NIOS syllabus class 10 (Secondary course)

NIOS syllabus class 10: the three ways you are marked

Every subject you take goes through up to three checks.

• Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA): one assignment per subject, written by hand and submitted to your study centre within the announced window. It covers part of the book and carries 20% weightage of the theory marks. There is no pass mark for the TMA alone, but not submitting it means zero in that component.
• Public examination: a written theory paper in the spring (April, May) or autumn (October, November) window, covering the lessons set aside for the exam.
• Practical: only in subjects with a practical part, such as Science and Technology, Home Science, Painting, Data Entry Operations and the music subjects.

You can also take many Secondary subjects through the On Demand Examination, which lets a registered learner sit a subject on a chosen date rather than waiting for the next public exam.

Subject groups and codes for NIOS 10th

Take a language or two from Group A and fill the rest of your five from the other groups. Two optional extras push the total to seven. Most learners who plan to study science or commerce in class 11 pick English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science and Technology and Social Science.

Mathematics (211): 26 lessons in six modules

• Algebra: number system, exponents and radicals, algebraic expressions and polynomials, special products and factorisation, linear equations, quadratic equations, arithmetic progression.
• Commercial mathematics: percentage and its applications, instalment buying.
• Geometry: lines and angles, congruence of triangles, concurrent lines, quadrilaterals, similarity of triangles, circles, angles in a circle and cyclic quadrilaterals, secants and tangents, constructions, coordinate geometry.
• Mensuration: boundaries and areas of flat shapes, then the outer surface and capacity of solids.
• Trigonometry: introduction, ratios of special angles.
• Statistics: data and its representation, measures of central tendency, introduction to probability.

Roughly 40% of maths (10 lessons) is assessed through the assignment, while the remaining 60% (16 lessons) forms the theory paper. Check the course bifurcation file for your exam cycle to see exactly which lessons go where.

Science and Technology (212): 32 lessons

The science book is arranged in seven modules.

1. Measurement in science: units and measuring in science and technology.
2. Matter in our surroundings: states of matter, atoms and molecules, chemical reactions and equations, atomic structure, periodic classification, chemical bonding, acids, bases and salts.
3. Moving things: motion, force and motion, gravitation.
4. Energy: sources of energy, work and energy, thermal, light and electrical energy, magnetic effect of current, sound and communication.
5. The living world: classification, history of life, cells and tissues, three lessons on life processes, heredity.
6. Natural resources: air and water, metals with non metals, and carbon chemistry.
7. Human and environment: natural environment, human impact, food production, health and hygiene.

Thirteen science lessons are marked through the assignment and nineteen in the written paper. Science also has a practical, which you must attend at your study centre.

Social Science (213): four modules

• India and the world through the ages: ancient, medieval and modern world, the impact of British rule, religious and social awakening, popular resistance and the national movement.
• India's natural environment, resources and development: physiography, climate, biodiversity, agriculture, transport and communication, population as a resource.
• Democracy at work: constitutional values, fundamental rights and duties, the welfare state, local, state and union government, political parties and pressure groups, people's participation.
• Contemporary India, issues and goals: challenges to democracy, national integration and secularism, empowerment of disadvantaged groups, environmental degradation and disaster management, peace and security.

Social science gives twelve lessons to the assignment and keeps sixteen for the theory paper. Questions in this paper reward short, structured answers with headings, so practise writing points rather than long paragraphs.

Pass rules, chances and credit transfer

• Passing a subject: 33% in the external exam and 33% in aggregate, with theory passed separately.
• Certificate: issued when you have passed five subjects that meet the language rule.
• Validity: admission lasts five years, and you appear only in the subjects still to be cleared.
• Credit transfer: if you passed some subjects at another recognised board, up to two can usually be carried into NIOS when they match its scheme.
• Medium: Secondary study material and papers come in English and Hindi, as well as Urdu, Marathi, Telugu, Gujarati, Malayalam and Odia.

Planning one exam sitting

Work backwards from your exam month. The TMA deadline comes first, so finish all five assignments before you start serious exam study.

Use the NIOS books as your main text, since paper setters follow their scope. NCERT class 9 and 10 books are useful extra practice for maths and science. NIOS also publishes sample papers and learner guides for each subject on its website.

Comparing boards and next steps

After the Secondary course you can move to the NIOS class 12 syllabus, or join a regular school. If you are weighing open schooling against a regular board, set the NIOS syllabus for class 10 beside the CBSE class 10 syllabus or the ICSE class 10 syllabus, or see every board in the school boards hub.