CBSE Class 12 English Core question papers for 2026, 2025, 2024 and 2023 are available below with their paper codes and solution links. The 2026 English Core exam was held on March 12 from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM.

The 2026 paper had 13 questions for 80 marks and a writing time of three hours. Reading Skills carried 22 marks, Creative Writing Skills carried 18 marks and Literature carried 40 marks.

CBSE Class 12 English Question Paper 2026

The table has English Core papers 1/2/1, 1/2/2 and 1/2/3. Each page includes the paper and its answers. More 2026 booklets are available on the CBSE question-paper page.

CBSE Class 12 English Paper Pattern 2026

Section A had two reading passages. Section B tested notice, invitation, letter and article or report writing. Section C used extracts and questions from the prescribed prose, poetry and supplementary reader.

CBSE Class 12 English Question Paper Analysis 2026

The analysis below uses English Core Set 1, Q.P. code 1/1/1. Other booklets followed the same three-section pattern, but passages and question order could differ.

Reading Skills

Question 1 used a passage adapted from Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Its subparts asked about Jonathan's choices, exclusion from the flock and the meaning of lines from the passage. Question 2 used a data-based passage on road safety. It combined written information with a visual and tested comparison, inference and the use of figures. Together, the two questions carried 22 marks.

Creative Writing Skills

Question 3 offered a notice on career counselling or a school magazine. Question 4 asked for an invitation or reply. Question 5 gave a choice between a letter to the editor on yoga and a job application with bio-data. Question 6 offered an article titled “The Vanishing Art of Slowing Down” or a report titled “Tastes of India”. These questions checked format, content, organisation and language within fixed word limits.

Literature

The poetry extracts came from Keeping Quiet and A Roadside Stand. The prose choices included Poets and Pancakes and The Rattrap, while the supplementary-reader extracts included Memories of Childhood and On the Face of It. Short answers covered chapters and poems such as The Last Lesson, Deep Water, Indigo, The Interview, My Mother at Sixty-six and Aunt Jennifer's Tigers.

The two long-answer questions were not limited to retelling a chapter. One choice connected Going Places with Lost Spring, while another paired My Mother at Sixty-six with A Thing of Beauty. The final question offered Journey to the End of the Earth or The Enemy. The answers required a clear argument supported by the text.

The English syllabus covers the prescribed books and writing topics. The Class 12 exam pattern explains the common board-paper rules.

CBSE Class 12 English Sample Paper 2026-27

The 2026-27 English Core sample paper has 13 questions for 80 marks and keeps Reading Skills, Creative Writing Skills and Literature as its three sections. CBSE has said that the question-paper design and assessment pattern have not changed for the 2026-27 session. The English Core sample paper is available on the CBSE academic website.

CBSE Class 12 English Core Question Paper 2025

The 2025 table includes English Core papers from the 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5 and 1/6 series. Match all three parts of the printed Q.P. code before opening a solution.

CBSE Class 12 English Question Paper 2024

The 2024 papers cover codes from the 1/1 to 1/5 series. The first page of the paper shows the complete code.

CBSE Class 12 English Question Paper 2023

The 2023 table includes English Core papers from several booklet series. Use the Q.P. code rather than the row position to select a paper.