CBSE Class 10 Science Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions (2020-2026)

On CBSE's own question paper page you will also find the 2026 Science paper and the paper from the second Class 10 board examination of 2026, with marking schemes on the marking scheme page. The 2026-27 sample paper and its marking scheme are on CBSE's academic website. That sample paper says there is no change in the question paper design for 2026-27, and it keeps the same three sections: Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

CBSE Class 10 Science 2026 paper: section-wise marks and questions

In 2026 the paper came split by subject. Here is Set 1 (31/1/1), counted from the paper and CBSE's marking scheme:

• Section A, Biology: 30 marks, 16 questions (Q1 to 16). Nine 1-mark questions, two of them assertion-reason, then three 2-mark, two 3-mark, one 4-mark case-based and one 5-mark question.
• Section B, Chemistry: 25 marks, 13 questions (Q17 to 29). Eight 1-mark questions with one assertion-reason, one 2-mark, two 3-mark, one 4-mark case-based and one 5-mark question.
• Section C, Physics: 25 marks, 10 questions (Q30 to 39). Three 1-mark questions with one assertion-reason, two 2-mark, three 3-mark, one 4-mark case-based and one 5-mark question.
• Objective marks: 20 of 80. Biology has 9 of them, Physics only 3.
• Physics split: light 12 marks (Q30 to 33, 35, 38) and electricity and magnetism 13 marks (Q34, 36, 37, 39), the same as CBSE's weightage for Natural Phenomena and Effects of Current.
• Internal choice in 9 questions: Q11, 15, 16, 27, 28, 29, 34, 38 and 39. In Q15, 28 and 38 the choice is only inside one part.

Source: CBSE Class 10 Science paper 31/1/1 (March 2026), CBSE marking scheme for Sets 1 to 3 and Science curriculum 2026-27, Gradehunt analysis.

Biology carries 30 marks because the Biology section takes in Natural Resources (5 marks in CBSE's Science curriculum for 2026-27, the chapter Our Environment) as well as World of Living (25). In 2026 that came as an MCQ on waste materials and a 3-mark question on trophic levels and the ecological pyramid. Each section also ends the same way, with a 4-mark case and a 5-mark question, so Chemistry and Physics need long-answer practice as much as Biology does.

The section rule for the Science answer sheet

The 2026 paper's instructions told students to divide the answer sheet into Section A (Biology), Section B (Chemistry) and Section C (Physics), and said it is compulsory to answer each question in its own section, without mixing answers across sections. The 2026-27 sample paper keeps the same three-section layout.

The older papers in the table are arranged by question type, with the three subjects mixed, so build the habit on purpose. Before you start any past paper, mark three parts in your answer sheet and write every answer in the right one. It takes two minutes, and it is how you will have to write in 2027.

Where the 2026 marking scheme cut marks

The marking scheme names a few deductions directly, and they are worth knowing before you practise:

• Chemistry, Q27: ½ mark is deducted if a chemical equation is unbalanced or not balanced at all.
• Physics, Q35: ½ mark is deducted if the ray diagram for hypermetropia does not show the direction of the rays.
• Physics numericals are marked in ½-mark steps for the formula, the substitution and the answer. In Q34(b), a 2-mark sum on an electric heater, the marks are spread over four steps.
• Biology diagrams are marked part by part: in Q12, 1 mark for the diagram and ½ for each of the two labels asked, stigma and pollen tube.
• An error carried into later steps is penalised only once, and if you answer an extra choice, the examiner keeps the higher-scoring answer.

So the formula line, the unit, the arrow on a ray and the label on a diagram each carry their own share. Three hours for 80 marks gives you 2¼ minutes a mark, roughly 11 minutes for a 5-mark answer, which leaves room to write those lines.

How to practise with Class 10 Science previous year papers

• Start with the 2026 sets and the 2026-27 sample paper, which follow the design you will sit in 2027.
• Then write 2025, 2024 and 2023 as full papers, dividing your sheet into Biology, Chemistry and Physics as above.
• Use 2022 and 2020 for extra questions. The 2022 exam ran in two terms, so its papers are shorter and laid out differently.
• Check every answer against the solution step by step, and two days later redo only the questions where you dropped marks.

For chapter-wise practice after that, Gradehunt's 10 Years Solved Papers (PYQ) for CBSE Class 10 groups the board questions from the last ten years by chapter, with each question's year and marks and step-by-step solutions, amended to the 2026-27 syllabus.

Past papers with solutions for Maths, Social Science and English are also on Gradehunt.