CBSE Class 12 Maths Exam Analysis 2026: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on March 9 conducted the Class 12 mathematics exam. The exam was conducted between 10: 30 am and 1: 30 pm for all the CBSE students across India. Students and teachers claim that the exam was moderately difficult.
Teachers and students’ initial feedback indicated that the paper was moderately difficult, with many candidates highlighting Section D – the long-answer portion – as the most demanding part of the exam.
According to Nilutpal Bora, PGT-Mathematics, Modern English School, Kahilipara, Guwahati, Assam, “The CBSE Class 12 Maths exam paper was well-balanced and aligned with students’ expectations. The paper focused on comprehension, critical thinking, and application-based questions.”
She added that the MCQs involved questions from matrix, determinants, differentiation, application of derivatives, integration, vector 3D, touching almost all the major topics from the syllabus. The MCQs remained consistent across all three sets.
According to her, Section B, consisting of two-mark questions, featured questions of moderate difficulty from inverse trigonometry, relation and function, vector 3D, and differentiation involving parametric form.
On the other hand, Sections C and D carried questions from previous years’ papers (PYQs) on topics such as probability, integration, differentiation, sums using the properties of definite integration, and linear programming. “The three case-based questions were based on the application of integration, maxima and minima, and probability based on Bayes theorems. These were of moderate difficulty and also aligned with previous PYQs,” said Bora.
On the other hand, Pankaj Kumar Gupta, HOD, Mathematics, VidyaGyan School, Sitapur, claimed that the exam was mostly easy, albeit a bit lengthy. “All three sets were of the same difficulty with little variation in the types of questions. The questions were variations of NCERT exercise questions; a few were designed to trick the examinees, but upon their discovery, the questions themselves were easily solvable,” he added.
Story continues below this ad
Bindu Harish, Senior Mathematics Teacher, Manav Rachna International School, Sector 46, Gurugram, asserted that the Mathematics paper was well-balanced and in accordance with the blueprint released by CBSE. Harish said, “There was a minor error in the question paper in Set 1 and Set 3, Question 33(A) had a missing bracket, and in Set 2, Question 35(A) also had a similar issue with a missing bracket. Apart from these minor typographical errors, the paper was flawless and aligned well with the CBSE examination pattern.”
‘Out-of-syllabus’ question
Dr Alka Kapur, Principal, Modern Public School, Shalimar Bagh, claimed that a 5-mark question from the chapter on 3D Geometry was not explicitly covered in the NCERT textbook, leading to some confusion among examinees.
Applied Mathematics
Tanmoy Das, PGT-Mathematics, Modern English School, Kahilipara, Guwahati, Assam, claimed that the exam was balanced and fair with straightforward, long-answer, and case-study sections. Das added that MCQs stood out for their quality, where students encountered a good level of challenge, effectively testing their understanding of Matrices, Calculus, Financial Mathematics, and Probability.
“The 2-mark and 3-mark sections maintained an average difficulty level. While sections on Aptitude, Reasoning, Time Series, and EMI required standard application of formulas, the questions on Cramer’s Rule and Linear Programming (LPP) were noted as being particularly straightforward, allowing students to secure marks with ease,” said Das
Story continues below this ad
According to Chinmay Sharma, PGT (Mathematics), JAIN International Residential School (JIRS), Bengaluru: “The overall question paper was moderate in difficulty level. The paper focused on testing students’ conceptual understanding and application of mathematical concepts.
Section A and Section B consisted of straightforward questions that could be solved easily by students who had a clear understanding of the fundamental concepts and had practised standard problems from the syllabus.”
Section C was moderate in difficulty, with a few questions involving slight variations that required careful interpretation and conceptual clarity, Sharma said, adding that Section D was also moderate and aimed at assessing students’ analytical and application skills. The case study questions were comprehension-based and could be solved effectively once the context of the problem was properly understood.
Sharma also informed that question 19 was clearly out of the prescribed syllabus. “Additionally, for the question involving exponential calculations, the required exponential tables or values should have been provided separately to help students attempt the question more effectively,” he said.
“Questions from Matrices and Linear Programming were relatively straightforward, while Financial Mathematics and Probability Distribution required careful calculations and interpretation,” said PGT teachers Shivam Tyagi, Alok Das, and Virendra Panchal at Silverline Prestige School, Ghaziabad, adding that many students described the paper as balanced and manageable, although some felt it was slightly lengthy due to calculation-based questions.
