Eighty marks in two hours for Physics and for Chemistry, two and a half for Maths, fifteen minutes of reading time before each, and a Section B where you choose four questions out of six. ICSE is as much an exam-craft paper as a syllabus paper.
Mira Road East · Bhayandar East · Bhayandar West · or online
ICSE Class 10 asks for more written science than any other Indian board. Physics, Chemistry and Biology are three separate 80-mark papers — 240 marks of examined science, where CBSE sets one 80-mark Science paper. And the ICSE papers are shorter: two hours for Physics and Chemistry, two and a half for Maths, against CBSE's three.
So the pressure is real and it is mostly about pace and precision. Then there is the part nobody trains: Section B is a choice. Physics and Chemistry give you six questions and ask for four; Maths gives seven and asks for four. Deciding which four, during the fifteen minutes of reading time, is worth marks on its own — and it is a decision most students make badly, by starting the first question they recognise.
One structural thing parents often miss: the three science paper scores are averaged into a single Science mark out of 100 for the result and the best-of-five percentage. So strong Physics and Chemistry genuinely pull up a weaker Biology.
Machines, Calorimetry and Radioactivity have no CBSE Class 10 equivalent. Moments, pulleys and the method of mixtures are pure ICSE, and they are heavily numerical.
The four Study of Compounds chapters want laboratory preparation, properties and balanced equations with conditions. Dalal is the better drill book for exactly this.
GST; Banking; Shares and Dividends; Linear Inequations; Quadratic Equations and word problems; Ratio and Proportion; Remainder and Factor Theorems; Matrices; AP and GP; Reflection; Section and Mid-Point Formula; Equation of a Line; Similarity; Loci; Circles; Tangents and Intersecting Chords; Constructions; Cylinder, Cone and Sphere; Trigonometrical Identities; Heights and Distances; Graphical Representation; Measures of Central Tendency; Probability.
Matrices, Loci, GST, Banking and Shares are all ICSE-only at this level.
Parents ask me this constantly, usually when deciding a school. These are the concrete differences, not the vague ones.
| ICSE Class 10 | CBSE Class 10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Science papers | Three separate 80-mark papers, averaged into one Science score | One 80-mark Science paper |
| Paper length | Physics and Chemistry 2 h; Maths 2.5 h | Science and Maths 3 h |
| Reading time | 15 minutes before every paper | 15 minutes before every paper |
| Choice | Whole-question choice in Section B — pick 4 of 6, or 4 of 7 in Maths | Internal choice inside questions, about a third |
| Physics topics not in the other | Machines, Calorimetry, Radioactivity, Sound in depth, moments | — |
| Chemistry topics not in the other | Electrolysis, Metallurgy processes, Analytical Chemistry, Study of Compounds, Mole Concept as a board chapter | — |
| Maths topics not in the other | Matrices, Loci, GST, Banking, Shares, GP, Reflection | Real Numbers and Polynomials as separate units |
| Answer style | Longer descriptive answers, explicit reasoning, equations with conditions | Point-wise and keyword-driven, more MCQ and case-study |
| Practical marks | 20 per science subject, real laboratory work | 5 of the 20 internal marks |
The syllabus is finished early on purpose, because the last three months belong to papers.
Home classes in Mira Road East, Bhayandar East and Bhayandar West, and online for students elsewhere in India or abroad. The year before is on the ICSE Class 9 page. If you are comparing boards for a younger child, the Class 10 tuition page sets SSC, CBSE and ICSE side by side. And an ICSE student heading for JEE should read the Class 10 Foundation page, because the ICSE syllabus leaves a specific set of gaps against NCERT.
Two and a half hours for 80 marks, plus 20 marks of internal assessment, plus fifteen minutes of reading time. You will find websites saying ICSE Maths is a three-hour paper with no internal assessment — both are wrong, and they have been copied around a lot. The CISCE syllabus wording is two and a half hours and 20 internal marks.
Writing an equation without conditions or reagents, and answering a Study of Compounds question in general terms instead of describing the actual laboratory preparation. Both are entirely fixable, and both come from practising with a solution book instead of writing answers out.
No. That is a CBSE change and CISCE has announced nothing of the kind. ICSE remains a single annual board examination. CISCE did run a two-semester ICSE in 2021-22 as a COVID measure and went back to one examination afterwards.
Not if you start now rather than in December. Two of my three subjects are heavily numerical, and numerical marks move faster than descriptive ones — a student who drills mole concept, electrolysis and machines properly can shift a Chemistry or Physics score noticeably in a term. What cannot be fixed in six weeks is Class 9 algebra, so tell me honestly where the gaps are on the first call.
Fees depend on the class, how many subjects you want and how many classes a week we run. All the material — notes, worksheets, question banks and the weekly marked test — is included, so the number I quote is the number you pay. Call or WhatsApp on 79774 75848 with your child's class, board and subjects and I will give you the exact figure.
Yes, and it is a real class on a real chapter — not a sales meeting. Tell me what your child is stuck on and we will do exactly that. At the end you will know whether my teaching suits your child, which is the only question worth answering.
Mole concept, electrolysis, machines, loci — tell me which one and that is the class we do.
