CBSE Class 12 Sample Paper 2026-27: What Is in It and How to Use It

The CBSE Class 12 sample papers for 2026-27 are out, with a marking scheme for every subject, on cbseacademic.nic.in. CBSE notes on the papers that the question paper design and assessment pattern have not changed from last year. The board exams usually start in mid-February, and the best use of these papers is as timed tests that you mark yourself with the official marking scheme.

A sample paper only helps if you write it in three hours and check it the way the board checks. Reading the solutions alongside the questions teaches you very little.

TL;DR

• Where: cbseacademic.nic.in, sample question paper and marking scheme for each subject.
• Pattern: no change from 2025-26, as CBSE notes on the papers.
• Physics and Chemistry: 70 marks, 33 questions. Maths: 80 marks, 38 questions. Both 3 hours.
• Write each sample paper twice: once now as a diagnosis, once in January as a timed test.
• The 2027 date sheet is not out yet as of 23 October 2026.

Has CBSE released the Class 12 sample paper 2026-27?

Yes. CBSE released the sample question papers and marking schemes for 2026-27 in September 2026. The Class XII page on cbseacademic.nic.in lists every subject, with Hindi versions for subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths. Download from that page, not from a forwarded PDF, so you know you have the 2026-27 version.

Both the sample paper and the marking scheme for each subject are on CBSE's academic site.

What does the 2026-27 paper look like?

I went through the general instructions of the main papers. Here is what each one says.

Physics and Chemistry

Both are 70 marks, 3 hours and 33 questions in five sections. Section A has 16 one-mark questions; in Physics, 12 are MCQs and 4 are assertion-reason. Section B has five 2-mark questions, Section C seven 3-mark questions, Section D two 4-mark case-based questions and Section E three 5-mark long answers. Calculators are not allowed, and Chemistry also bars log tables.

Mathematics

80 marks, 3 hours and 38 questions. Section A has 18 MCQs and 2 assertion-reason questions of 1 mark each. Section B has five 2-mark questions, Section C six 3-mark questions, Section D four 5-mark questions and Section E three 4-mark case studies.

Accountancy

80 marks, 3 hours and 34 questions. Part A covers partnership and company accounts. In Part B you choose between Analysis of Financial Statements and Computerised Accounting.

English Core

80 marks, 3 hours and 13 questions in three sections: Reading Skills, Creative Writing Skills and Literature. The paper asks you to stick to the word limits given.

Same design as last year: 70-mark science papers with 33 questions, an 80-mark Maths paper with 38.

How should you write the sample paper the first time?

1. Print the question paper only. Keep the marking scheme in another room.
2. Set a timer for 3 hours and start at 10:30 am, the time board papers usually begin.
3. Write on loose A4 sheets, with question numbers in the margin as in the board answer book.
4. Stop when the timer ends, even mid-answer. Mark where you were at the end of each hour.
5. Mark the paper the next day, when you are no longer attached to your answers.

Plan your time per mark. In Physics, 180 minutes for 70 marks is about 2.5 minutes a mark. In Maths it is 2.25 minutes, so Section D's four 5-mark questions deserve about 45 minutes between them.

Three hours, no marking scheme in sight, and the checking done on a different day.

How do you mark it with the marking scheme?

CBSE's marking scheme gives the value points and the marks for each step. Give yourself a mark only when your answer has that step written, not when you knew it. Our post on step marking in board exams explains how the steps add up.

Then make a short list of what cost you marks. Group it into three kinds: did not know, knew but wrote it badly, and ran out of time. Each needs a different fix. The second kind is the one most students do not notice when they check their own paper.

Mark step by step against the scheme, and sort every lost mark by why you lost it.

When should you use sample papers before the boards?

CBSE has not released the 2027 date sheet yet. In 2026 the main board papers began on 17 February, so 100 days before a mid-February start falls in early November. Check cbse.gov.in for the dates when they come.

• November: one sample paper per subject as a diagnosis, once your school has finished the syllabus.
• December: past board papers and chapter tests on the weak areas from that diagnosis.
• January: the sample paper again as a strict timed test, plus two or three past papers. Our CBSE Class 12 Physics past papers page has the earlier years.
• February: no new papers in the last week. Revise from your error list.

Write the sample paper in November to find the gaps and again in January to time yourself.

What goes wrong when students mark their own papers?

Students are generous with their own answers. A derivation with a skipped step gets full marks because the student knows the step. A diagram without labels gets the diagram mark. An English answer 40 words over the limit gets a pass.

That is why a second checker helps. Gradehunt's CBSE Class 12 test series has students write full papers by hand and upload them, and an ex-examiner checks each one within 48 hours with step-wise marks and comments. The first paper is checked free.