ICSE Class 10 Syllabus 2027: Subject-Wise Topics, Weightage and PDF Download

Formal and informal letter writing; essay or article writing (narrative, descriptive, argumentative, expository); report writing; story writing from a given opening, ending, or title; notice writing; email writing. Students must write with accurate grammar, varied vocabulary, and logical paragraph structure. Good cohesion and tone are rewarded.

Two unseen passages. Passage 1 tests comprehension — questions on literal meaning, implied meaning, tone, and writer’s attitude. Passage 2 tests vocabulary and language use — synonyms, antonyms, contextual meaning, and word formation. You must answer in your own words wherever the question specifies it.

Sentence transformation: active/passive voice; direct to indirect speech; degree of comparison; combining sentences using connectives. Error detection and correction in given sentences. Filling blanks with appropriate words or phrases. Dialogue completion. Reordering jumbled sentences into a coherent paragraph.

Lok Sabha: composition, qualifications of members, election process, term (5 years), Speaker and Deputy Speaker (election and functions), role in Money Bills and budget. Rajya Sabha: composition, election by State Legislative Assemblies, Chairman (the Vice-President), 6-year term for members, nominated members, permanent body. Differences between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha — powers and position. Powers of Parliament: legislative powers; financial powers (passing budget, Money Bills); executive control (Question Hour, Zero Hour, censure motion, no-confidence motion); judicial powers (impeachment of President); constituent powers (amending the Constitution); electoral powers. Legislative procedure: passage of Ordinary Bills (both Houses + Presidential assent); Money Bills (introduced only in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha’s limited role); Constitutional Amendment Bills. Joint Session of Parliament (Article 108). Parliamentary procedures: Question Hour, Zero Hour, adjournment motion, privilege motion.

President of India: election by Electoral College, qualifications, term (5 years); executive powers (appointment of PM, Governors, CEC); legislative powers (summoning / proroguing Parliament, ordinances); financial powers (budget recommendation, Contingency Fund); judicial powers (pardons, reprieves); military powers (supreme commander of armed forces); diplomatic powers; emergency powers — National Emergency (Article 352), President’s Rule in States (Article 356), Financial Emergency (Article 360); impeachment process. Vice-President: election, qualifications, term, role as ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha; differences with President. Prime Minister and Council of Ministers: appointment of PM; formation of Cabinet; collective responsibility to Lok Sabha; individual responsibility of ministers; role and powers of PM; relationship between PM and President; resignation and removal. Cabinet vs Council of Ministers: composition and distinction.

Supreme Court: composition (Chief Justice + judges), appointment and removal of judges, independence of judiciary (security of tenure, fixed service conditions, charged on Consolidated Fund), jurisdiction — original (disputes between states, Centre vs State), writ jurisdiction (Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Certiorari, Prohibition, Quo Warranto), appellate (civil, criminal, constitutional), advisory (Article 143); power of judicial review. High Courts: composition, appointment of judges, jurisdiction — original, appellate, supervisory. Subordinate Courts: District Courts (civil), Sessions Courts (criminal). Lok Adalats: meaning, advantages, role as alternative dispute resolution forum.

First War of Independence (1857): causes — political (Doctrine of Lapse, Subsidiary Alliance), economic (drain of wealth, destruction of industries), social (racial discrimination, social reforms), military (grievances of sepoys), immediate cause (greased cartridges); events and centres; consequences (end of Company rule, Queen Victoria’s Proclamation). Growth of Nationalism: role of press (Amrita Bazar Patrika, The Hindu), English education, economic discontent. Indian National Congress (1885): formation, Dadabhai Naoroji’s drain theory, early Moderate demands (civil services reforms, representative councils), Assertive Nationalists (Lal-Bal-Pal — Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal). Partition of Bengal (1905) and the Swadeshi Movement. Muslim League (1906): formation and purpose. Morley-Minto Reforms (1909). Home Rule Leagues (1916): Tilak’s league and Annie Besant’s league. Lucknow Pact (1916): Congress-League agreement.

