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Official syllabus

CBSE Class X English Language and Literature Syllabus 2026 – 27

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CBSEClass XEnglish2026-27
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Overview

Learning focus: Class X English Language and Literature develops comprehension, interpretation, analysis, inference, vocabulary, accurate language use and fluent written expression. It also builds literary appreciation, reasoning and the ability to identify themes, evaluate a writer's message and respond creatively to texts.

Course structure: The syllabus is organised into Reading Comprehension, Writing Skills and Grammar, and Language through Literature. Students work with unseen discursive and case-based passages, formal and analytical writing, integrated grammar, prose, poetry and supplementary literature, with competency-based questions that assess understanding rather than recall alone.

Full syllabus

Course Overview and Competencies instruction

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Subject Code-184

Classes-X (2026-27)

Marks-80

Sections Competencies Total marks
Reading Comprehension Conceptual understanding, decoding, analyzing, inferring, interpreting and vocabulary 20
Writing Skills and Grammar Creative expression of an opinion, reasoning, justifying, illustrating, appropriate style and tone, using appropriate format and fluency. Applying conventions, using integrated structures with accuracy and fluency 20
Language through Literature Recalling, reasoning, appreciating, applying literary conventions, illustrating and justifying. Extract relevant information, identifying the central theme and sub-theme, understanding the writers’ message and writing fluently. 40
Total 80

For the details of Internal Assessment of 20 marks, please refer to the circular no. Acad-11/2019, dated March 06, 2019.

The official overview is printed on pages 1 and 6. Page 6 identifies the course as 2026-27; the detailed page 2 paper-design heading is printed as 2025-26 and is transcribed exactly.

View official PDF page 1 ↗

Written Examination - Section-wise Design unit

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

CLASS-X (2025-26)

SECTION - WISE WEIGHTAGE

Sections Weightage
A Reading Skills 20 Marks
B Writing Skills with 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 words. 10 marks

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

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

Multiple Choice Questions / Objective Type Questions, and Short Answer Questions (to be answered in 30-40 words) 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 high professional grasp of grammatical items and levels of accuracy. Accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar in context will be assessed through Gap Filling/ Editing/Transformation exercises. Ten out of 12 questions will have to be attempted.

III. Writing Skills - 10 marks

4. Writing a Formal Letter based on a given situation, in 100-120 words. One out of two questions is to be answered. 5 marks

5. Writing an Analytical Paragraph in 100-120 words on a given Map/ Chart / Graph / Cue/s. One out of two questions is to be answered. 5 marks

Section C - 40 Marks

Language through Literature

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 poetry.

Multiple Choice Questions / Objective Type Questions Very Short Answer Questions (one word/ One sentence), Short Answer Questions (to be answered in 30-40 words) will be asked to assess inference, analysis, interpretation, evaluation and vocabulary.

V. Short & Very Long Answer Questions - 30 Marks

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

View official PDF page 2 ↗

Teacher Guidance instruction

Note: Teachers are suggested to:

  1. encourage interaction among peers, students and teachers through activities such as role play, discussions, group work etc.
  2. reduce teacher-talking time and keep it to the minimum,
  3. take up questions for discussion to encourage pupils to participate and to marshal their ideas and express and defend their views, and
  4. follow the Speaking and Listening activities given in the NCERT books.

Besides measuring learning outcome, texts serve the dual purpose of diagnosing mistakes and areas of non-learning. To make evaluation a true index of learners’ knowledge, each language skills to be assessed through a judicious mixture of different types of questions.

View official PDF page 5 ↗

Marks & examination pattern

Official assessment structure
AssessmentMarksWeightage
Written Examination80.0080.00
Internal Assessment20.0020.00

Written Examination

Section A: Reading Skills — 20 marks; Section B: Writing Skills with Grammar — 20 marks; Section C: Language through Literature — 40 marks. Total: 80 marks.

Internal Assessment

Internal Assessment: 20 marks. The Assessment of Listening and Speaking Skills carries 05 marks within the internal assessment provisions.

Practical & Projects

Internal Assessment and ALS

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

Listening and Speaking Competencies

Assessment of Listening and Speaking Skills will be for 05 marks.

It is recommended that listening and speaking skills should be regularly practiced. Art-integrated projects based on activities like Role Play, Skit, Dramatization etc. must be used. Please refer to the Circular no. Acad-33/2020 dated 14th May 2020 at the http://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/Circulars/2020/33_Circular_2020.pdf for details

Guidelines for the Assessment of Listening and Speaking Skills are given at Annexure I.

