CHECK YOUR COURSE AND PAPER
This page is for Class 12 English Core, code 301. English Elective is a separate course; check the subject name and code on your school documents before using these resources. “2026–27” identifies the academic session of this paper.
The official sample has 13 numbered questions, three hours and 80 marks: Reading 22, Creative Writing 18 and Literature 40. Compulsory question numbers can contain choices; follow each part’s instructions. The paper asks you to respect the stated word limits. [1, printed page 1]
Keep these writing instructions visible while reviewing: Q3 and Q4 ask for about 50 words; Q5 and Q6 specify 120–150. The literature short answers in Q10 and Q11 use 40–50 words; Q12 and Q13 use about 120–150. Read the individual reading question for its response length. [1, printed pages 5–7 and 11–12]
START WITH YOUR ANSWER BEFORE THE SUGGESTED ONE
Underline the part of the question that tells you what to do. For example, “what” may ask you to identify something; “how” may require you to explain its operation or effect. Read the rest of the question too: a command word alone does not tell you everything the response needs.
Then make three quick checks:
- What conclusion or response does my first relevant sentence give?
- Which detail supports it?
- Where have I explained the connection?
These are review questions, not a compulsory three-sentence formula. A single-word completion needs a single appropriate answer. A comparison needs enough space to relate both texts. After checking your own response, use the matching marking scheme to see what you omitted or misunderstood. Its opening guidance allows correct original expression; suggested points are not a script to memorise. [2, printed page 1]
READING INFERENCE THAT STAYS WITHIN THE EVIDENCE
An inference should go beyond copying while staying close enough to be supported. Check the difference between what the passage records and what you have added. Words such as “all”, “proves” and “only” often make a response stronger than its evidence.
Original mini-passage
“A community archive replaced its long introductory display with six short panels. Visitors now spent less time at the entrance, but more of them reached the oral-history room. In interviews, several visitors said the panels helped them choose what to explore. The archive had not measured how much visitors remembered.”
Original question
What can reasonably be inferred about the effect of the shorter introduction, and what remains uncertain?
Weak answer
“The new panels made everyone learn more because they were easier to read.”
Review
The passage reports movement through the archive and comments from several visitors. It does not test learning, establish that everyone benefited or directly compare reading difficulty. The answer also misses the question’s second requirement: what remains uncertain.
Improved answer
“The shorter introduction appears to help visitors move on and choose areas to explore: more reach the oral-history room, and several say the panels guide their choices. Whether this improves what visitors remember remains uncertain because recall was not measured.”
Why this revision helps
“Appears” leaves room for the limits of the evidence. The response connects visitor movement and interview comments to a modest conclusion about navigation. Its final sentence answers the uncertainty explicitly. The caveat is useful because the question asks for one; do not add a long warning to every short reading response.
Try this with your own answer: circle each claim, then point to its supporting line. If a claim has no support, remove it, qualify it or explain why it follows. For vocabulary in context, substitute your proposed meaning into the sentence and check that the sense still fits.
READING NUMBERS WITHOUT CHANGING THEIR MEANING
Before comparing figures, write down the quantity, unit, dates and starting value. “More”, “a larger increase” and “faster percentage growth” can describe different relationships.
Original teaching data
A fictional archive received 200 visits in Month A and 300 in Month B. Its recorded audio plays rose from 400 to 500. These are counts of visits and plays, not counts of distinct people.
Weak answer
“Visits and audio listening grew at the same rate because each increased by 100.”
Improved answer
“Both counts increased by 100, but visits grew by 50% of their starting total, while audio plays grew by 25%. Visits therefore had the larger relative increase. These totals do not tell us how many different people listened.”
The working is short: visits rose by 100 out of 200; plays rose by 100 out of 400. Dividing each change by its own starting value makes the growth rates comparable. Do not divide both changes by whichever baseline is larger.
If a share rises from 20% to 30%, the difference is ten percentage points; the relative rise is 50%. Choose the measure the question asks for. Where a question refers to both prose and a chart, check that the labels and periods match before combining information.
