The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct CBSE 10th Social Science exam 2026 on March 10th, 2026 from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM. The CBSE board class 10th exams will be in pen-paper mode. Students appearing for the upcoming exam have to mandatorily opt for the social science paper.
CBSE 10th social science exam 2026 has four sections – History, Geography, Political Science and Economics. In a recent notice, CBSE clarified that from 2026, questions of all four sections of the CBSE 10th Social Science exam must be attempted separately in their respective sections.
CBSE 10th exam 2026 is scheduled from February 17 to March 10, 2026. The board will be conducting two exams from this academic year. The second CBSE board class 10 exam will be held from May 15 to June 1, 2026. The practicals/ internal assessments dates for CBSE class 10 are between January 1 and February 14, 2026. Students are advised to check the latest exam pattern, syllabus and sample papers for the preparation of upcoming CBSE exams.
Also Check: CBSE 10th Social Studies Study Material 2025-26
CBSE 10th Social Science Exam 2026: Pattern
The maximum marks for CBSE class 10 SST exam is 100 marks, where, the theory paper is of 80 marks and the rest 20 is allocated to the internal assessment. Internal assessment will be conducted at the school level in January 2026.
For the theory paper of CBSE 10th social science exam, equal marks are distributed for all the four sub-subjects – History, Geography, Political Science and Economics. Students can check the detailed CBSE 10th exam pattern from the table below:
| Unit and Topic | Weightage (in terms of marks) |
| History: India and Contemporary World II | 20 |
| Geography: Contemporary India II | 20 |
| Political Science: Democratic Politics II | 20 |
| EconomicUnderstanding Economic Development | 20 |
| TOTAL MARKS (THEORY) | 80 |
Also Check Photostory on: CBSE Board 10th Social Science Pattern 2026
CBSE 10th Social Science 2026: Latest Syllabus
CBSE class 10 Social Science exam has a total of 4 units, one each from History, Geography, Political Science and Economics. Each unit consists of several chapters and many sub-topics. Students appearing for the CBSE board class 10 exams, this year, can check the latest syllabus of CBSE 10th SST paper below:
Unit I: India and the Contemporary World – II
- The Rise of Nationalism in Europe: The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation, The Making of Nationalism in Europe, The Age of Revolutions: 1830-1848, The Making of Germany and Italy, Visualising the Nation, Nationalism and Imperialism.
- Nationalism in India: The First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation, Differing Strands within the Movement, Towards Civil Disobedience, The Sense of Collective Belonging.
- The Making of a Global World: The Pre-modern world, The Nineteenth Century (1815-1914), The Inter war Economy, Rebuilding a World Economy: The Post-War Era.
- The Age of Industrialization: Before the Industrial Revolution, Hand Labour and Steam Power, Industrialization in the Colonies, Factories Come Up, The Peculiarities of Industrial Growth, Market for Goods.
- Print Culture and the Modern World: The First Printed Books, Print Comes to Europe, The Print Revolution and its Impact, The Reading Mania, The Nineteenth Century, India and the World of Print, Religious Reform and Public Debates, New Forms of Publication, Print and Censorship.
Unit II: Contemporary India – II
- Resources and Development: Concept, Development of Resources, Resource Planning – Resource Planning in India, Conservation of Resources, Land Resources, Land Utilization, Land Use Pattern in India, Land Degradation and Conservation Measures, Soil as a Resource – Classification of Soils, Soil Erosion and Soil Conservation.
- Forest and Wildlife: Conservation of forest and wildlife in India, Types and distribution of forests and wildlife resources, Community and Conservation
- Water Resources: Water Scarcity and The Need for Water Conservation and Management Multi-Purpose River Projects and Integrated Water Resources Management Rainwater Harvesting.
- Agriculture: Types of Farming – Primitive Subsistence, Intensive Subsistence, Commercial, Cropping Pattern – Major Crops, Food Crops other than Grains, Non-Food Crops, Technological and Institutional Reforms, Food Security (excluding impact of globalization on agriculture)
- Minerals and Energy Resources: What is a mineral?, Mode of occurrence of Minerals – Where are these minerals found? Ferrous Minerals, Non-Ferrous Minerals, NonMetallic Minerals, Rock Minerals, Conservation of Minerals, Energy Resources – Conventional Sources of Energy, Non-Conventional Sources of Energy, Conservation of Energy Resources.
- Manufacturing Industries: Importance of Manufacturing – Industrial Location (excluding Industry Market Linkage), Agro-based Industry (excluding Cotton Textiles, Jute Textiles, Sugar Industry), Mineral based Industries (excluding Iron Steel Industry, Cement Industry), Industrial Pollution and Environmental Degradation, Control of Environmental Degradation
- Life Lines of National Economy: Roadways, Railways, Pipelines, Waterways, Major Seaports, Airways, Communication, International Trade, Tourism as a Trade
Unit III: Democratic Politics – II
- Power Sharing: Belgium and Sri Lanka, Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka, Accommodation in Belgium, Why power sharing is desirable? , Forms of Power Sharing
- Federalism: What is Federalism? What makes India a Federal Country?, How is Federalism practiced? , Decentralization in India
- Gender, Religion, and Caste: Gender and Politics – Public/Private division, Women’s political representation, Religion, Communalism, and Politics – Communalism, Secular State (excluding image on pages 46, 48, 49 of NCERT Textbook – Democratic Politics –II – reprinted edition 2021), Caste and Politics – Caste inequalities, Caste in politics, Politics in caste
- Political Parties: Why do we need Political Parties? – Meaning, Functions, Necessity, How many parties should we have?, National Parties, State Parties, Challenges to Political Parties, How can Parties be reformed?
- Outcomes of Democracy: How do we assess democracy’s outcomes? , Accountable, responsive and legitimate government, Economic growth and development, Reduction of inequality and poverty , Accommodation of social diversity, Dignity, and freedom of the citizens
Unit IV: : Understanding Economic Development
- Development: What Development Promises – Different People, Different Goals, Income and Other Goals, National Development, How to compare different countries or states? , Income and other criteria, Public Facilities, Sustainability of Development
- Sectors of the Indian Economy: Sectors of Economic Activities, Comparing the three sectors, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sectors in India, Division of sectors as organised and unorganised, Sectors in terms of ownership: Public and Private Sectors
- Money and Credit: Money as a medium of exchange, Modern forms of Money, Loan activities of Banks, Two different Credit situations, Terms of Credit, Formal Sector Credit in India, Self Help Groups for the Poor
- Globalisation and the Indian Economy: Production across countries, Interlinking production across countries, Foreign Trade and Integration of markets, What is Globalization? , Factors that have enabled Globalization, World Trade Organization, Impact of Globalization in India, The Struggle for a fair Globalization
- Consumer Rights (Only for Project Work): Consumer Rights
CBSE 10th Social Science Sample Paper 2026
CBSE board releases the sample papers for all subjects every year. Students appearing for the upcoming board exam can check the latest CBSE 10th social science sample question paper and its marking scheme from below:
| Particulars | Details |
| CBSE Class 10 Social Science SQP 2025-26 | Download |
| CBSE 10th Social Science Marking Scheme 2026 | Download |
Candidates appearing for the CBSE board class 10 exams 2026 are advised to solve all the previous year papers and model papers. Solving these papers helps students understand the exam pattern and the type of question asked frequently. Additionally, the basic books for the CBSE exams are NCERTs, however, other publications should also be checked for better understanding of topics.
