How to Score like a Topper in CBSE Class 10 Boards
Gone are the days when gala party followed 85 percentile in board exams. Today parents usually keep their finger crossed. They usually go through a tough phase for admission of their lad into good colleges with these marks. I remember when my parents used to say that “Score at least 90 plus to get an admission in a good collegee”. Now 99 plus is the buzz word. Many people say that parents are becoming too demanding when it comes to scoring in boards. But the fact is students are scoring 99% and above and the competition is between decimals. Many parents have have often been asking me in many of my forums “Sir, how can I/my child score 99% and above in my class 10 board exams?” In the following series of article I have made an honest effort to answer such quarries categorically.
The big question before us is what does a topper do in order to score 99 percentile and above. During the last few decades quite number of researches has been done by Indian Scholars in these fields. The common thing that has immerged from their research is that there are certain factors which form the key to their success. Such factors are three in number i.e. discipline, knowledge and organized method which I often refer as GURU, KNOWLEDGE and METHOD. The presence of all the three in a child’s life makes all the difference.
GURU – In a narrow sense a guru means a person who imparts knowledge. If we look it at the broader perspective it implies a person who is a source of motivation for a child, a person who keeps a strict check on the surrounding distraction and a person who facilitate knowledge enhancement. A Guru is both a parent and a tutor. A parent maintains a proper discipline and a tutor assist parents in such activity. I will be discussing on this topic on my upcoming series of article.
KNOWLEDGE – It means knowing the subject thoroughly. It includes building strong concepts and applying the concepts for memorizing, having a revision before the exams etc. I will be discussing on this topic in a separate article.
METHOD – It includes the techniques of presenting the answers. It has been observed that 71% of the students falter because they are ignorant about answering techniques. It is very crucial to understand that only answering questions itself does not fetches marks but answering smartly does the magic. Smartness here implies
- Answering Time wise
- Answering Marks wise
- Maintain appropriate length.
In this article I have elaborated upon the above three points subject wise. Let us take all the subjects of class 10 one by one starting with maths.
Contents
MATHS
Scoring 95% and above in maths in class 10 becomes easy when a student knows the
subject matter well and is aware of the best practices or the best way to answer the maths question paper. Answering step wise is one of such best practices, the others are discussed below
Answering Marks Wise
It has often been found that students waste a lot of time and energy in answering SECTION A which contains 1 mark each and SECTION B which contains 2 marks each in the beginning, which fetches them only 6 marks and 12 marks respectively. The rest of the section i.e. SECTION C which contains 3 marks each and SECTION D which contains 4 marks each is done in a hurry at the end which contains more marks thus resulting in scoring less. Students are recommended to attempt SECTION C and D in the beginning and thereafter SECTION A and B.
Following are the table which shows how the questions should be attempted to score the maximum.
| S.No | SECTION | NO. OF QUESTIONS | MARKS FOR QUESTIONS | TOTAL MARKS | ATTEMPTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section D | 8 | 4 Marks | 32 | Attempt 1st |
| 2 | Section C | 10 | 3 Marks | 30 | Attempt 2nd |
| 3 | Section B | 6 | 2 Marks | 12 | Attempt 3rd |
| 4 | Section A | 6 | 1 Marks | 6 | Attempt 4th |
| Total | 30 | 80 |
Answering Time Wise
Time plays a very crucial role in Board Exams. It is very essential to know how much time should be spend on each section so that time management becomes easy. It has been observed that students wastes a lot of time in answering SECTION A and SECTION B and are thus left with less time in to solve SECTION C and SECTION D resulting in missing questions and scoring less.
Following are the table which shows how much time should be spend on each section to score maximum.
| S. No | SECTION | TOTAL MARKS | TIME NEEDED TO SPEND | AVARAGE TIME PER QUESTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section D | 32 | 72 min | 9 min |
| 2 | Section C | 30 | 70 min | 7 min |
| 3 | Section B | 12 | 18 min | 3 min |
| 4 | Section A | 6 | 12 min | 2 min |
| Revision | 8 min | |||
| Total | 80 | 180 min |
SCIENCE
Scoring 95% and above in science in class 10 board exams becomes easy when a student 
knows the subject matter well and is aware of the best practices or the best way to answer the science question paper. Answering point wise is one of such best practices, the others are discussed below
Answering Marks Wise
It contains five sections A, B, C, D and E. SECTION E contains Practical Questions .It has often been found that students waste a lot of time and energy in answering SECTION A which contains 1 mark each and SECTION B which contains 2 marks each in the beginning, which fetches them only 2 marks and 6 marks respectively. The rest of the section i.e. SECTION C which contains 3 marks each and SECTION D which contains 5 marks each and SECTION E which contains practical questions is done in a hurry at the end which contains more marks thus resulting in scoring less. Students are recommended to attempt SECTION C, D and E in the beginning and thereafter SECTION A and B.
