The Route to 95: Class 10
A clear plan to the board exam: every chapter in four steps, each ending in a short checkpoint, then timed sample papers. This page shows the plan, and your own progress once you sign in.
Track your route
Sign in (free) and every checkpoint you pass shows here, chapter by chapter.
Your progress
Checkpoint results by chapter and step.
The four steps in every chapter
The board paper has 38 questions, 80 marks, 3 hours: Section A 20 × 1 mark (18 multiple choice and 2 assertion–reason), B 5 × 2, C 6 × 3, D 4 × 5 and E three case studies × 4. Each step trains a part of it.
Secure the basics
Section A: fast, accurate one-mark answers.
Board standard
Sections B and C: every standard two- and three-mark question.
Full marks on long answers
Sections D and E: complete five-mark answers and case studies.
95+ stretch
The internal-choice and higher-order items that separate 95 from 90. Optional until the chapter's step 3 checkpoint is passed.
Move on when the checkpoint is passed (80%). A checkpoint missed twice in a row means going back one step.
A plan from April to the board exam
About 147 hours of chapter work in all.
- Weeks 1 to 30 (April to October): chapters in order, about two weeks each at 6 to 7 hours a week. Steps 1 to 3 of every chapter; step 4 for the chapter just finished if its step 3 checkpoint passed.
- Weeks 31 to 36 (November): step 4 on every chapter, plus any step 3 checkpoints that were missed. Mixed practice across chapters and one timed sample paper every two weeks.
- Weeks 37 to 44 (December to January): one full timed sample paper a week (two in the last three weeks), each followed by redoing every lost mark against the chapter's "where marks are lost" list. School pre-boards sit here.
- Final one to two weeks: light revision of the mark-loss lists and formulae only. The optional second board exam in May is a safety net, not part of the plan.
Starting in October (about 19 weeks)? Do steps 1 to 3 only on each chapter (about 1.2 weeks each at 8 to 9 hours a week), then five weeks of sample papers. Add step 4 only on Algebra and Geometry, which carry 35 of the 80 marks.
For the timed papers: CBSE's own sample paper (on our Class 10 question papers page) and our 5 sample papers on the 2026-27 pattern, each with a 3-hour timer and a step-marking scheme.
The weekly rhythm
| Day | What | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Learn: read the notes section named on the step, then do the step's questions in order. | Step questions done |
| 3 | Checkpoint: the 3 or 4 checkpoint questions, closed book, about 1.5 minutes per mark. | Pass at 80%, or redo the weakest questions and retry in 2 days |
| 4 to 5 | Next step of the same chapter, or the next chapter. | |
| 6 | Mixed practice: 30 to 45 minutes of step 2 and 3 questions from chapters finished 2 to 6 weeks ago. | Old chapters stay secure |
| 7 | Timed practice: one board-style section until October, then a full 3-hour sample paper every two weeks, weekly from December. | A scored paper |
The Sunday paper lands just before the parent report goes out on Sunday evening.
What "on track for 95+" means
The parent dashboard shows an estimated score range, worked out from timed sample-paper scores and chapter mastery: 60% from the average of the last five scored papers and 40% from mastery. The range is ± 4 marks with three or more scored papers, ± 7 with one or two, and ± 10 from mastery alone.
It says "on track for 95+" only when the low end of the range is 95 or more, which needs three or more scored papers and a centre of at least 98.5. "Within reach of 95+" means the high end is 95 or more. It is deliberately cautious: an estimate, never a promise.
Red flags for a parent: a chapter slipping back from "secure", two missed checkpoints in a row in the same chapter, more than ten days without scored practice, or sample-paper marks lost mainly in Sections A and B (careless slips, fixed with the mark-loss lists) rather than D and E.
Chapter order and hours
| Ch | Chapter | Unit (marks / 80) | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Numbers | Number Systems (6) | 8 |
| 2 | Polynomials | Algebra (20) | 8 |
| 3 | Pair of Linear Equations in Two Variables | Algebra (20) | 12 |
| 4 | Quadratic Equations | Algebra (20) | 12 |
| 5 | Arithmetic Progressions | Algebra (20) | 12 |
| 6 | Triangles | Geometry (15) | 14 |
| 7 | Coordinate Geometry | Coordinate Geometry (6) | 9 |
| 8 | Introduction to Trigonometry | Trigonometry (12) | 12 |
| 9 | Some Applications of Trigonometry | Trigonometry (12) | 10 |
| 10 | Circles | Geometry (15) | 10 |
| 11 | Areas Related to Circles | Mensuration (10) | 9 |
| 12 | Surface Areas and Volumes | Mensuration (10) | 11 |
| 13 | Statistics | Statistics and Probability (11) | 12 |
| 14 | Probability | Statistics and Probability (11) | 8 |