CBSE Class 12 Business Studies Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions (2020-2026) and 2026-27 Sample Paper

Looking for the 2026-27 sample paper with solutions? CBSE publishes it with its marking scheme, and both links are in the next section. CBSE has also put the March 2026 Business Studies paper, the 2026 supplementary paper and their marking schemes on its own question paper page and marking scheme page, as ZIP files. Sets 1 to 3 of the March 2026 paper are also in our table.

CBSE Class 12 Business Studies sample paper 2026-27 with solutions

The 2026-27 sample question paper for Business Studies (code 054) and its marking scheme are free PDFs on CBSE's academic website. Each page of the paper repeats one line: there is no change in the question paper design or assessment pattern for 2026-27. CBSE's Business Studies sample papers have kept the same 34-question, 80-mark, 3-hour layout since 2022-23, so the 2023 to 2025 papers in our table and the March 2026 paper are the closest practice for the 2027 exam.

BST Class 12 paper pattern

• Theory paper: 80 marks, 3 hours. The project carries the other 20 marks.
• 34 questions: 20 one-mark MCQs (Q1 to 20), four 3-mark questions (Q21 to 24), six 4-mark questions (Q25 to 30) and four 6-mark questions (Q31 to 34).
• The MCQs come in several forms: assertion-reason, two statements to judge, match the columns, one picture-based question and one small numerical on earnings per share (Q19).
• Six questions have an internal OR choice: 21, 23, 25, 28, 31 and 34.
• Suggested length: 50 to 75 words for 3 marks, about 150 for 4 marks and about 200 for 6 marks.

Three hours for 80 marks is 2¼ minutes a mark. That is roughly 7 minutes for a 3-mark answer, 9 for a 4-mark answer and 13 to 14 for a 6-mark answer.

Unit-wise marks in the 2026-27 sample paper

We matched each of the 34 sample-paper questions to its unit in the 2026-27 syllabus. The totals agree exactly with CBSE's unit weightage:

• Nature and Significance of Management, Principles of Management, Business Environment: 16 marks (Q1, 2, 5, 9, 25, 29, 30)
• Planning and Organising: 14 marks (Q3, 14, 33, 34)
• Staffing, Directing and Controlling: 20 marks (Q4, 6, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28)
• Financial Management and Financial Markets: 15 marks (Q7, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 23, 32)
• Marketing and Consumer Protection: 15 marks (Q8, 11, 13, 16, 18, 26, 31)

Source: CBSE Business Studies sample question paper and curriculum for 2026-27 (cbseacademic.nic.in), Gradehunt analysis.

What the mapping shows:

• 18 of the 34 questions, worth 41 of the 80 marks, are built on a short case about a business, a person or a news event. You have to spot the concept inside the story before you can answer.
• Planning and Organising take 12 of their 14 marks from two 6-mark questions: types of plans or benefits of planning (Q34), and decentralisation (Q33). Learn both chapters for long answers, not just for MCQs.
• Consumer Protection shows up only as four one-mark MCQs: who counts as a consumer, the Central Consumer Protection Authority, where an appeal goes, and rights and responsibilities.
• Six of the 20 MCQs come from the two finance units, including the EPS sum. Working capital factors and the debt-or-equity choice need quick recall.

A single sample paper can't tell you which chapter inside a unit group will get the long question in the board exam. The group totals are fixed by the syllabus, though, so a weak group costs you a predictable number of marks.

How the BST marking scheme gives marks

The 2026-27 marking scheme splits most long answers into a small mark for the heading and a bigger one for the explanation. Some examples from it:

• Q31, 6 marks for three points: ½ mark per heading and 1½ per explanation. Headings alone earn 1½ out of 6.
• Q33, 6 marks for four benefits of decentralisation: ½ per heading and 1 per explanation.
• Q22, 3 marks: 1 for naming the barrier from the case, then ½ for the heading and ½ for the explanation of two more barriers.
• Q32, 6 marks: 1 for naming the stock exchange, 1 for its definition and 4 for the functions described in the case.

So the split tells you where marks go. A list of headings with no explanation gets a fraction of the marks. So does a concept named correctly from the case but never explained. And a 3-mark answer stretched to a full page eats the minutes you need for the last 6-mark question.

Which BST previous year papers to practise first

• 2025, 2024 and 2023 first. They come from the years when the sample papers used today's 34-question, 80-mark design.
• 2022 next. CBSE ran that exam in two terms, and its Term 2 sample paper was a 40-mark, 2-hour paper of 12 written questions. Use it for chapter practice.
• 2020 for extra practice, chapter by chapter, once the newer papers are done.
• Keep the 2026 paper and the 2026-27 sample paper for timed full papers in the last month.

Write each paper by hand in three hours, then mark it against the solution point by point. Give yourself the heading mark only if the heading is right, and the explanation marks only if your explanation says what the solution says.

If you want someone else to mark your full papers, Gradehunt's CBSE Class 12 Business Studies test series has a test for every chapter and two full-syllabus mock tests. You write them by hand, upload them and get them back checked within 48 hours, with step-wise marks and comments.

More CBSE Class 12 commerce past papers

Solved past papers for Accountancy and Economics are also on Gradehunt.