Following are the table which shows how the questions should be attempted to score the maximum.
| S. No | SECTION | NO OF QUESTION | MARKS PER QUESTION | TOTAL MARKS | ATTEMPTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section D | 6 | 5 marks | 30 | Attempt 1st |
| 2 | Section C | 10 | 3 marks | 30 | Attempt 2nd |
| 3 | Section E | 6 | 2 marks | 12 | Attempt 3rd |
| 4 | Section B | 3 | 2 marks | 6 | Attempt 4th |
| 5 | Section A | 2 | 1 marks | 2 | Attempt 5th |
| Total | 27 | 80 |
Answering Time Wise
Time plays a very crucial role in Board Exams. It is very essential to know how much time should be spend on each section so that time management becomes easy. It has been observed that students wastes a lot of time in answering SECTION A and SECTION B and are thus left with less time in to solve SECTION C , SECTION D and SECTION E resulting in missing questions and scoring less. Students should spend 1hour in answering SECTION D, 1 hour 5 min in answering SECTION C, 27 min in answering SECTION E, 12 min in answering SECTION B and 4 min in answering SECTION A in Science.
Following are the table which shows how much time should be spend on each section to score maximum.
| S. No. | SECTION | TOTAL MARKS | TIME NEEDED TO SPEND | AVARAGE TIME PER QUESTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section D | 30 | 60 min | 10 min |
| 2 | Section C | 30 | 65 min | 7 min |
| 3 | Section E | 12 | 27 min | 5 min |
| 4 | Section B | 6 | 12 min | 4 min |
| 5 | Section A | 2 | 4 min | 2 min |
| Revision | 10 min | |||
| Total | 80 | 180 min |
Maintaining appropriate length
Students sometimes get perplexed when they answer all the question but still land up in less score. This happens because they do not answer questions as per the word limit specified by CBSE. The maximum word limit for Very Short Answer (VSA) is 15 words, for Short Answers One (SA-1) is 30 words, for Short Answer Two (SA-2) is 50 words and for Long Answers (LA) is 70 words.
Following are the table which shows the appropriate word limit for each section.
| S. No. | SECTION | MARKS PER QUESTION | MAXIMUM WORD LIMIT | MAXIMUM LINES (approx) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section A (VSA) | 1 marks | 1 word or 1 sentence | 1 line |
| 2 | Section B (SA-1) | 2 marks | 30 words | 2 line |
| 3 | Section C (SA-2) | 3 marks | 50 words | 4 line |
| 4 | Section D (LA) | 5 marks | 70 words | 5 line |
| 5 | Section E (Practical Question) | 2 marks | Inbrief |
*VSA-Very short answer question, SA-Short answer question, LA-Long answer question, VLA-Very Long answer questions
*Lines have been calculated on the basis of 14 words per line.
SOCIAL SCIENCE
Scoring 95% and above in social science in class 10 board exams becomes easy when a 
student knows the subject matter well and is aware of the best practices or the best way to answer the social science question paper. Answering point wise is one of such best practices, the others are discussed below.
Answering Marks Wise
It contains five sections A, B, C and D .It has usually observed that students waste a lot of time and energy in answering SECTION A which contains 1 mark each. The rest of the section i.e. SECTION B which contains 3 marks each and SECTION C which contains 5 marks each, are answered in haste and thereby losing a chunk of marks as the quality of answer goes down. Students are recommended to attempt SECTION C first and then SECTION B and then SECTION A and D respectively
Following are the table which shows how the questions should be attempted to score the maximum.
| S. No. | SECTION | NO. OF QUESTIONS | MARKS PER QUESTION | TOTAL MARKS | ATTEMPTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section C (LA) | 7 | 5 marks | 35 | Attempt 1st |
| 2 | Section B (SA) | 11 | 3 marks | 33 | Attempt 2nd |
| 3 | Section A (VSA) | 7 | 1 marks | 7 | Attempt 3rd |
| 4 | Section D (Map) | 1 | 5 marks | 5 | Attempt 4th |
| Total | 26 | 80 |
*VSA-Very short answer question, SA-Short answer question, LA-Long answer question, VLA-Very Long answer questions
Answering Time Wise
Time plays a very crucial role in Board Exams. It is very essential to know how much time should be spend on each section so that time management becomes easy. It has been observed that students wastes a lot of time in answering SECTION A and are thus left with less time to solve SECTION B , SECTION C and SECTION D resulting in incomplete answer sheet and followed by low score. Student should spend 1 hour 10 min in answering SECTION C, 1 hour 15 min in answering SECTION B, 15 min in answering SECTION A and 10 min in answering SECTION D in Social Science.
