ICSE Class 10 Exam Pattern 2027: Papers, Marks and Duration for Every Subject

The board sets 80 of every 100 marks in your main subjects; the other 20 are earned in your own school, through projects and practical work.

TL;DR

• 15 February to 31 March 2027; most papers at 10:15 a.m., Art at 9:00 a.m.
• Groups I and II: 80 board + 20 school marks. Group III: 50:50, so Computer Applications is 100 + 100.
• Two hours per paper, three for Maths, second languages, Technical Drawing Applications and Art, plus 15 minutes of reading.
• Pass: 33% per subject in five subjects including English, and a pass grade in SUPW and Community Service.

How is the ICSE Class 10 exam divided into groups?

CISCE's ICSE 2027 Regulations split the course into two parts. Part I is compulsory and assessed in your school: a third language, Art, SUPW and Community Service, Physical Education, and Education in Moral and Spiritual Values.

Part II holds the board papers:

• Group I, compulsory: English, a second language, and History, Civics and Geography (HCG).
• Group II, any two or three of seven: Mathematics, Science (Physics, Chemistry and Biology), Economics, Commercial Studies, a modern foreign language, a classical language and Environmental Science.
• Group III, any one or two: Section A has 15 subjects, Computer Applications and Technical Drawing Applications among them; Section B has 8 vocational subjects, such as Robotics and AI.

You must enter at least six subjects: all of Group I, two from Group II and one from Group III. A seventh is allowed only in set combinations, listed in the FAQs below. Some pairs are barred, such as Economics with Economic Applications.

Six subjects is the floor, and Group I is fixed for everyone.

ICSE Class 10 exam pattern 2027: duration and marks for every paper

I put this list together from each subject's syllabus and CISCE's ICSE 2027 timetable. Board marks are the written paper CISCE sets and checks; school marks are internal assessment. Times are writing time, after 15 minutes of reading.

• English Language and Literature in English (English Papers 1 and 2): 80 board + 20 school marks each, 2 hours each, 10:15 a.m.
• Hindi and the other second languages: 80 + 20, 3 hours, 10:15 a.m.
• History and Civics (HCG Paper 1) and Geography (HCG Paper 2): 80 + 20 each, 2 hours each, 10:15 a.m.
• Mathematics: 80 + 20, 3 hours, 10:15 a.m.
• Physics, Chemistry and Biology (Science Papers 1 to 3): 80 + 20 each, the 20 for practical work, 2 hours each, 10:15 a.m.
• Economics, Commercial Studies and Environmental Science: 80 + 20, 2 hours, 10:15 a.m.
• Computer Applications, Economic Applications and Commercial Applications: 100 + 100, 2 hours, 10:15 a.m.
• Other Group III subjects, Section A and Section B: 50:50, 2 hours, 10:15 a.m. Technical Drawing Applications runs 3 hours.
• Art: four papers of 100 marks each, 3 hours each, at 9:00 a.m.

Source: CISCE ICSE 2027 Regulations, subject syllabuses and timetable of 10 November 2026, compiled by Gradehunt on 13 November 2026.

What does a six-subject student write?

Take English, Hindi, HCG, Maths, Science and Computer Applications. By my count that is 10 board papers, 22 hours of writing and 2.5 hours of reading. Board papers carry 820 marks and school assessment 280, so 280 of the 1,100 raw marks (25.5%) come from school. That is a Gradehunt count, not a CISCE figure.

Nearly every paper is 80 + 20 in two hours. Maths and the second languages take three, and Group III is half school-assessed.

When does ICSE 2027 start and how much reading time do you get?

The timetable, signed on 10 November 2026, opens with English Language on Monday 15 February 2027 and closes on Wednesday 31 March with Economics and the Group II French and Sanskrit papers. Results are due in April or May 2027.

For 10:15 a.m. papers, reading starts at 10:00 and you must be seated by 9:45. Art papers start at 9:00 a.m., with reading from 8:45 and seating by 8:30. You cannot write during reading time.

Two things moved from 2026. Last year's non-Art papers began at 11:00 a.m., so 2027 starts 45 minutes earlier; Art stays at 9:00 a.m. By my count, with both end days included, the window grew from 42 days (17 February to 30 March 2026) to 45.

For the six-subject student above, the last paper is Computer Applications on Wednesday 17 March. Every date is in our ICSE 2027 date sheet post.

Papers run from 15 February to 31 March 2027, mostly at 10:15 a.m., with reading from 10:00.

What do you need to pass ICSE Class 10 in 2027?

You need 33% in each subject, board and school marks added together. The Regulations print no separate pass mark for the written paper or the internal part.

A Pass Certificate needs six or more subjects entered, a pass in at least five of them including English, and a pass grade in SUPW and Community Service. Subjects get grades 1 to 9: 1 and 2 are very good, 3 to 5 pass with credit, 6 and 7 pass, 8 and 9 fail. SUPW is graded A to E, and E is a fail.

The best of five figure schools and colleges quote is not in the Regulations; our post on best of five percentage shows how it is worked out.

Get 33 in each subject, pass five including English and clear SUPW.

Has anything changed in the ICSE 2027 paper pattern?

The marks splits and paper lengths above come from the 2027 syllabuses and timetable. What is new for 2027 is the kind of question inside the papers, and two other rules are worth knowing:

• CISCE's circular of 9 October 2026 gives higher-order questions (Apply, Analyse, Evaluate, Create) about 50% weightage in 2027. Board papers may not match the specimens in format or content; our ICSE 2027 specimen papers post has the detail.
• A circular of 20 April 2026 split the prescribed texts by class for 14 Indian languages, Hindi among them. The Class X paper covers only the Class X portion, and the question paper pattern stays the same.
• The Improvement Examination takes up to three subjects from your main-exam entry. The Regulations of February 2025 said two; the timetable has allowed three since the 2026 exam. Project marks carry forward and the higher mark counts.

Question type is the 2027 change: about half the weightage goes to higher-order questions.

How to plan your practice around this pattern

I would build mocks around the two paper lengths. Write two-hour papers at 10:15 a.m., after 15 minutes of reading, because that is the slot every non-Art paper takes. Maths and Hindi need full three-hour runs of their own.

Close your project and practical files early. In most papers they carry 20 of every 100 marks, and in Computer Applications half. Our post on internal assessment marks subject by subject lists each component.

To get full papers checked, the Gradehunt ICSE Class 10 test series has you write by hand and upload. Subject experts check each copy within 48 hours of upload, with step-wise marks, and your first paper is checked free.