Source check, 13 October 2026
Source check, 13 October 2026: Q2 II in the linked English Core marking scheme appears inconsistent with the paper’s figures. From October 2021 to October 2024, transaction count grows by (16.58 − 4.21) ÷ 4.21 × 100 ≈ 293.8%, while transaction value grows by (23.49 − 7.71) ÷ 7.71 × 100 ≈ 204.7%. The figures therefore support lower percentage growth in value, although the scheme gives the opposite comparison. The question refers to paragraph 2; the value figures are in paragraph 3. Keep your working and ask your teacher to check the current CBSE version before deciding your mark.
CREATIVE WRITING THAT FITS THE READER
Write a one-line planning note before revising: “I am writing as ___ to ___ so that ___.” This often reveals why an otherwise polished response does not work. The curriculum includes notices; formal and informal invitations and replies; letters to the editor and job applications with bio-data or a résumé; and articles and reports. These purposes require different choices. [3, printed page 10]
For a notice, check whether the intended audience can act on the information. For an invitation, check what role the recipient is being asked to take. A reply should clearly accept or decline and respond to relevant arrangements. A letter to an editor needs a public issue and a coherent suggestion or view; a job application needs relevant suitability for the advertised role. An article develops an idea for its readers; a report makes the event and its relevant details clear.
Original scenario for two writing purposes
In this fictional scenario, the Greenway School History Society is holding an oral-history session on 18 November, from 2 to 3 p.m., in Room 12. Class 12 students may register with the society secretary by 15 November. The organisers also wish to invite local archivist Ms Leela Rao to demonstrate how to record an interview. The notice is issued on 10 November by society secretary Anu Das.
First purpose: a notice for students
Weak notice body
“We are delighted to invite everyone to a very interesting programme. A special guest will come. Please participate and make it a success.”
A usable revised notice
Greenway School History Society
NOTICE
10 November 2026
Oral History Session
Class 12 students are invited to an oral-history session on 18 November, 2–3 p.m., in Room 12. Register with the society secretary by 15 November.
For an examination task that requires a box, enclose the complete notice in one. This plain-text example displays the information; preserve the requested layout when writing it on paper.
Why this revision helps
The audience is specific. The event, date, time and place are easy to find. The final body sentence gives a registration route and deadline. Enthusiasm no longer takes the place of usable details. All names and arrangements come from this fictional scenario; they should not be inserted into a different question as facts.
For this official sample’s Q3, the marking scheme allocates format 1, content 2 and spelling/grammar accuracy 1. Its format guidance includes the box, issuing authority, notice label, issue date and authorisation details. These are Q3 criteria, not a general rubric for every writing task. [2, printed page 3]
Second purpose: an invitation to the demonstrator
Weak invitation body
“Students should register by 15 November for our oral-history session. Please attend.”
Improved invitation body
“The History Society of Greenway School invites Ms Leela Rao to demonstrate interview-recording techniques at its oral-history session on 18 November, from 2 to 3 p.m., in Room 12.”
This is a body-editing example, not a complete invitation or a word-limit model. The revision names the recipient’s requested contribution. A student registration instruction would not tell the archivist what the organisers need from her. To complete an actual invitation, follow its requested form and include the other necessary arrangements rather than copying a notice’s layout.
The same underlying event therefore produces different content priorities. Check who needs which information before checking decorative phrases.
REVIEW LONGER WRITING IN TWO PASSES
First check purpose and development. In a letter to an editor, can a reader follow the link between the problem, its consequence and your proposal? In a job application, does the evidence of suitability match the role instead of merely calling the applicant hardworking? For an article, does each paragraph advance the central idea? For a report, can the reader distinguish what happened from what is proposed for later?
Then check format and accuracy separately. Confirm the required identifying details, beginning and ending, and check tense, agreement and sentence boundaries. If you fix only spelling, an irrelevant paragraph stays irrelevant. If you fix only ideas, unclear language may still obscure them.
