CBSE curriculum explained, 2026-27: the subjects class by class, the new Class 9 scheme from April 2026 (three languages at R1, R2 and R3, Mathematics and Science at Standard and Advanced level, Individuals in Society, Computational Thinking and AI, Vocational Education), the Class 10 scheme and its two board exams (the main exam in February and the second in May), the 80-plus-20 marks and the 33 percent rule, Class 11 and 12 streams, how the 106 CBSE schools in the UAE run it, and a printable subject-by-class table and changes timeline (free PDF)

"CBSE curriculum" is searched by a parent in Dubai or Abu Dhabi for two reasons: a child is moving into a CBSE school from another board and the subject sheet is unfamiliar, or the child is already in one and the school's April circular announced "the new scheme" for Class 9, Advanced papers, a third language and two board exams, with no explanation that a parent could use. This page is the explanation, class by class, from CBSE's own curriculum documents for 2026-27 and its examination notifications, with the UAE particulars and a printable subject-by-class table and changes timeline.

Download the CBSE curriculum table and changes timeline (PDF) (the subjects by class with what is board-examined and what is school-assessed, the marks scheme, the two board exams, the three-language levels, and the timeline of changes from 2026 to 2029; two pages, free)

The shape of it

CBSE, the Central Board of Secondary Education in New Delhi, prescribes the curriculum from Class 1 to 12 for about 30,000 affiliated schools in India and about 250 abroad, of which 106 are in the UAE. The textbooks are NCERT's; the syllabus for each subject is published each spring on CBSE's academic site; the board examines Class 10 and Class 12, and the school examines every other class on CBSE's scheme. Since the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023, the curriculum is being rebuilt stage by stage, and the secondary stage (Class 9 and 10) changed in April 2026.

Class 9 and 10: the subjects

The two classes form one course: a student takes in Class 9 the subjects to be continued in Class 10. In 2026-27 the two classes are on different schemes, because the new scheme starts with the Class 9 batch.

The maximum number of subjects in the Class 10 board exam stays at seven in 2027 (five compulsory and two optional); it becomes seven in 2028 with up to two Advanced papers counted inside the six compulsory ones, and eight in 2029.

The marks: 80 plus 20, and the 33 percent rule

Every main subject is assessed in two parts: an external exam of 80 marks (the board exam in Class 10, the school's annual exam in Class 9) and internal assessment of 20 marks by the school across the year (periodic tests, a portfolio, subject enrichment, notebook work). A student must sit both and score at least 33 percent in each separately to pass the subject. Subjects assessed entirely by the school follow their own notified guidelines. The board exam covers the whole Class 10 syllabus.

Mathematics and Science at two levels

From Class 9 in 2026-27, Mathematics and Science each have a common Standard paper (80 marks, 3 hours) that every student sits, and an optional Advanced paper (25 marks, 1 hour, all higher-order questions) on additional content for students who want more. A student may take none, one or both Advanced papers. The Advanced mark is not added to the aggregate; from the 2028 board exam, a score of 50 percent or more in an Advanced paper is recorded separately on the mark sheet. The internal 20 marks are not split by level.

The old two-level scheme for Class 10 maths, Basic (the easier paper, for students not continuing maths) and Standard, is discontinued from the 2026-27 Class 9; the Class 10 of 2026-27 is the last batch to choose Basic, in the 2027 board exam. For a child aiming at Class 11 Science or Commerce with maths, Standard was always the only choice, and Advanced is now the stretch.

Three languages: R1, R2, R3

The National Curriculum Framework organises languages at three levels, R1 (the strongest, usually English or Hindi), R2 and R3, and requires two of the three to be languages native to India. R3 became compulsory from Class 6 and Class 9 in the 2026-27 session: the Class 9 batch of 2026-27 studies the Class 6 level R3 textbook plus one local literary text, the Class 10 batch of 2027-28 the Class 7 level, and the full scheme runs from 2028-29. R3 is assessed only by the school, at two or three periods a week with the focus on speaking and reading, and there is no board exam in it, but a pass in R3 is required for the Class 10 certificate. R1 and R2 may share a textbook but have different syllabus coverage and separate board papers from the 2028 exam.

Schools abroad are exempt from the two-Indian-languages requirement: a CBSE school in the UAE may offer one compulsory language native to India in place of two, which is how the Dubai and Abu Dhabi schools fit Arabic, Islamic Education and Moral, Social and Cultural Studies into the week.

The Class 10 board exams: two a year from 2026

In line with the NEP, CBSE introduced two board exams for Class 10 from 2026:

• The main exam in February and March is compulsory for everyone (in 2026, 17 February to 11 March; results in April).
• The second exam in May is optional (in 2026, 15 to 21 May; results in July): for improvement in up to three subjects among Science, Mathematics, Social Science and the languages, and for compartment candidates. The better of the two scores counts for a regular student.
• A student who did not sit three or more subjects in the main exam cannot take the second exam and goes into the Essential Repeat category for the next February.

In 2026, 663,777 students sat the second exam; of 513,955 improvement candidates, 59.95 percent raised a score; of 149,822 compartment candidates, 52.40 percent passed; and the overall pass rate after both exams was 96.78 percent. The 2027 dates are announced by CBSE in the autumn; the same February and May pattern is expected.

Class 11 and 12

Senior secondary is one language (English Core is the usual choice) plus four academic electives, with an optional fifth elective or a skill subject, assessed at 80 external plus 20 internal (or 70 plus 30 where there is a practical). The electives make the streams schools talk about: Science (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics or Biology, with Computer Science, Informatics Practices, Physical Education or Economics as the fourth), Commerce (Accountancy, Business Studies, Economics, with Mathematics or Applied Mathematics) and Humanities (History, Political Science, Geography, Psychology, Sociology, Economics). Applied Mathematics is the maths for Commerce and Humanities students who will not take engineering; Mathematics is the one for JEE and for a degree with calculus. The Class 12 board exam is held once a year, February to April; CBSE has said two exams a year is for Class 10 only at present.

How the UAE's CBSE schools run it

The UAE has about 106 CBSE-affiliated schools, the most of any country outside India, and CBSE's regional office is in Dubai. They run the April-to-March year of India (the fee charts say April 2026 to March 2027), sit the same board exams on the same dates, use NCERT textbooks, and add the Ministry of Education's subjects: Arabic, Islamic Education for Muslim pupils, and Moral, Social and Cultural Studies. The regulators (KHDA in Dubai, ADEK in Abu Dhabi, SPEA in Sharjah) inspect the schools and approve the fees; CBSE sets the curriculum and the exams.

In November 2025 CBSE announced a CBSE Global Curriculum for its overseas schools, discussed with KHDA, ADEK and SPEA at the Sahodaya conference in Dubai and planned to start in a later session; at the announcement it was still a draft, and the UAE regulators said the Arabic, Islamic and Moral subjects would continue alongside it. Until a school tells you otherwise, the curriculum in your child's UAE school is the one on this page.

What changes when, 2026 to 2029

Where to get help

For a child in a CBSE school in the UAE, a 1-on-1 online class on the NCERT chapter the school is on, in the school's order, with the sample-paper pattern from Class 9, pre-board practice from December, and the Advanced-paper content for a child who opts for it; CBSE tuition online explains the format, and the UAE page has the class times (4 to 7 pm Gulf time, 1.5 hours behind the tutor) and the fee, about AED 37 to 48 an hour, every class recorded. The free 30-minute first class is a real lesson on the topic the child is on.

Download the CBSE curriculum table and changes timeline (PDF)

Questions parents ask

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