CBSE Class 10 Maths Chapter-wise Weightage 2026-27 (2027 Exam): Marks From 4 Papers

CBSE fixes the unit marks. Inside Algebra, Trigonometry and Mensuration a chapter moved by 1 to 3 marks from paper to paper, so these counts tell you where the marks sit, not which chapter you can drop.

TL;DR

• Same marks in all four papers: Real Numbers 6, Coordinate Geometry 6, Triangles 8, Circles 7, Statistics 6, Probability 5.
• Quadratic Equations had a 5-mark question in every paper; 20 of its 24 marks came from Section D.
• Arithmetic Progressions was the 4-mark case study in three of the four papers.
• The Maths paper for 2027 is on Wednesday 17 February 2027, 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM.

What is the chapter-wise weightage of CBSE Class 10 Maths 2026-27?

The 2026-27 curriculum for Mathematics is one document for Standard (041) and Basic (241). Its seven units, with the NCERT chapters under each:

• Number Systems, 6 marks: Real Numbers.
• Algebra, 20 marks: Polynomials, Pair of Linear Equations in Two Variables, Quadratic Equations, Arithmetic Progressions.
• Coordinate Geometry, 6 marks: Coordinate Geometry.
• Geometry, 15 marks: Triangles, Circles.
• Trigonometry, 12 marks: Introduction to Trigonometry (with identities) and Some Applications of Trigonometry (heights and distances).
• Mensuration, 10 marks: Areas Related to Circles, Surface Areas and Volumes.
• Statistics and Probability, 11 marks: Statistics, Probability.

The other 20 marks are internal assessment, given by your school; our post on CBSE Class 10 internal assessment marks has the split. Maths Basic has the same unit marks; only its question paper design differs.

So the board paper is 80 marks over seven units, and Algebra alone is a quarter of it.

How many marks did each chapter get in real board papers?

Since CBSE stops at units, I counted the chapters myself. The papers are the 2026-27 sample question paper, the 2026 main exam set 30/4/1, the May 2026 second exam set 30/7/1 and the 2025 set 30/1/1, the last three on CBSE's question paper page. In every internal choice, both options were from the same chapter.

Marks per chapter (each paper is 80):

• Real Numbers: sample paper 6, 2026 main 6, May 2026 6, 2025 6.
• Polynomials: sample paper 5, 2026 main 3, May 2026 4, 2025 4.
• Pair of Linear Equations: sample paper 5, 2026 main 4, May 2026 6, 2025 6.
• Quadratic Equations: sample paper 6, 2026 main 8, May 2026 5, 2025 5.
• Arithmetic Progressions: sample paper 4, 2026 main 5, May 2026 5, 2025 5.
• Coordinate Geometry: sample paper 6, 2026 main 6, May 2026 6, 2025 6.
• Triangles: sample paper 8, 2026 main 8, May 2026 8, 2025 8.
• Circles: sample paper 7, 2026 main 7, May 2026 7, 2025 7.
• Introduction to Trigonometry: sample paper 6, 2026 main 7, May 2026 7, 2025 7.
• Some Applications of Trigonometry: sample paper 6, 2026 main 5, May 2026 5, 2025 5.
• Areas Related to Circles: sample paper 4, 2026 main 5, May 2026 5, 2025 6.
• Surface Areas and Volumes: sample paper 6, 2026 main 5, May 2026 5, 2025 4.
• Statistics: sample paper 6, 2026 main 6, May 2026 6, 2025 6.
• Probability: sample paper 5, 2026 main 5, May 2026 5, 2025 5.

Method: each question given to one NCERT chapter by the marks printed against it; internal choices counted once. Source: CBSE Sample Question Paper 2026-27 and CBSE board question papers 2025 and 2026 (Mathematics Standard 041), CBSE curriculum 2026-27; Gradehunt count.

A few questions sit on a border. I put heights and distances under Some Applications of Trigonometry, tangent questions under Circles even when Pythagoras finishes them, and word problems that lead to a quadratic under Quadratic Equations. Moving one border question changes a chapter by 1 to 5 marks. With these rules, every paper's unit totals matched CBSE's split exactly.

Our CBSE Class 10 Maths past papers post counts the 2026 main exam's Set 1 (code 30/1/1; CBSE reuses set codes each year, so this is a different paper from the 2025 one). Its 14 chapter totals match my 2025 count exactly, so across five papers Triangles was 8 and Circles 7 every time.

No chapter got under 3 or over 8 marks in any of the four papers.

Which chapters never change their marks?

Six chapters had the same marks in all four papers:

• Real Numbers: 6.
• Coordinate Geometry: 6.
• Triangles: 8.
• Circles: 7.
• Statistics: 6.
• Probability: 5.

