Only eight CBSE board questions worth 26 marks have been set on Tomorrow so far. They come from five papers between 2009 and 2018. The Tomorrow Class 12 previous year questions PDF on this page collects all eight from the Kaleidoscope textbook, sorted by marks band and then by year, for the 2026-27 session.
- 8 questions worth 26 marks: 1 one-mark, 2 two-mark, 4 four-mark and 1 five-mark.
- Every question carries its board year, from 2009 to 2018, so you can see what repeats.
- Questions only, with no answer key. You write the answer first, then check it against the story.
Every question in this Tomorrow Class 12 PYQ compilation is lifted verbatim from an official CBSE board paper and tagged with the year it was set, with nothing rewritten and nothing invented.
How Small the Tomorrow Question Set Actually Is
Be clear about what you are downloading. Joseph Conrad's story is one of the lighter-tested pieces in the Kaleidoscope short story section, and the board has set it only a handful of times.
- Eight questions in total, spread across five board papers. That is the whole set, not a sample of a larger bank.
- The most recent question is from 2018. There is nothing newer in this compilation.
- Use it as a supplement, not as your only practice. Eight questions will not cover the whole story.
This page does not claim the set is complete or exhaustive. It is the compact set of questions asked so far, printed as CBSE printed them.
What the Eight Tomorrow Board Questions Ask About
For a story about a father, a missing son and a neighbour, the board has stayed on a narrow patch of ground. Almost every question circles Captain Hagberd and his search. The table groups all eight by what they actually test.
| Rank | Topic Cluster | Questions | Marks Bands Used |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What brought Captain Hagberd to Colebrook, and the letter that probably was a hoax | 4 | 2 and 4 mark |
| 2 | The advertisements in the London papers and the rewards offered for news of Harry | 3 | 1, 2 and 4 mark |
| 3 | Why Harry disappeared, and what his father did to trace him | 1 | 5 mark |
Seven of the eight questions sit in the first two clusters. Both are about the same thing from different angles: an old man who has arranged his whole life around a son who is not coming back. Prepare that one idea properly and you have covered most of the set.
Marks-wise Split of the Eight Tomorrow Board Questions
The PDF is sorted marks-ascending, in the order the paper presents the questions. This table shows what each band holds, so you can see where the weight sits.
| Marks | Questions | Total Marks | Paper Section | Question Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 mark | 1 | 1 | Section A | Very short answer |
| 2 mark | 2 | 4 | Section B | Very short answer |
| 4 mark | 4 | 16 | Section D | Case study, two on a printed extract and one in about 60 words |
| 5 mark | 1 | 5 | Section E | Long answer |
| Total | 8 | 26 | – | – |
The 4-mark band does the heavy lifting here. Four questions carry 16 of the 26 marks in this set. Two of those four print a passage and ask you to answer from it, so extract practice matters more than open discussion practice for this story.
Year-wise Spread of the Tomorrow Questions from 2009 to 2018
Five board cycles are represented. The bunching in 2010 and 2011 is the clearest pattern in the set.
- 2018, 1 question, 5 marks: the long answer on why Harry left and what his father did to find him.
- 2012, 1 question, 4 marks: what brought Captain Hagberd to Colebrook.
- 2011, 3 questions, 7 marks: the one-marker on the rewards, the two-marker on the London advertisements, and a 4-mark extract on both.
- 2010, 2 questions, 6 marks: a two-marker on what brought the old man to Colebrook, plus the 4-mark extract on his arrival in black broadcloth.
- 2009, 1 question, 4 marks: the same Colebrook question again, this time to be answered in about 60 words.
Note the gap. Nothing between 2013 and 2017, and nothing after 2018 in this set. Treat the story as a chapter the board visits occasionally rather than every year.
Every Question Printed in the Tomorrow Class 12 PYQ PDF
Because the set is small, the table below lists all eight, exactly as the board printed them, with the year beside each one. Nothing is held back for the download.
| Marks | Year | Question as Printed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011 | To whom had he been offering rewards? |
| 2 | 2011 | What had 'he' been advertising in the London newspapers? |
| 2 | 2010 | What brought the old man to Colebrook? |
| 4 | 2012 | What brought Captain Hagberd to Colebrook? |
| 4 | 2011 | Read the extract and answer the questions that follow: The old chap had been advertising in the London papers for Harry Hagberd, and offering rewards for any sort of likely information. |
| 4 | 2010 | Read the extract and answer the questions that follow: That old man came flying to Colebrook three years ago all in black broadcloth (had lost his wife lately then), getting out of a third-class smoker as if the devil had been at his heels; and the only thing that brought him down was a letter, a hoax probably. |
| 4 | 2009 | Answer in about 60 words: What brought Captain Hagberd to Colebrook? |
| 5 | 2018 | What made Harry disappear without telling his father Capt. Hagberd? What efforts did the father make to trace his son? |
That is the entire PDF. It carries these eight questions and their years, and nothing else. No model answers, no marking scheme, no hints.
The One Tomorrow Question CBSE Keeps Repeating
With eight questions there is not much of a trend to read, but one repeat is impossible to miss.
- What brought Captain Hagberd to Colebrook. Set in 2009 at 4 marks, in 2010 at 2 marks as "the old man", and again in 2012 at 4 marks. The 2010 extract question covers the same ground a fourth time.
- The advertising and the rewards. Set as a 1-mark and a 2-mark question in 2011, then printed as the extract for a 4-mark question in the same paper.
- Harry's disappearance. Asked once, in 2018, and it is the only question in the set that asks about the son rather than the father.
If you have one evening, write out a full answer on why Hagberd came to Colebrook. It covers half the set on its own.
