | 0 | 0 | 1 | Only on the map: a port or airport item in every paper (Amritsar airport in all three board papers, Kandla port in May 2026, Meenambakkam airport in the sample paper) | |
| C Political Science (20) | Power-sharing | 4 | 5 | 5 | An MCQ or Assertion-Reason in every paper (Belgium, Sri Lanka, forms of power sharing, prudential reasons); a 2-marker in the sample paper (Belgium) and May 2026 (why power sharing OR checks and balances); the case study in February 2026 (horizontal sharing) |
| Federalism | 5 | 4 | –* | The 5-marker in the sample paper (1992 amendments OR what makes India federal); a 3-marker on the division of powers and a statements MCQ on Panchayati Raj in February 2026; the case study in 2025 (Porto Alegre) | |
| Gender, Religion and Caste | 3 | 2 | –* | A written question in the sample paper, February 2026 and 2025: the 3-marker on caste and elections (sample paper), 2-markers on women's entrepreneurship (February 2026) and removing gender inequality (2025) | |
| Political Parties | 5 | 6 | 4 | An MCQ in every paper (internal democracy, national and State parties, the affidavit order, components of a party); the case study in the sample paper, the 5-marker in February 2026, a 3-marker in May 2026 and 2025. The multi-party system came up in three of the four papers | |
| Outcomes of Democracy | 3 | 3 | 1* | A cartoon MCQ and a 2-marker in the sample paper and February 2026 (citizens as stakeholders; democracy vs dictatorship); an Assertion-Reason in May 2026 (legitimate government); the 5-marker in 2025 (bases for assessing outcomes OR values of democracy) | |
| D Economics (20) | Development | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 or 6 marks in all three recent papers. MCQs on development goals, average income, HDI, attendance ratio and BMI; the 5-marker in the sample paper (a table of IMR, literacy and attendance for three states) and 2025 (groundwater and sustainability); a 3-marker on sustainability in February 2026; a 2-marker in May 2026 (different notions of development) |
| Sectors of the Indian Economy | 5 | 6 | 6* | A GDP-by-sector sum or table MCQ in the sample paper and May 2026; the 5-marker in February 2026 (primary vs secondary OR organised vs unorganised); a 3-marker on disguised unemployment (sample paper) and on public vs private sectors (2025) | |
| Money and Credit | 5 | 4 | 5 | MCQs in every paper (money as a medium of exchange, terms of credit, sources of loans); a 3-marker in the sample paper (how SHGs cut risk for banks) and February 2026 (the RBI); the case study in May 2026 (demand deposits and cheques) and 2025 (cooperatives) | |
| Globalisation and the Indian Economy (board part only) | 4 | 4 | 4* | An MCQ (or Assertion-Reason) in all three recent papers, including one on liberalisation in both 2026 papers; a 3-marker in the sample paper (technology and liberalisation) and February 2026 (new technology connecting the world) |
* May 2026: three Political Science questions worth 10 marks (a 2-marker, a 3-marker and the 5-marker) are left out, because their wording could not be read clearly in the copy of the paper studied. They came from Federalism, Gender, Religion and Caste, or Outcomes of Democracy. In Economics, the wording of Q36 (3 marks) and Q37 (5 marks) was also only partly legible; they are counted under Globalisation and Sectors from what could be read, so those two May 2026 figures are best readings.
Patterns worth knowing
- The History 5-marker came from Nationalism in India or The Rise of Nationalism in Europe in all four papers, and its OR stayed in the same chapter. Prepare both chapters for a long answer.
- Q5 is the Global World question. In the sample paper and both 2026 papers, the 2-mark History question came from The Making of a Global World.
- The Geography 5-marker changes chapter: Agriculture in the sample paper, Minerals and Energy in February 2026, Manufacturing in May 2026. No Geography chapter is safe to leave.
- The Political Science 5-marker was Federalism in the sample paper, Political Parties in February 2026 and Outcomes of Democracy in 2025.
- The Economics 5-marker was Development in the sample paper and 2025, and Sectors in February 2026. Only the sample paper's version was built on a data table.
