The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct the CBSE Class 10 Social Science exam on March 7, 2026. Understanding the CBSE Class 10 syllabus, exam pattern, and weightage, and practising previous year questions and sample papers, reflects an ideal preparation for the CBSE Class 10th board examinations.
Understanding the Class 10 Social Science Syllabus 2025-26 is the first step towards preparing smartly for the CBSE board exams. Social Science includes four important subjects: History, Geography, Political Science, and Economics; each testing a candidate’s concepts, map skills, and answer-writing ability.
CBSE Class 10 Social Science Sample Question Paper 2026
The board has released the CBSE Class 10 sample papers 2025-26 on July 30, 2025, on its official website – cbseacademic.nic.in. CBSE class 10 students can practise for their March 7 exam using the sample paper given below.
| CBSE Class 10 Social Science Sample Question Paper 2026 | Download PDF |
The official sample question paper will help candidates to understand the exam pattern, question types, and marking scheme of the CBSE Class 10 Social Science exam.
CBSE Class 10 Social Science: Practice These Map-based Questions
The CBSE 2026 syllabus prescribes a set of map-based questions for Class 10th students. Students must be aware of the important Congress Sessions, major soil types, energy and mineral resources, manufacturing industries, and the lifelines of the national economy, and they should be able to locate them on maps.
| CBSE Class 10 Map Work Questions | Download PDF |
The PDF above provides the names of the chapters and the list of areas to be located, labelled, or identified on a map.
CBSE Class 10 Social Science Question Types and Weightage
The CBSE Class 10 latest syllabus aims to develop disciplinary knowledge and understanding of how society functions through an interplay of historical, geographical, social, economic, and political factors. Check the CBSE Class 10 Social Science competencies as per the CBSE Class 10 Syllabus 2025-26 below.
The paper on History expects students to:
- Explain historical events and processes with different types of sources, with specific examples from India and world history.
- Trace aspects of continuity and change in different phases of world history (including cultural trends, social and religious reforms, and economic and political transformations).
- Recognise the various practices that arose and were later condemned (such as racism, slavery, colonial invasions, conquests, plunder, genocides, and exclusion of women from democratic and other institutions), all of which have also impacted the course of world history and have left unhealed wounds.
- Identify and analyse important phases of the Indian national freedom struggle against British colonial rule, with special reference to the movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and other important figures that led to independence.
- Understand Indian concepts, values, and methods such as Swaraj, Swadeshi, passive resistance, fight for dharma, self- sacrifice, and ‘ahimsa’.
For Geography, Class 10 students should focus on how to:
- Locate physiographic regions of India and the climatic zones of the world on a globe/map.
- Explain important geographical concepts, characteristics of key landforms, their origin, and other physical factors of a region.
- Draw inter- linkages between various components of the physical environment, such as climate and relief, climate and vegetation, vegetation, and wildlife.
- Analyse and evaluate the inter- relationship between the natural environment and human beings and their cultures across regions, and the special environmental ethos in India that resulted in practices of nature conservation.
- Critically evaluate the impact of human interventions on the environment, including climate change, pollution, shortages of natural resources (particularly water), and loss of biodiversity; identify practices that have led to these environmental crises and the measures to reverse them.
- Develop sensitivity towards the judicious use of natural resources (by individuals, societies, and nations) and suggest measures for their conservation.
Political Science expects students to:
- Understand the Indian Constitution, its origin, and India’s experiment with democracy (assemblies in Mahajanapadas, kingdoms and empires at several levels of the society, guilds, sanghas and ganas, village councils and committees, Uthiramerur inscriptions).
- Explain that the fundamental rights are the most basic human rights, and they flourish when people also perform their fundamental duties.
- Analyse the basic features of a democracy and democratic government – and its history in India and across the world – and compare this form of government with other forms of government.
- Analyse the critical role of non-state and non-market participants in the functioning of a democratic government and society, such as the media, civil society, socio-religious institutions, and community institutions.
- Understand how the Indian ethos and the cultural integration across India did not attempt uniformity, but respected and promoted a rich diversity in Indian society, and how this harmonisation and unity in diversity, with a historical respect for all cultures, are counted among India’s great strengths by promoting peaceful coexistence.
- Understand the forms of inequality, injustice, and discrimination that have occurred in different sections of society at different times (due to internal as well as outside forces such as colonisation), leading to political, social, and cultural efforts, struggles, movements, and mechanisms at various levels towards equity, inclusion, justice, and harmony, with varying outcomes and degrees of success.
For Economics, Class 10th students should be prepared to:
- Define key features of the economy, such as production, distribution, demand, supply, trade, and commerce, and factors that influence these aspects (including technology).
- Evaluate the importance of the three sectors of production (primary, secondary, and tertiary) in any country’s economy, especially India.
- Distinguish between ‘unorganised’ and ‘organised’ sectors of the economy and their role in production for the local market in small, medium, and large-scale production centres (industries), and recognise the special importance of the so-called ‘unorganised’ sector in the Indian economy and its connections with the self-organising features of Indian society.
- Trace the beginning and importance of large- scale trade and commerce (including e- commerce) between one country and another – the key items of trade in the beginning, and the changes from time to time.
- Describes India’s recent path towards becoming one of the three largest economies of the world, and how individuals can contribute to this economic progress.
- Understand the connections between economic development and the environment, and the broader indicators of societal wellbeing beyond GDP growth and income.
Also, check CBSE Class 10th Social Science question paper design, weightage, and marking scheme here.
| CBSE Class 10 Question Paper Design and Subject-wise Weightage | Download PDF |
Students must carry their CBSE Class 10 Admit Card 2026 with them to the examination centre.