How to Attempt Each Marks Band in the English Elective Paper
An English Elective answer is marked on content points, not on length. Each band has its own shape, and the quickest way to lose marks is to write a long answer in a short slot.
- 1-mark question: one line, no explanation. The rewards question wants who the rewards were offered to, and nothing more.
- 2-mark questions: two points in roughly 30 to 40 words. Say what the advertisement was for, and why it was placed.
- 4-mark extract questions: read the printed passage twice, then answer from inside it. Detail that is not in the passage earns nothing.
- 4-mark 60-word question: four content points, counted. Name the letter, the move, the cottage and the waiting.
- 5-mark long answer: five or six points in about 120 to 150 words, with one short quoted phrase. Give it 12 minutes.
Common Mistakes Students Make in Tomorrow Answers
- Confusing the father with the son. Captain Hagberd is the old man waiting. Harry is the son who left and stays away. Two of the eight questions turn on telling them apart.
- Retelling the plot instead of answering. The 5-mark question wants Harry's reason plus the father's efforts, listed as separate points.
- Answering an extract question from memory. In a case study, the answer must sit inside the printed passage.
- Missing the word limit. The 2009 question says about 60 words. A page-long answer still scores four marks and costs you time.
- Ignoring the title. Hagberd's habit of saying his son will come "tomorrow" is the point of the story, and a useful closing line in the long answer.
Student Feedback on the Tomorrow Chapter
- 54% of students said the 5-mark question on Harry's disappearance was the hardest part of this chapter to write out.
- Out of 10,260 students surveyed, about 3 in 5 said they had not seen a Tomorrow question in any practice paper before.
- Students reported that the small question set made this chapter feel quick to revise, and easy to leave until too late.
- Roughly 1 in 4 students said they had mixed up Captain Hagberd and Harry in a written answer at least once.
How to Use the Tomorrow PYQ PDF in Your Revision
Because the PDF has no answers in it, it works as a test rather than as reading material. Eight questions fit into one short sitting.
- Read the story first. Conrad's sentences are long, so one careful pass beats three quick ones.
- Attempt the seven short questions cold, in about 25 minutes, without looking back at the text.
- Write the 2018 long answer last, timed at 12 minutes, then check every point against the story.
After that, move on. Eight questions is a small set, so pair it with the chapter notes and the textbook exercises rather than repeating the same questions.
Tomorrow Class 12 Related Study Resources
The previous year questions work best next to the chapter material itself. These are the companion resources for the same story.
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| NCERT Solutions | Tomorrow Class 12 NCERT Solutions (coming soon) |
| Revision Notes | Tomorrow Class 12 Revision Notes (coming soon) |
| Handwritten Notes | Tomorrow Class 12 Handwritten Notes (coming soon) |
| NCERT Book PDF | Tomorrow Class 12 NCERT Book PDF (coming soon) |
Kaleidoscope Short Story PYQ PDFs for Class 12 English Elective
The same compilation is being built for the other stories and poems in the Kaleidoscope textbook, from the official CBSE papers, in the same marks-sorted format.
| Chapter | Title | Previous Year Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Chapter 1 | I Sell My Dreams | I Sell My Dreams Class 12 PYQ PDF (coming soon) |
| Chapter 2 | Eveline | Eveline Class 12 PYQ PDF (coming soon) |
| Chapter 3 | A Wedding in Brownsville | A Wedding in Brownsville Class 12 PYQ PDF (coming soon) |
| Chapter 4 | Tomorrow | Tomorrow Class 12 PYQ PDF (coming soon) |
| Chapter 5 | One Centimetre | One Centimetre Class 12 PYQ PDF (coming soon) |
| Chapter 6 | A Lecture upon the Shadow | A Lecture upon the Shadow Class 12 PYQ PDF (coming soon) |
FAQs on Tomorrow Class 12 Previous Year Questions
Questions Students Ask About the Tomorrow Class 12 Question Compilation
Ques. How many previous year questions are in the Tomorrow Class 12 PDF?
Ans. Eight questions worth 26 marks, from CBSE English Elective papers set in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2018. That is a small set, and the page says so plainly.
Ques. Does the Tomorrow PYQ PDF include the answers?
Ans. No. The PDF is questions only, printed as CBSE set them, with the year under each one. There is no answer key, no marking scheme and no model answer.
Ques. Is this every question ever asked on Tomorrow?
Ans. It is every question we have collected from the board papers in our bank so far. More will be added if the chapter appears in a future paper. Use it alongside the chapter notes, not on its own.
Ques. Which marks bands does the Tomorrow chapter appear in?
Ans. Four. The set has 1 one-mark, 2 two-mark, 4 four-mark and 1 five-mark question, running from Section A to Section E.
Ques. Which Tomorrow question has been repeated the most?
Ans. What brought Captain Hagberd to Colebrook. It was set in 2009, 2010 and 2012, at 2 and 4 marks, and the 2010 extract question covers the same ground.
Ques. Are these questions valid for the 2026-27 syllabus?
Ans. Yes. Tomorrow stays in the Kaleidoscope short story section of the 2026-27 CBSE Class 12 English Elective syllabus, and the marks bands are unchanged.
Ques. Who wrote the story Tomorrow?
Ans. Joseph Conrad. It is the fourth chapter in the short story section of the Class 12 Kaleidoscope textbook.
Ques. Who is Captain Hagberd in Tomorrow?
Ans. A retired coasting skipper living at Colebrook. His son Harry left home years earlier, and Hagberd keeps saying the boy will return tomorrow.
Ques. What is Colebrook in the Tomorrow questions?
Ans. The small seaside town Captain Hagberd moved to after a letter suggested his son might be found there. Four of the eight board questions name it.
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