CBSE Class 10 English Language & Literature Syllabus 2025

The syllabus consists of three sections: (i) Reading Skills (ii) Writing Skills with Grammar (iii) Literature. There are 11 questions in total.

CBSE Class 10 English Language & Literature Syllabus 2025

Exam Structure

Section  Topic  Marks 
A  Reading Skills  20 
B  Writing Skills with Grammar  20
C  Language through Literature 40
  Total  80

The Board examination is of 80 marks, with a duration of three hours.

Section A: Reading Skills

This section will have two Reading Comprehension through Unseen Passage:

1. Discursive passage of 400-450 words. (10 marks)

2. Case-based factual passage (with visual input - statistical data, chart etc.) of 200-250 words. (10 marks)

(Total length of two passages to be 600-700 words)

Multiple Choice Questions / Objective Type Questions, and Short Answer Questions (to be answered in 30-40 words) will be asked to assess comprehension, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation and vocabulary.

Section B: Writing Skills and Grammar

Grammar (10 marks)

  1. Determiners
  2. Tenses
  3. Modals
  4. Subject - verb concord
  5. Reported speech
    • Commands and requests
    • Statements
    • Questions

3. The courses at the secondary level seek to cement high professional grasp of grammatical items and levels of accuracy. Accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar in context will be assessed through Gap Filling / Editing / Transformation exercises. Ten out of 12 questions will have to be attempted.

Writing Skills (10 marks)

4. Writing a Formal Letter based on a given situation, in 100-120 words. One out of two questions is to be answered. (5 marks)

5. Writing an Analytical Paragraph in100-120 words on a given Map / Chart / Graph / Cues. One out of two questions is to be answered. (5 marks)

Section C: Language through Literature

Reference to the Context (5 + 5 = 10 Marks)

6. One extract out of two from Drama / Prose.

7. One extract out of two from poetry.

Multiple Choice Questions / Objective Type Questions Very Short Answer Questions (one word / One sentence), Short Answer Questions (to be answered in 30-40 words) will be asked to assess inference, analysis, interpretation, evaluation and vocabulary.

Short & Very Long Answer Questions (30 Marks)

8. Four out of Five Short Answer Type Questions to be answered in 40-50 words from the book FIRST FLIGHT to assess interpretation, analysis, inference and evaluation. (4 x 3 = 12 marks)

9. Two out of Three Short Answer Type Questions to be answered in 40-50 words each from FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET to assess interpretation, analysis, inference and evaluation. (2 x 3 = 6 marks)

10. One out of two Long Answer Type Questions from FIRST FLIGHT to be answered in about 100-120 words each to assess creativity, imagination and extrapolation beyond the text and across the text. This can be a passage-based question taken from a situation/plot from the text. (6 marks)

11. One out of two Long Answer Type Questions from FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET, on theme or plot involving interpretation, extrapolation beyond the text and inference or character sketch to be answered in about 100-120 words. (6 marks)

Prescribed Books

1. FIRST FLIGHT

A. Prose

  1. A Letter to God
  2. Nelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom
  3. Two Stories About Flying
  4. From the Diary of Anne Frank
  5. Glimpses of India
  6. Mijbil the Otter
  7. Madam Rides the Bus
  8. The Sermon at Benares
  9. The Proposal (Play)

B. Poems

  1. Dust of Snow
  2. Fire and Ice
  3. A Tiger in the Zoo
  4. How to Tell Wild Animals
  5. The Ball Poem
  6. Amanda!
  7. The Trees
  8. Fog
  9. The Tale of Custard the Dragon
  10. For Anne Gregory

2. FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET

  1. A Triumph of Surgery
  2. The Thief's Story
  3. The Midnight Visitor
  4. A Question of Trust
  5. Footprints Without Feet
  6. The Making of a Scientist
  7. The Necklace
  8. Bholi
  9. The Book that Saved the Earth

3. Words and Expressions - II (Workbook for Class X) - Units 1 to 4 and Units 7 to 11