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July 24, 2025
To: Heads of Schools presenting candidates for ICSE and ISC Year 2026 Examinations and ICSE and ISC Year 2027 Examination.
Subject: Release of Specimen Question Papers in select subjects for ICSE Year 2026 Examination, ISC Year 2026 Examination, ICSE (Class IX) Academic Year 2025 – 2026, ISC (Class XI) Academic Year 2025 – 2026 and Question Papers of the ICSE and ISC Year 2025 Main and Improvement Examinations.
Dear Principal,
In continuance of our efforts to foster strong teaching-learning practices that align with the imperatives of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP), CISCE is releasing the Specimen Question Papers and Answer Keys in select subjects for ICSE Year 2026, ISC Year 2026, ICSE (Class IX) Academic Year 2025 – 2026 and ISC (Class XI) Academic Year 2025 – 2026 Examinations.
Following the NEP 2020 recommendations, the weightage ascribed to the questions assessing competencies such as Application, Analysis, Interpretation, and Evaluation is approximately 40% for the Year 2026 Examination.
The Specimen Question Papers and Answer Keys in the select subjects have been made available / will be made available on the CAREERS Portal and on the website of CISCE.
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🔹 ICSE (Class IX) – Academic Year 2025–2026
- New Subject Introduced for ICSE 2027 Exam:
- Bhutia (Second Language) – Specimen Paper release on August 8, 2025
🔹 ISC (Class XII) – Year 2026 Examination
Specimen Papers Released For:
- Sociology
- Business Studies
- Mathematics
- Mass Media & Communication
Specimen Papers to be Released:
- Psychology – July 26, 2025
- Commerce / Biology / Accounts / Physics /Legal Studies – (date not mentioned)
- Geography – July 30, 2025
- Chemistry – July 31, 2025
- Khasi – August 8, 2025
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🔹 ISC (Class XI) – Academic Year 2025–2026
New / Revised Subjects (Specimen Papers available):
- Modern English (Literature in English) / Applied Mathematics – New Subject
- Elective English / Mathematics – Revised Syllabus
Specimen Papers to be Released:
- Artificial Intelligence (New Subject) – August 8, 2025
- Robotics (New Subject) – August 8, 2025