Following are the table which shows how much time should be spend on each section to score maximum.
| S. No. | SECTION | TOTAL MARKS | TIME NEEDED TO SPEND | AVARAGE TIME PER QUESTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section C (LA) | 35 | 70 min | 10 min |
| 2 | Section B (SA) | 33 | 75 min | 7 min |
| 3 | Section A (VSA) | 7 | 15 min | 2 min |
| 4 | Section D (Map) | 5 | 10 min | 10 min |
| Revision | 10 min | |||
| Total | 180 min |
*VSA-Very short answer question, SA-Short answer question, LA-Long answer question, VLA-Very Long answer questions
Maintaining appropriate length
Students sometimes get perplexed when they answer all the question but still land up in less score. This happens because they do not answer questions as per the word limit specified by CBSE. The maximum word limit for Very Short Answer (VSA) is 1 word or 1 sentence, for Short Answers (SA) is 80 words and for Long Answers (LA) is 100 words.
Following are the table which shows the appropriate word limit for each section.
| S. No. | SECTION | MARKS PER QUESTION | MAXIMUM WORD LIMIT | MAXIMUM LINE (approx) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section A (VSA) | 1 marks | 1 word or 1 sentence | 1 line |
| 2 | Section B (SA) | 2 marks | 80 words | 6 line |
| 3 | Section C (LA) | 5 marks | 100 words | 7 line |
| 4 | Section D (Map) | 2 marks |
*VSA-Very short answer question, SA-Short answer question, LA-Long answer question, VLA-Very Long answer questions
*Lines have been calculated on the basis of 14 words per line.
ENGLISH
Scoring 95% and above in english in class 10 board exams becomes easy when a student 
knows the subject matter well and is aware of the best practices or the best way to answer the english question paper. Answering point wise is one of such best practices, the others are discussed below
Answering Marks Wise
It contains three sections A, B and C . SECTION A contains READING. SECTION B contains WRITING AND GRAMMER and SECTION C contains LITERATURE. Students are advised to attempt SECTION B first then SECTION A and then SECTION C. The reason for this is that WRITING AND GRAMMER always requires a fresh mind.
Following are the table which shows how the questions should be attempted to score the maximum.
| S. No. | SECTION | TOTAL MARKS | ATTEMPTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section B | 30 | Attempts 1st |
| 2 | Section A | 20 | Attempts 2nd |
| 3 | Section C | 30 | Attempts 3rd |
| Total | 80 |
Answering Time Wise
Time plays a very crucial role in Board Exams. It is very essential to know how much time should be spend on each section so that time management becomes easy. Students should spend 1hour in answering SECTION B, 50 min in answering SECTION A and 60 min in answering SECTION C in English.
Following are the table which shows how much time should be spend on each section to score maximum
| S. No. | SECTION | TOTAL MARKS | TIME NEEDED TO SPEND |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section B | 30 | 60 min |
| 2 | Section A | 20 | 50 min |
| 3 | Section C | 30 | 60 min |
| Revision | 10 min | ||
| Total | 80 | 180 min |
Maintaining appropriate length
Students sometimes get perplexed when they answer all the question but still land up in less score. This happens because they do not answer questions as per the word limit specified by CBSE.
SECTION A comprises of two Comprehensions. Comprehension 1 contains VSA questions which are to be answered in 1 word or 1 sentence. Comprehension 2 contains ST questions which are to be answered in 30 to 40 words and VSA questions which are to be answered in 1 word or 1 sentence.
SECTION B comprises of formal letter, which are to be answered in 100-120 words and story writing, which are to be answered in 200-250 words.
SECTION C comprises of reference to context which are to be answered in 1 word or 1 sentence, ST questions which needs to be answered in 30-40 words, LA questions which needs to be answered in 100-120 words and VLA questions which needs to be answered in 200-250 words.
Following are the table which shows the appropriate word limit for each section.
| S. No. | SECTION | CONTENTS | QUESTION TYPE | MAXIMUM WORD LIMIT FOR EACH SUBPART OF THE QUESTION | MAXIMUM LINE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section A | Comprehension 1 | VSA | 1 word or 1 sentence | 1 line |
| Comprehension 2 | SA VSA | 30-40 words 1 word or 1 sentence | 2-3 lines 1 line |
||
| 2 | Section B | Formal Letter | LA | 100-120 words | 7-8 lines |
| Story Writing | VLA | 200-250 words | 14-17 lines | ||
| Grammer | |||||
| 3 | Section C | Reference To Context | VSA | 1 word or 1 sentence | 1 line |
| 4 Short type question | SA | 30-40 words | 2-3 lines | ||
| 1 Long Type Question | LA | 100-120 words | 7-8 lines | ||
| 1 Very Long Type Question | VLA | 200-250 words | 14-17 lines | ||
*VSA-Very short answer question, SA-Short answer question, LA-Long answer question, VLA-Very Long answer questions
*Lines have been calculated on the basis of 14 words per line.