That is 38 of 80 marks. Real Numbers and Coordinate Geometry are one-chapter units, so CBSE sets their marks. The Geometry split (8 and 7) and the Statistics and Probability split (6 and 5) did not move either.

The movement is inside the other three units. Algebra's 20 marks (Polynomials, Linear Equations, Quadratic Equations, Arithmetic Progressions (AP)) split like this:

• 2026-27 sample paper: Polynomials 5, Linear Equations 5, Quadratic Equations 6, AP 4.
• 2026 main exam: Polynomials 3, Linear Equations 4, Quadratic Equations 8, AP 5.
• May 2026 second exam: Polynomials 4, Linear Equations 6, Quadratic Equations 5, AP 5.
• 2025 board paper: Polynomials 4, Linear Equations 6, Quadratic Equations 5, AP 5.

Trigonometry went 6 and 6 in the sample paper, then 7 and 5 in all three board papers. Mensuration went 4 and 6, then 5 and 5 twice, then 6 and 4.

Six chapters are fixed; the swing is inside Algebra, where Quadratic Equations ran from 5 to 8 marks.

Which chapters set the 5-mark questions and case studies?

Sections D and E carry 32 of the 80 marks. Here is which chapter set them.

Long answers (Section D, 16 questions)

• Quadratic Equations: 4, one in every paper.
• Triangles: 3.
• Statistics: 3.
• Pair of Linear Equations: 2.
• Some Applications of Trigonometry: 2.
• Circles and Surface Areas and Volumes: 1 each.

Real Numbers, Polynomials, AP, Coordinate Geometry, Introduction to Trigonometry, Areas Related to Circles and Probability had no 5-mark question in any of the four papers.

Case studies (Section E, 12 questions)

• Arithmetic Progressions: 3 (2026 main, May 2026 and 2025).
• Some Applications of Trigonometry: 2.
• Areas Related to Circles: 2.
• One each for Pair of Linear Equations, Circles, Statistics, Triangles and Coordinate Geometry.

Introduction to Trigonometry carried 27 marks over the four papers, all in 1-, 2- and 3-mark questions. Probability had the most one-mark questions, 9 of the 80 in Section A across the four papers, then Real Numbers with 8.

Quadratic Equations, Triangles and Statistics set 10 of the 16 long answers, and AP was the case study three times.

What does the 2026-27 syllabus limit?

The curriculum caps how far some topics go:

• Irrationality proofs: root 2, root 3 and root 5 type.
• The Basic Proportionality Theorem (BPT) is proved; its converse and the similarity criteria are stated without proof.
• Both tangent theorems are to be proved.
• Heights and distances: at most two right triangles, angles of 30, 45 and 60 degrees only.
• Segment area: central angles of 60, 90 and 120 degrees only.
• Solids: combinations of any two of cube, cuboid, sphere, hemisphere and cylinder or cone.
• Statistics: bimodal cases are avoided.

The BPT proof was in a 5-mark question of the sample paper and an option of the May 2026 one. A 3-mark proof built on the equal-tangents theorem (a quadrilateral circumscribing a circle, or two parallel tangents) came in three papers, once as an OR option; none of the four asked for the two tangent theorems themselves.

Learn BPT and the two tangent theorems with full proof. In heights and distances, stick to two right triangles, but also practise questions where the angle comes as a ratio: the sample paper's kite question (Q17) gave tan θ = 12/5 instead of an angle.

How is the paper set out, and when is the 2027 exam?

The 2026-27 sample paper has 38 questions in 3 hours. Section A has 20 one-mark questions (two are assertion-reason), B has five 2-markers, C six 3-markers, D four 5-markers and E three 4-mark case studies. Calculators are not allowed. Every page of the sample paper says the design has not changed for 2026-27.

CBSE's date sheet of 6 November 2026 puts Maths Standard and Maths Basic on Wednesday 17 February 2027, 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM. A second, optional exam in May covers up to three subjects, Maths among them; see our post on CBSE Class 10 two board exams in 2027.

You write one 80-mark paper on 17 February 2027, and the sample paper's note says its 38-question, five-section design is unchanged from the 2025 and 2026 papers.

How I would plan revision with these numbers

1. Start with the six fixed chapters, which held 38 marks in every paper I counted.
2. Practise a quadratic word problem and a grouped-data question every week. Both came as a 5-marker or case study in all four papers.
3. Write out the BPT proof and the two tangent theorem proofs until you can do them without the book, then practise the circumscribed-quadrilateral proof.
4. Do Introduction to Trigonometry as short questions: ratios and identities gave it 27 marks over four papers.
5. Solve the 2025 and 2026 papers in 3 hours each, then older years from our 10 Years Solved Papers for CBSE Class 10.

To see where your marks stand before 17 February, try the Gradehunt CBSE Class 10 Maths test series. You write by hand and upload, and subject experts check each answer sheet within 48 hours of upload.