- Case studies: the History one came from Print Culture in three of the four papers (sample paper, May 2026, 2025) and from Nationalism in India once (February 2026). The Geography one came from Forest and Wildlife (sample paper) or Water Resources (both 2026 papers); 2025 had none in Geography.
- Economics had the case study in 2 of the 4 papers (May 2026 and 2025), both times from Money and Credit. The Political Science one came from Political Parties (sample paper), Power-sharing (February 2026) and Federalism, on Porto Alegre (2025); May 2026 had none in Political Science.
- Every paper had numbers or a table in Economics: an average income, a GDP-by-sector sum, a state or country table.
Deleted or not in the board exam in 2026-27
Older guide books still carry these topics. Do not study them for the board exam. Some are still used in school for projects or periodic tests.
| Chapter | Not in the board exam | What is in |
|---|---|---|
| History: The Age of Industrialisation | The whole chapter (periodic assessment in school only) | Nothing for the board |
| History: The Making of a Global World | Everything from "The Nineteenth Century (1815-1914)" onwards: the world economy taking shape, rinderpest, indentured labour, the inter-war economy, the Great Depression, Bretton Woods and after (a school project) | Only "The Pre-modern World": silk routes, food travels (spaghetti and the potato), conquest, disease and trade |
| Geography: Lifelines of National Economy | The whole text (a school project) | Only the sea ports and international airports, on the map |
| Economics: Globalisation and the Indian Economy | Production across countries, Chinese toys in India, the World Trade Organisation, the struggle for a fair globalisation (a school project) | "What is globalisation?" and "Factors that have enabled globalisation" (technology; liberalisation of foreign trade and investment). Also know how MNCs link production and markets across countries, and the basic points on globalisation's impact in India: a May 2026 question began "Governments of India are taking special steps to…", the textbook's line on attracting foreign investment |
| Economics: Consumer Rights | The whole chapter (project work only) | Nothing for the board |
| Removed from the books in 2022 | History: The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China; Work, Life and Leisure; Novels, Society and History. Political Science: Democracy and Diversity; Popular Struggles and Movements; Challenges to Democracy | Nothing: ignore them |
Easy to miss, but still in: decentralisation, the 1992 amendments and Panchayati Raj (part of Federalism); sustainability and groundwater (part of Development); soils, from Resources and Development, on the map list; the ports and airports of the Lifelines chapter on the map.
Where the easy marks are
The map. Five marks come from fixed lists: 8 History places and a Geography list you can learn completely. Every board paper had a Salt March clue and a Congress-session clue in History, and Amritsar airport was one of the Geography items in all three.
The 20 MCQs. They are worth 20 marks and used the same few formats in all four papers studied (see Paper Pattern). Practise each format until it takes about a minute.
Small chapters with steady marks:
| Chapter | Marks (sample paper, Feb 2026, May 2026) | What to master |
|---|---|---|
| The Making of a Global World | 3, 3, 2 | Silk routes; noodles, spaghetti and the potato (and the Irish famine); smallpox and the conquest of America; silver from Peru and Mexico |
| Print Culture and the Modern World | 5, 5, 5 | Gutenberg's press, print and the Reformation, the reading mania, print and the French Revolution, print in India, the Vernacular Press Act; writers and their works |
| Globalisation and the Indian Economy | 4, 4, 4* | What globalisation is, the MNCs' part in it, technology, and liberalisation of foreign trade and investment |
| Money and Credit | 5, 4, 5 | Double coincidence of wants, demand deposits and cheques, terms of credit, formal and informal credit, SHGs, the RBI |
| Power-sharing | 4, 5, 5 | Belgium and Sri Lanka, prudential and moral reasons, the four forms of power sharing |
These five chapters carried about 21 marks in each of the three recent papers (* May 2026 includes a best reading for Globalisation), more than a quarter of the paper, from a small amount of reading.
The Economics numbers. An average income or a GDP-by-sector sum is one line of arithmetic: in the sample paper, a GDP of ₹900 crore with ₹300 crore primary and ₹400 crore tertiary leaves ₹200 crore for the secondary sector.