ICSE Class 10 Computer Applications Previous Year Question Papers with Solutions (2020-2026)

Start with the three most recent papers: 2026, 2025 and 2024. Their Section B programs came from the same six types in all three years, and CISCE has said the 2027 Computer Applications paper keeps the 2026 structure.

Which programs came in ICSE Computer Applications Section B in 2024, 2025 and 2026?

Section B has six programs and you answer any four. Here is what each year asked:

• Class with accept(), calculate() and a display or print method: courier charges by parcel weight slab (2024, Q3); cloud storage bill by slab (2025, Q3); calories and distance from a step count (2026, Q3).
• Method overloading: perform() for a cone's curved surface area, a number pattern and a quotient or remainder (2024, Q4); print() for a symbol pattern, a decimal series and a character comparison (2025, Q7); format() for a number pattern, the ASCII sum of a string and the sum of natural numbers (2026, Q7). Each year one of the three methods was a nested-loop pattern.
• Digits of a number: EvenPal number check (2024, Q5); sum of the largest and smallest digit, even or odd (2025, Q8); Mark number check (2026, Q6).
• Double dimensional array: 4 x 4 diagonal array check (2024, Q6); norm of a 4 x 4 array (2025, Q4); 4 x 5 sparse matrix check (2026, Q5).
• Single dimensional array, sort or search: selection sort of pin codes (2024, Q7); binary search on a character array (2025, Q6); counting matching designations in an array of 100 (2026, Q4).
• String handling: Gmail id validation (2024, Q8); 'Super string' with equal capitals and small letters (2025, Q5); 'Symbolic' word built from the first consonant (2026, Q8).

Source: ICSE 2026 Computer Applications question paper (CISCE); CISCE Analysis of Pupil Performance for ICSE 2024 and ICSE 2025, Computer Applications; Gradehunt analysis.

What to do with this: prepare all six types, then choose your four in the exam hall. If you drop one type, say 2D arrays, a hard question in any other type leaves you with no spare. Note that 2026 broke two habits: the class program used a flat formula instead of slab rates, and the 2D array was 4 x 5, not 4 x 4. Practise loops that work for any order.

ICSE Class 10 Computer Applications paper pattern for 2027

• Theory paper: 100 marks in two hours, plus 15 minutes of reading time. Internal assessment adds 100 marks, from at least 20 lab assignments done in Class 10.
• Section A, 40 marks, all compulsory: Question 1 has 20 one-mark MCQs, including assertion-reason; Question 2 has ten 2-mark parts on outputs, Java expressions, errors and arrays.
• Section B, 60 marks: any four of six programs, 15 marks each.

At 1.2 minutes a mark, Section A is worth about 48 minutes and each Section B program about 18 minutes. Time each program when you practise; if one takes 30 minutes, the fourth one gets squeezed.

CISCE's 9 October 2026 circular lists no 2027 specimen paper for Class 10 Computer Applications; Computer Applications appears only in the Class 9 list. For subjects without a new specimen, the circular says the 2026 rubrics and assessment structure apply. The same circular gives questions that test apply, analyse, evaluate and create an approximate weightage of 50% in the 2027 exams.

Do 2D array programs from past papers still matter for 2027?

Yes. The ICSE 2027 syllabus has eight Class 10 units: revision of Class 9, class as the basis of all computation, user-defined methods, constructors, library classes, encapsulation, arrays (single and double dimensional) and string handling.

The ICSE 2028 syllabus, for students now in Class 9, drops double dimensional arrays and the encapsulation (access specifiers) unit, and adds disruptive technologies such as AI and cloud computing. That change does not apply to the 2027 exam. If you are in Class 10 now, keep practising 2D array programs; one came in Section B in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Our Computer Applications syllabus post covers each unit.

Where students lost marks in the ICSE 2025 Computer Applications paper

CISCE's examiners listed these errors in the 2025 report:

• Bill program: most candidates did not apply the slab rates tier by tier, and some declared the member variables inside accept().
• 2D array norm: loops run from 1 to 4 instead of 0 to 3, and Math.pow(s, 2) written where Math.sqrt(s) was needed.
• Binary search: some wrote a linear search, and some wrote length() for an array, where length is correct.
• Overloading: separate programs written instead of one class with three print() methods.
• Loop conversion in Question 2: the semicolon after while in the do-while loop was missed, and some missed the update step.
• Output question in Question 1: the semicolon at the end of a for statement was ignored, which changes the output.

In 2024, many candidates wrote insertion sort when the question asked for selection sort. Creating an object, constructor overloading, assertion-reason questions and loop types appear in the difficult or confusing topics lists of both reports.

How to use these ICSE Computer Applications past papers

• Start with 2026, 2025 and 2024 from the table, then 2023. Use 2022 for extra questions only: that year's exam was split into two semesters, so the paper is shorter.
• Write each paper by hand in two hours. The board paper is handwritten, and syntax slips that a computer would catch cost marks on paper.
• Use the exact class, variable and method names given in the question. CISCE's report asks for this directly.
• Add a variable description table to each Section B program, and show your working in output questions.
• Dry-run every program with two or three inputs before you check the solution.

Gradehunt's ICSE Class 10 test series includes Computer Applications. You write the paper by hand and upload it, and it is checked within 48 hours of upload, with step-wise remarks on where the marks went.