Class 11 English Syllabus and the Rest of CBSE Class 11

How class 11 works in CBSE

Class 11 is the first year of the senior secondary stage. You study five subjects, usually one or two languages and three or four electives from your stream, and you may add a sixth. The annual exam is conducted by your school using the CBSE curriculum, and the marks decide your promotion to class 12, where the board exam happens. Most theory papers are of 80 marks with 20 internal marks; subjects with laboratory work such as physics, chemistry and biology are 70 theory and 30 practical.

Because class 12 builds directly on class 11, many competitive entrance tests also draw from this year. Treat the syllabus of class 11 seriously even though it is a school exam.

Class 11 English syllabus: section-wise marks

Grammar covers gap filling with tenses and clauses, and reordering or transforming sentences. The classified advertisement and poster are up to 50 words each, while the speech and debate are 120 to 150 words.

Hornbill and Snapshots chapter list

Hornbill (main reader)

• The Portrait of a Lady
• A Photograph (poem)
• We're Not Afraid to Die... if We Can All Be Together
• Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues
• The Laburnum Top (poem)
• The Voice of the Rain (poem)
• Childhood (poem)
• The Adventure
• Silk Road
• Father to Son (poem)

Snapshots (supplementary reader)

• The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse
• The Address
• Mother's Day
• Birth
• The Tale of Melon City

Chapters not on this list are deleted from the current course and will not be examined.

How the literature section is asked

• One poetry extract and one prose extract from Hornbill, each worth 3 marks, with a choice of two.
• One prose extract from Snapshots worth 4 marks.
• Two short answers from Hornbill (40 to 50 words, 3 marks each) and one from Snapshots.
• One long answer of 120 to 150 words from each book, 6 marks each.

Class 11 Hindi syllabus

CBSE offers two Hindi courses in class 11, and you take the one your school and stream allow.

• Hindi Core (code 302): the NCERT books Aroh Part 1 and Vitan Part 1, along with Abhivyakti aur Madhyam for writing and media topics such as letters, articles and reports.
• Hindi Elective (code 002): Antra Part 1 and Antral Part 1, with Abhivyakti aur Madhyam, and a deeper study of poetry and prose.

Both follow the 80 theory and 20 internal pattern. Hindi students in class 11th need only these NCERT books for the syllabus, and any class 11 Hindi syllabus NCERT list you find will name the same titles; the deleted lessons are listed in the CBSE curriculum for your session.

Class 11 syllabus for each stream

Each elective has its own page with units and marks.

• Science: maths, physics, chemistry or biology, in the PCM or PCB mix.
• Commerce: the trio of accountancy, business studies and economics, explained in the CBSE class 11 commerce syllabus page, plus the economics page.
• Humanities: choices such as geography, history, sociology, political science, psychology and others, each with an 80 or 70 mark theory paper depending on practical work.

Physical education, computer science and other electives can be combined with any stream if your school offers them.

A study rhythm for the year

Class 11 has a large jump in content from class 10, so a steady pace beats a last month rush.

• Read one English chapter every fortnight and write two practice answers on it the same week.
• Practise one writing task, such as a debate or a poster, every Sunday.
• For electives, finish NCERT exercises within a week of the class lesson.
• Before the half yearly exam, solve one full English paper in three hours to check your speed.

Keep the CBSE class 12 syllabus in view too, since class 12 English continues with Flamingo and Vistas and the writing formats grow.

Downloading the curriculum PDF

The senior secondary curriculum sits on the CBSE academic website, arranged by subject. Pick the file for the current session and check the subject code, since English Core (301) and English Elective are different courses with different books.