Mahatma Gandhi’s entry: Champaran Satyagraha (1917), Kheda Satyagraha (1918). Rowlatt Act (1919) and protests; Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919). Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22): aims, methods (boycott of schools, courts, elections, foreign goods), suspension after Chauri Chaura incident. Civil Disobedience Movement (1930): Dandi March (Salt Satyagraha), Gandhi-Irwin Pact (1931). Round Table Conferences (1930–32). Government of India Act (1935). Subhas Chandra Bose: formation of Forward Bloc (1939), reorganisation of Indian National Army (INA / Azad Hind Fauj), "Give me blood and I will give you freedom." Quit India Movement (1942): "Do or Die" call, August Kranti, mass arrests. Post-war developments: Cabinet Mission Plan (1946), Interim Government. Indian Independence Act (1947): Partition of India, Independence on 15 August 1947.

First World War (1914–18): causes — Militarism, Alliance System, Imperialism, Nationalism (MAIN); the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand; major events; Treaty of Versailles (1919) — war guilt clause, reparations, territorial losses; consequences. Rise of Dictatorships: Fascism in Italy — causes of rise, Mussolini’s path to power, features; Nazism in Germany — causes (economic hardship, humiliation of Versailles), Hitler’s rise, anti-Semitism, totalitarian state. Second World War (1939–45): causes (failure of League of Nations, appeasement, Nazi aggression), major events (Blitzkrieg, Operation Barbarossa, Pearl Harbor, D-Day), atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, consequences. United Nations (1945): formation (San Francisco Conference), Preamble and purposes, six principal organs — General Assembly, Security Council (veto power), Secretariat (Secretary-General), International Court of Justice, ECOSOC, Trusteeship Council; specialised agencies (WHO, UNESCO, UNICEF); achievements and limitations. Cold War: meaning, causes (ideological conflict, Soviet expansion, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan), key events — Berlin Blockade (1948), Korean War (1950–53), Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), Vietnam War; end of Cold War. Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): formation at Belgrade (1961), founding leaders (Nehru, Nasser, Tito, Nkrumah, Sukarno), aims and objectives, India’s role.

Four-figure and six-figure grid references — reading and locating features; definition, nature, and uses of contours; types of slopes — steep, gentle, concave, convex; identification of landforms from contours — hill, valley, ridge, escarpment, spur, cliff, col, plateau; conventional symbols and their meanings; types of scale — Statement Scale, Representative Fraction (RF), Linear / Graphic Scale; converting between scale types; measuring straight-line and winding distances using scale; calculating area using grid squares.

Factors affecting India’s climate: latitude, altitude, distance from the sea, upper air circulation, ocean currents, relief. Four seasons: Hot Weather Season (March–May), South-West Monsoon (June–September), Retreating Monsoon / North-East Monsoon (October–November), Cold Weather Season (December–February). Distribution of rainfall across India; monsoon variability; drought and flood; impact of monsoons on agriculture.

GST: CGST, SGST, IGST calculation; input tax credit; invoice-based problems. Banking: recurring deposit accounts — computing maturity value and interest. Shares and Dividends: face value vs market value; dividend calculation; percentage yield; return on investment; premium and discount shares.

Linear Inequations: solving and representing on real number line. Quadratic Equations: factorisation method, quadratic formula; discriminant and nature of roots; word problems. Ratio and Proportion: properties — componendo, dividendo, alternendo, invertendo. Factorisation of Polynomials: remainder theorem, factor theorem, HCF and LCM. Matrices: types, order; addition, subtraction, multiplication; transpose. Arithmetic Progression (AP): nth term formula; sum of first n terms; word problems.

Reflection: in x-axis, y-axis, origin, and specific lines (x = a, y = b, y = x). Section Formula: internal and external division; mid-point formula; centroid of a triangle. Equation of a Straight Line: slope-intercept form (y = mx + c); two-point form; gradient from two points; parallel lines (equal slopes) and perpendicular lines (product of slopes = –1).

