ICSE Class 10 English Literature Question Papers with Solutions (2020-2026)

For 2027 there is also an official specimen paper with a draft marking scheme. Literature in English is one of the ICSE subjects CISCE named in its 9 October 2026 circular on new specimen papers. The same circular gives questions on higher-order skills (apply, analyse, evaluate, create) a weightage of about 50% in the 2027 exams.

ICSE English Literature 2026 paper pattern

• 80 marks, 2 hours of writing and 15 minutes of reading time. Internal assessment adds 20 marks.
• Section A, 16 marks, compulsory: 16 MCQs.
• Sections B (drama), C (short stories) and D (poetry): two extract-based questions each, 16 marks per question, split 3, 3, 3, 3 and 4.
• You answer four of these six: one from each section and a fourth from any section.

At 1½ minutes a mark, each 16-mark question gets 24 minutes, and the MCQs another 24. Part (v) carries 4 marks and often packs three or four small questions into one, so keep about 6 minutes for it.

Which texts came in the 2026 paper, and which came in the 2027 specimen

• MCQs in 2026: 6 on Julius Caesar, 5 on the short stories and 5 on the poems. All 11 prescribed texts got at least one.
• Long questions in 2026: Julius Caesar Act 3 Scene 1 and Act 5 Scene 3; The Girl Who Can and The Pedestrian; When Great Trees Fall and The Power of Music.
• Long questions in the 2027 specimen: Julius Caesar Act 3 Scene 2 and Act 5 Scene 1; The Elevator and The Last Lesson; The Glove and the Lions and A Considerable Speck.
• With the Photographer and Haunted Houses had MCQs in both, but no long question in either.
• Skills tagged on the 16 specimen MCQs: understanding 10, analysis 4, recall 1, application 1.
• Personal response: the specimen's marking scheme marks 10 of the 30 long-question parts as personal response, spread across five of the six questions.

Source: CISCE ICSE 2026 Literature in English paper, ICSE 2027 Specimen Question Paper and draft marking scheme, ICSE English syllabus for 2027, Gradehunt analysis.

The specimen is a sample, not a forecast, so do not skip a text because it appeared in 2026. The CISCE note on the specimen itself says board questions can come from any part of the syllabus. The 2027 text list is the same one the 2026 paper used. Older papers may include texts that are no longer prescribed; skip those questions.

What changes in the 2027 English Literature paper

The format does not change. The 2027 specimen keeps 16 MCQs and the same four-section, 3-3-3-3-4 layout, and CISCE says the board paper will follow the specimen's format. The difference is in what the questions ask.

In the 2026 paper, questions asking for your opinion sat mostly in part (v): an alternative title for The Pedestrian, what appeals to you in When Great Trees Fall, and whether you sympathise with Bhisma Lochan Sharma or his listeners. In the specimen they also turn up in parts (i) to (iv). Which of M. Hamel's traits do you find most appealing? Which of Antony's arguments had the greatest impact? Why do you think de Lorge behaved as he did?

The draft marking scheme shows how such answers are marked. Any plausible view is accepted, but the reason must fit the view. In the Antony question, 1 mark is for choosing an argument and 2 for the reasons, and the scheme notes that justifications must match reasons.

MCQ types to expect

• Order four events from a story (With the Photographer in 2026, The Last Lesson in the specimen).
• Match a figure of speech from a poem to another line using the same device.
• Judge the link between two statements about a poem.
• Identify a character's tone or mood from a quoted line.

These reward close reading of the text itself. Summaries will not tell you the order of events or the exact words a character used.

How to practise with these papers

• Write the 2026 paper and the 2027 specimen in full, each in 2 hours. Check your answers against the 2026 solution and the specimen's marking scheme.
• Then 2025, 2024 and 2023 for more extracts on the same texts.
• For every text, prepare one opinion with two reasons from the text: a character you admire, a better title, a line that stays with you.

Board questions from the ICSE exams of 2016 to 2026, solved step by step and sorted chapter by chapter, are in Gradehunt's 10 Years Solved Papers (PYQ) for ICSE Class 10.

Preparing for English Paper 1 as well? See the ICSE Class 10 English Language past papers.