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The CBSE physics board paper rewards students who know its shape before exam day. The sample question paper and marking scheme are official, free and close to the real paper, yet many students only open them in the last week. This post reads the 2026–27 sample paper section by section, works two of its questions the way the marking scheme does, and gives you a preparation plan.
What does the 2026–27 physics paper look like?
The Class XII Physics sample question paper for 2026–27 has 33 questions, all compulsory, for 70 marks in three hours:
Section A: 16 questions of 1 mark, twelve MCQs and four assertion-reason questions.
Section B: 5 questions of 2 marks.
Section C: 7 questions of 3 marks.
Section D: 2 case study questions of 4 marks.
Section E: 3 long answer questions of 5 marks.
There is internal choice in two Section B questions, one in Section C and all three in Section E. Calculators are not allowed, and the paper lists the constants you may use, such as e = 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ C and h = 6.63 × 10⁻³⁴ J s. A note on the paper says there is no change in the question paper design for 2026–27. The papers for every subject are on CBSE's sample paper page.
Which units carry the most marks?
The Physics curriculum for 2026–27 gives these theory marks for Class XII:
Electrostatics and Current Electricity: 16
Magnetic Effects of Current, Magnetism, Electromagnetic Induction and AC: 17
Electromagnetic Waves and Optics: 18
Dual Nature, Atoms and Nuclei: 12
Electronic Devices: 7
The practical exam adds 30 marks: two experiments (7 + 7), the practical record (5), an activity (3), an investigatory project (3) and a viva (5). The curriculum's question design sets about 38% of marks for remembering and understanding, 32% for applying, and 30% for analysing, evaluating and creating, so most of the paper asks you to use ideas, not recite them.
Worked example 1: an assertion-reason question
Question 15 gives a Young's double slit set-up: slit separation 0.25 mm, screen 1.0 m away, wavelength 500 nm. Assertion: the fringe width is 2.0 mm. Reason: fringe width is directly proportional to slit separation and inversely proportional to wavelength.
Fringe width β = λD/d = (500 × 10⁻⁹ × 1.0) / (0.25 × 10⁻³) = 2.0 × 10⁻³ m = 2.0 mm. The assertion is true.
The reason has the proportionality backwards: β is proportional to λ and inversely proportional to d. The reason is false.
The marking scheme answer is option C, assertion true and reason false. Assertion-reason questions often hide one reversed word, so check every relationship, not just the number. Our guide to Young's double slit problems has more like this.
Worked example 2: a 3-mark numerical without a calculator
Question 24 asks for the binding energy per nucleon of oxygen-16, with atomic mass 15.99493 u, proton 1.00727 u, neutron 1.00866 u and 1 u = 931.5 MeV/c².
Nucleon masses: 8(1.00727) + 8(1.00866) = 8.05816 + 8.06928 = 16.12744 u.
Mass defect: 16.12744 − 15.99493 = 0.13251 u.
Binding energy: 0.13251 × 931.5 ≈ 123.4 MeV.
Per nucleon: 123.4 / 16 ≈ 7.71 MeV.
The marking scheme gives one mark each to the nucleon mass sum, the binding energy and the per-nucleon value. A student who makes an arithmetic slip in step 3 can still collect the first mark, but only if step 1 is written down. For more, read our post on nuclear binding energy problems.
How should you prepare?
Test yourself rather than reread. Roediger and Karpicke (2006) found that students who had practised recalling a passage remembered more two days and one week later than students who reread it, although rereading did better on a test after five minutes. The review by Dunlosky and colleagues (2013) rated practice testing and spaced practice as high-utility techniques, and rereading and highlighting as low-utility.
Turn that into a plan:
Weeks 1 to 4, by unit weight. Spend more time on Optics and the magnetism-induction block. For each chapter, list its derivations and practise writing each one from memory. Our post on writing physics derivations for boards covers the structure that earns marks.
Weekly, no calculator. Do ten numericals with only pen and paper, using the constants from the sample paper.
Weekly, one section drill. One day assertion-reason, one day case studies, one day 5-mark answers, timed.
Weeks 5 to 6, full papers. Two timed sample papers, marked strictly against the marking scheme.
Practicals in parallel. Know each experiment's aim, formula and sources of error for the viva.
If a chapter has a concept you never understood, such as why the induced current opposes the change, go back to that one concept. The Fermi Concept Library covers every concept in physics, each with its own lesson and its place in the map, so you can fix the gap before you return to the paper.
This weekend, download the 2026–27 sample paper and marking scheme, attempt Section A in 25 minutes, and mark it yourself.