Similarity: properties; AA, SSS, SAS criteria; Basic Proportionality Theorem; ratio of areas of similar triangles. Loci: definition; construction and applications; equidistant loci. Circles: chord properties (perpendicular from centre bisects chord); arc and angle theorems (angle at centre = 2 × angle at circumference; angles in same segment; cyclic quadrilateral — opposite angles supplementary); tangent properties — tangent perpendicular to radius, equal tangents from external point; alternate segment theorem. Constructions: tangents to a circle from an external point; inscribed and circumscribed figures.

Current Electricity: Ohm’s Law; resistance — factors affecting it; resistors in series (R = R1 + R2 ...) and parallel (1/R = 1/R1 + 1/R2 ...); internal resistance; potential difference. Electrical Power and Energy: P = VI = I²R = V²/R; energy = Pt; cost of electrical energy; units (kilowatt-hour). Heating Effect: Joule’s Law; fuse operation. Domestic Wiring: ring circuit; earthing; fuse and MCB. Electromagnetic Induction: Faraday’s Laws; Lenz’s Law; AC and DC generators; transformers — step-up and step-down, efficiency, uses in power transmission.

Identification of anions in solution: carbonate (CO₃²⁻), sulphite (SO₃²⁻), sulphate (SO₄²⁻), chloride (Cl⁻), bromide (Br⁻), iodide (I⁻), nitrate (NO₃⁻) — test reagents, observations, inferences. Identification of cations: ammonium (NH₄⁺), iron(II) (Fe²⁺), iron(III) (Fe³⁺), copper(II) (Cu²⁺), zinc(II) (Zn²⁺) — colour of precipitate with NaOH, solubility in excess. Flame test: sodium (yellow), potassium (lilac/violet), calcium (brick red), barium (apple green).

Ammonia (NH₃): laboratory preparation (ammonium salt + alkali, warm); properties (alkaline, turns moist red litmus blue, forms NH₄⁺ with acids); uses (fertilisers, refrigerant). Hydrogen Chloride (HCl): laboratory preparation (NaCl + conc. H₂SO₄, warm); properties of hydrochloric acid. Nitric Acid (HNO₃): Ostwald process (brief); properties — dilute HNO₃ (dissolves metals, no H₂ evolved), concentrated HNO₃ (oxidising agent, passivation of iron); uses (fertilisers, explosives). Sulphuric Acid (H₂SO₄): Contact process (SO₂ → SO₃ with V₂O₅ catalyst, dissolved in water via oleum); properties — dilute (typical acid), concentrated (dehydrating, oxidising, non-volatile); uses (car batteries, fertilisers, refining petroleum).

Structure of plant and animal cells; functions of organelles (nucleus — heredity and protein synthesis, mitochondria — cellular respiration, chloroplast — photosynthesis, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosome — protein synthesis, Golgi apparatus — secretion, lysosome — intracellular digestion, vacuole); differences between plant and animal cells; cell division — mitosis: phases (prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase), significance (growth and repair); meiosis: significance (gamete formation, genetic variation); comparison of mitosis and meiosis.

Neuron structure: cyton, dendrites, axon, myelin sheath, nodes of Ranvier, synaptic knob; types of neurons (sensory, motor, interneuron). Nerve impulse transmission (resting potential, action potential, synapse). Central Nervous System: brain — cerebrum (voluntary actions, intelligence), cerebellum (balance and coordination), medulla oblongata (involuntary actions — heartbeat, breathing); spinal cord. Reflex arc and reflex action vs voluntary action. Sense organs: Eye — structure (cornea, iris, lens, retina, yellow spot, blind spot, aqueous / vitreous humour); image formation; defects of vision (myopia, hypermetropia) and correction. Ear — outer ear, tympanum, ossicles (malleus, incus, stapes), cochlea, Eustachian tube, semicircular canals (balance).

for loop: syntax, execution flow, nested loops; while loop (entry-controlled); do-while loop (exit-controlled); break (exit loop) and continue (skip iteration); comparison of loop types; common loop programs — printing series (Fibonacci, factorial, prime, Armstrong numbers), pattern printing, digit-based programs (sum of digits, reverse of number, palindrome check).