CBSE Class 10 English Language & Literature Syllabus 2025-26: Download PDF & Exam Pattern

Sections

Weightage

A

Reading Skills

20 Marks

B

Writing Skills and Grammar

20 Marks

C

Language through Literature

40 Marks

Section A Reading Skills

I. Reading Comprehension through Unseen Passage

20 Marks

1. Discursive passage of 400-450 (10 marks)

2. Case-based factual passage (with visual input- statistical data/chart ) of 200-250 words (10 marks)

(Total length of two passages to be 600-700 words)

Multiple Choice Questions / Objective Type Questions/Very Short Answer Questions will be asked to assess comprehension, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, and vocabulary.

Section B Writing Skills and Grammar

II. Grammar

10 Marks

• Determiners

• Tenses

• Modals

• Subject– verb concord

• Reported speech

  • Commands and requests

  • Statements

  • Questions

3. The courses at the secondary level seek to cement a high professional grasp of grammatical items and levels of accuracy. Accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar will be assessed through Gap Filling/ Editing/Transformation Ten out of twelve questions will be attempted.

III Writing Skills

10 marks

4. Writing a Descriptive Paragraph (word limit 100-120 words), describing a person / event / situation, based on visual or verbal cue/s. One out of two questions to be answered. (5 marks

5. Writing a Story (on a given cue/title)/Diary Entry, in 100-120 words. One out of two questions is to be answered. (5 marks)

Section C

Language through Literature

40 Marks

IV. Reference to the Context

(5+5 = 10 Marks)

6. One extract out of two, from Drama / Prose

7. One extract out of two, from

Multiple Choice Questions / Objective Type Questions will be asked to assess interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, appreciation and vocabulary.

IV. Short& Long Answer Questions

8. Four out of Five Short Answer Type Questions to be answered in 40-50 words from the book FIRST FLIGHT to assess interpretation, analysis, inference and evaluation. 4x3=12 marks

9. Two out of Three Short Answer Type Questions to be answered in 40-50 words each from FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET to assess interpretation, analysis, inference and evaluation. (2x3=6 marks)

10. One out of two Long Answer Type Questions from FIRST FLIGHT to be answered in about 100-120 words each to assess creativity, imagination and extrapolation beyond the text and across the text. This can be a passage-based question taken from a situation/plot from the text. (6 marks)

11. One out of two Long Answer Type Questions from FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET, on theme or plot involving interpretation, extrapolation beyond the text, and inference or character sketch to be answered in about 100-120 words. (6 marks)

Prose

Poems

A Letter to God

Dust of Snow

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Fire and Ice

Stories About Flying

A Tiger in the Zoo

From the Diary of Anne Frank

How to Tell Wild Animals

Glimpses of India

The Ball Poem

Mijbil the Otter

Amanda!

Madam Rides the Bus

The Trees

The Sermon at Benares

Fog

The Proposal (Play)

The Tale of Custard the Dragon

For Anne Gregory