CBSE to introduce two science, social science levels in Class 9 from next year

Science and social science can either be a single question paper with an additional set of questions for the advanced level or two different question papers for both levels in the 2028 Class 10 board examination

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will implement two-tier difficulty levels—standard and advanced—science and social science for class 9 from the 2026-27 academic session and class 10 in the 2027-28 session.

From 2026, students of class 9 will be learning two levels — standard and advanced for science and social science. These students will learn both levels in the same subject in class 10 and appear for board exams in 2028," CBSE chairman Rahul Singh told PTI on Tuesday.

The decision came after CBSE's governing body approved its curriculum committee's proposal to introduce the two levels.

Science and social science can either have one question paper with a special set of questions for the advanced level or different question papers for both levels in class 10 board exams of the 2028 batch, as said by Singh.

The two levels are consistent with the National Education Policy 2020, which suggested that "all subjects and related assessments, starting with mathematics, could be made available at two levels, with students taking some of their subjects at the standard level and others at a higher level."

The CBSE has been providing two streams of mathematics in class 10 from 2019-20. The standard and basic mathematics syllabi are identical. They vary as per the level of question difficulty in board exams.

The board has asked the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to release new Class 9 and 10 science and social science textbooks with an added section including material for the advanced level. "We are hoping that NCERT will be able to provide new textbooks to class 9 students by next year," Singh stated.

The NCERT published revised textbooks for classes 1 and 2 in 2023, then classes 3 and 6 in 2024 according to the National Curriculum Framework for School Education. It is going to publish new textbooks for classes 4, 5, 7, and 8 for the 2025-26 session and class 9 prior to the 2026-27 session.