Chat on WhatsAppDownload CBSE Class 12 English Core board papers from 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, three sets for each year, with solutions, from the table below. There was no 2021 paper, because CBSE cancelled the Class 12 exams that year.
Class 12 English decides more than students expect. It is usually counted in your best five, and college cut-offs often turn on two or three marks. Past papers show you exactly how the reading, writing and literature questions are framed, so nothing in the exam is new.
How the CBSE Class 12 English Core paper is set
- Theory: 80 marks, 3 hours. Internal assessment (listening and speaking) adds 20 marks.
- Reading Skills: 22 marks, from unseen passages, including a case-based factual passage.
- Creative Writing: 18 marks: notice, invitation or reply, letter, and an article or report.
- Literature: 40 marks, from Flamingo (prose and poetry) and Vistas.
How to use these papers
- Do 2025 and 2024 first; they follow the current pattern.
- Use 2022 only as extra practice, since it was term-wise.
- Write each paper in three hours, and keep to the word limits given in the questions.
- Check writing tasks for format, content and expression separately, as the marking scheme does.
Where students lose marks in English
- Notices and invitations missing basic details such as date, time, venue or the issuing authority.
- Letters with the right content but the wrong format or tone for the purpose.
- Articles without a title or a byline, or reports that drift into opinion.
- Literature answers that summarise the chapter instead of addressing the theme or character the question names.
- Poetry questions answered without quoting or referring to the lines given.
Gradehunt's CBSE Class 12 test series includes English papers checked for format, content and expression, so you see where your marks go before the board exam.
Past papers for other Class 12 subjects
We also have solved past papers for Physics, Chemistry and Maths.
Don’t just read the paper. Write one and get it checked, free.
Download a board-pattern English paper, upload your answers and get your marks. No payment.
- 1Get an exam-pattern paper
- 2Write it at home, upload one PDF
- 3Checked with marks and remarks in 48 hours
Download Links
Here’s a table with the last 5 years’ English question papers and solutions. Download and get started.
| Year | Question Paper | Solution |
|---|---|---|
2025 | ||
2025 | ||
2025 | ||
2024 | ||
2024 | ||
2024 | ||
2023 | ||
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2023 | ||
2022 | ||
2022 | ||
2022 | ||
2020 | ||
2020 | ||
2020 |
Updates to this page
- 9 October 2026: rewritten for 2026-27 with section-wise marks and how to use each year's paper.
Finished reading? Now test yourself.
Chapter-wise tests in the latest board pattern, checked with remarks. Plans from ₹299/subject.
- 1Get an exam-pattern paper
- 2Write it at home, upload one PDF
- 3Checked with marks and remarks in 48 hours
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q1.Where can I download CBSE Class 12 English previous year papers?
From the table on this page: papers and solutions for 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, free to download.
Q2.How many marks is CBSE Class 12 English Core?
The theory paper is 80 marks: Reading Skills 22, Creative Writing 18 and Literature 40. Internal assessment adds 20 marks.
Q3.Which books are in CBSE Class 12 English Core?
Flamingo (prose and poetry) and Vistas (supplementary reader).
Q4.What writing tasks come in CBSE Class 12 English?
Usually a notice, an invitation or reply, a letter, and an article or report. Check the latest sample paper for the exact choices.
Q5.Why is there no 2021 Class 12 English paper?
CBSE cancelled the Class 12 board exams in 2021, so there is no board paper for that year.