HINDI
Scoring 95% and above in hindi in class 10 board exams becomes easy when a student 
knows the subject matter well and is aware of the best practices or the best way to answer the hindi question paper. Answering point wise is one of such best practices, the others are discussed below
Answering Marks Wise
It contains three sections A, B, C and D . SECTION A contains READING. SECTION B contains GRAMMER, SECTION C contains LITERATURE and SECTION D contains WRITING. Students are advised to attempt SECTION D first then SECTION A then SECTION C and at last SECTION B. The reason for this is that WRITING always requires a fresh set of mind.
Following are the table which shows how the questions should be attempted to score the maximum.
| S. No. | SECTION | TOTAL MARKS | ATTEMPTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section D (WRITING) | 20 | Attempt 1st |
| 2 | Section A (READING) | 15 | Attempt 2nd |
| 3 | Section C (LITERATURE) | 30 | Attempt 3rd |
| 4 | Section B (GRAMMER) | 15 | Attempt 4th |
| Total | 80 |
Answering Time Wise
Time plays a very crucial role in Board Exams. It is very essential to know how much time should be spend on each section so that time management becomes easy. Students should spend 45 min in answering SECTION D, 30 min in answering SECTION A and 65 min in answering SECTION C and 30 min in answering SECTION B in Hindi.
Following are the table which shows how much time should be spend on each section to score maximum.
| S.No. | SECTION | TOTAL MARKS | TIME NEEDED TO SPEND | AVARAGE TIME PER QUESTION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section D (WRITING) | 20 | 45 min | 15 min |
| 2 | Section A (READING) | 15 | 30 min | 15 min |
| 3 | Section C (LITERATURE) | 30 | 65 min | 21 min |
| 4 | Section B (GRAMMER) | 15 | 30 min | 10 min |
| 10 min | ||||
| Total | 180 min |
Maintaining appropriate length
Students sometimes get perplexed when they answer all the question but still land up in less score. This happens because they do not answer questions as per the word limit specified by CBSE.
SECTION A comprises of two Comprehensions. Comprehension 1 contains VSA questions which are to be answered in 1 word or 1 sentence and SA questions which are to be answered in 30-40 words. Comprehension 2 contains ST questions which are to be answered in 30 to 40 words and VSA questions which are to be answered in 1 word or 1 sentence.
SECTION B comprises of grammar
SECTION C comprises of 2 reference to context which are to be answered in 1 word or 1 sentence, ST questions which needs to be answered in 30-40 words, SA questions which needs to be answered in 30-40 words and LA questions which needs to be answered in 100-120 words.
SECTION D comprises of formal letter, which are to be answered in 100-120 words, article writing, which are to be written in 200-250 words and advertisement, which are to be answered in 200-250 words.
Following are the table which shows the appropriate word limit for each section.
| S. No. | SECTION | CONTENTS | QUESTION TYPE | WORD LIMIT FOR EACH SEBPART OF A QUESTION | MAXIMUM LINE(approx) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section A | Comprehension 1 | VSA SA | 1 word or 1 sentence 30-40 words | 1 line 2-3 lines |
| Comprehension 2 | VSA SA | 1 word or 1 sentence 30-40 words | 1 line 2-3 lines |
||
| 2 | Section B | Grammar | |||
| 3 | Section C | Reference To Context | VSA SA | 30-40 words 1 word or 1 sentence | 2-3 lines 1 line |
| 4 Short type question | SA | 30-40 words | 2-3 lines | ||
| Reference To Context | SA VSA | 30-40 words 1word or 1 sentence | 2-3 lines 1 line |
||
| 4 Short Type questions | SA | 30-40 words | 2-3 lines | ||
| 1 Long Type Question | LA | 100-120 words | 7-8 lines | ||
| 4 | Section D | Article Writing | VSA | 200-250 words | 14-17 lines |
| Formal Letter | SA | 100-120 words | 7-8 lines | ||
| Advertisement | SA | 20-25 words | 1-2 lines |
*VSA-Very short answer question, SA-Short answer question, LA-Long answer question, VLA-Very Long answer questions
*Lines have been calculated on the basis of 14 words per line.
I hope that this blog will help students of Class 10 to answer in a smatter way and score good marks.