Annexure I

Guidelines for Assessment of Listening and Speaking Skills (ALS)

ALS is a component of the Subject Enrichment Activity under Internal Assessment. ALS must be seen as an integrated component of all four language skills rather than a compartment of two. Suggested activities, therefore, take into consideration an integration of the four language skills but during assessment, emphasis will be given to speaking and listening, since reading and writing are already being assessed in the written exam.

Assessment of Listening and Speaking Skills: (5 Marks)

i. Activities:

  • Subject teachers must refer to books prescribed in the syllabus.
  • In addition to the above, teachers may plan their own activities and create their own material for assessing the listening and speaking skills.

ii. Parameters for Assessment: The listening and speaking skills are to be assessed on the following parameters:

  1. Interactive competence (Initiation & turn taking, relevance to the topic)
  2. Fluency (cohesion, coherence and speed of delivery)
  3. Pronunciation
  4. Language (grammar and vocabulary)

SUGGESTIVE RUBRIC

Parameter 1 2 3 4 5
Interaction Contributions are mainly unrelated to those of other speakers; Shows hardly any initiative in the development of conversation; Very limited interaction. Contributions are often unrelated to those of the other speaker; Generally passive in the development of conversation. Develops interaction adequately, makes however minimal effort to initiate conversation; Needs constant prompting to take turns. Interaction is adequately initiated and developed; Takes turn but needs some prompting. Can initiate & logically develop simple conversation on familiar topics; Can take turns appropriately.
Fluency & Coherence Noticeably/ long pauses; rate of speech is slow; Frequent repetition and/or self-correction (all right for informal conversation); Links only basic sentences; breakdown of coherence. Usually fluent; produces simple speech fluently, but loses coherence in complex communication; Often hesitates and/or resorts to slow speech; Topics are partly developed; not always concluded logically. Is willing to speak at length, however repetition is noticeable; Hesitates and/or self-corrects; occasionally loses coherence; Topics are developed, but usually not logically concluded. Speaks without noticeable effort, with a little repetition; Demonstrates hesitation to find words or use correct grammatical structures and/or self-correction; Topics not fully developed to merit. Speaks fluently with almost no repetition & minimal hesitation; Develops topic fully & coherently.
Pronunciation Frequent errors in pronunciation; communication is severely affected; Frequently unintelligible articulation. Frequent phonological errors; major communication problems. Pronunciation is largely correct and clear except for occasional errors. Pronunciation is mostly correct & clear; can be understood most of the time; very few phonological errors. Pronunciation is correct & clear; always comprehensible; uses appropriate intonation.
Vocabulary & Grammar Almost no flexibility in use of vocabulary; struggles for appropriate words; Many errors, impacting communication. Is able to communicate on some topics, with limited vocabulary; Frequent errors but self-corrects. Is able to communicate on most of the topics, with limited vocabulary; A few errors. Is able to communicate on most topics, using appropriate vocabulary; Minor errors that do not hamper communication. Uses a wide range of appropriate vocabulary and new expressions; No errors.

iii. Schedule:

  • The practice of listening and speaking skills should be done throughout the academic year.
  • The final assessment of the skills is to be done as per the convenience and schedule of the school.

Prescribed Books

Prescribed Books: Published by NCERT, New Delhi

1. FIRST FLIGHT

A. Prose

  1. A Letter to God
  2. Nelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom
  3. Stories About Flying
  4. From the Diary of Anne Frank
  5. Glimpses of India
  6. Mijbil the Otter
  7. Madam Rides the Bus
  8. The Sermon at Benares
  9. The Proposal (Play)

B. Poems

  1. Dust of Snow
  2. Fire and Ice
  3. A Tiger in the Zoo
  4. How to Tell Wild Animals
  5. The Ball Poem
  6. Amanda!
  7. The Trees
  8. Fog
  9. The Tale of Custard the Dragon
  10. For Anne Gregory

2. FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET

  1. A Triumph of Surgery
  2. The Thief's Story
  3. The Midnight Visitor
  4. A Question of Trust
  5. Footprints Without Feet
  6. The Making of a Scientist
  7. The Necklace
  8. Bholi
  9. The Book that Saved the Earth

3. WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS - II (WORKBOOK FOR CLASS X) - Units 1 to 4 and Units 7 to 11

Version Changes

Official PDF

Official syllabus documentCBSE-Class-10-English-Language-and-Literature-2026-27
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