For Q5 and Q6 in this sample, the scheme allocates 1 mark for format, 2 for content, 1 for organisation and 1 for spelling and grammar accuracy. Consult the exact option you attempted for its guidance rather than borrowing a Class 10 letter or analytical-paragraph rubric. [2, printed pages 3–5]
Here is a short original report-editing example. The fictional event record says that twelve volunteers labelled forty recordings; ten recordings remained unchecked. A weak conclusion reads, “The event was a huge success and completed the archive.” A more precise conclusion is, “Twelve volunteers labelled forty recordings. Ten remain to be checked before the review is complete.” The revision replaces an unsupported judgement with the recorded outcome and unfinished work. It is a conclusion excerpt, not a full report.
LITERATURE COMPARISON THAT CONNECTS THE EVIDENCE
For prescribed-text answers, use the texts and scope in the current curriculum. Class 12 Core uses Flamingo and Vistas; check the included titles in the curriculum rather than assuming that everything in an old guide remains prescribed. [3, printed page 12]
A useful comparison starts with the relationship the question asks about. It might be a shared concern, a contrast in response or two different effects of a similar choice. Choosing a detail from each text is only the beginning. Explain how those details establish the relationship.
The next two extracts are original TutorMax fiction. They are deliberately short so you can see the reasoning without needing to recall a chapter. They are not extracts from Flamingo or Vistas.
Extract A
“Before the committee met, Ishan crossed out the sentence asking for the reading room to stay open. He placed the blank-backed sheet under his notebook and kept his eyes lowered when the chair asked whether anyone had another proposal.”
Extract B
“Before the committee met, Tara crossed out her opening sentence. Under it she wrote a simpler one: ‘We need the reading room after school.’ When the chair asked for proposals, she turned the page towards the others.”
Original question
How do the two writers use the act of revising a page to present different responses to hesitation?
Weak comparison
“Ishan has a notebook and does not speak. Tara has a page and speaks. Both are at a committee meeting and both cross something out.”
This identifies similarities and events but does not explain the role of revision. It also says that Tara speaks, although the extract only shows her turning the page towards the others. The question’s focus, hesitation, remains largely unexamined.
Improved comparison paragraph
“Both characters alter their writing before a public discussion, but the changes lead in opposite directions. Ishan removes his request and hides the sheet, so revision becomes a way of withdrawing from participation. Keeping his eyes lowered reinforces his withdrawal when the chair invites proposals. Tara replaces her opening with a direct request and then shows it to the others. For her, revision makes participation possible by giving uncertainty a clearer form. The shared action of crossing out therefore reveals two responses to hesitation: concealing a need and finding a way to express it.”
Why this revision helps
The opening supplies a comparative claim. Each character receives relevant evidence, and each detail is connected to its meaning. The ending returns to the shared action and explains its different effects. The response does not invent either character’s history or claim that Tara feels no fear.
This is a teaching paragraph, shorter than a full Q12 response, with no mark assigned. For your own prescribed-text comparison, check that both sides genuinely support your claim. If the second half could stand alone as an unrelated chapter summary, write a sentence that connects its evidence to the first half. A quotation is useful when its wording matters; an accurate, relevant reference can also support analysis. Never manufacture a quotation.
For a single-text answer, make the same evidence check at a smaller scale. If you name irony, imagery or contrast, explain what the specific detail makes the reader understand. Naming a device without its effect often leaves the interpretation unfinished.
MAKE ONE CORRECTION YOU CAN TEST
End a review with a brief record:
- Question or skill: what was I asked to do?
- First missing connection: what prevented my answer from doing it?
- Revision: what exact sentence or passage did I change?
- Next check: what will I look for in a new, independent answer?
For example: “My invitation addressed students instead of the invited speaker. I rewrote the request to name the speaker’s contribution. Next time I will identify the recipient and requested action before drafting.”
Choose a fresh question that tests the skill you have just worked on, or ask your teacher for one. Repeating the corrected answer from memory does not show whether you can apply the change. Where an interpretation remains debatable, take the question, your textual evidence and your explanation to a teacher rather than treating an automated score as a final judgement.
COMMON REVIEW QUESTIONS
Must my wording match the marking scheme?
No. The scheme explicitly allows correct original expression. Check whether your answer makes the required point with suitable evidence; similarity of wording alone does not establish correctness. [2, printed page 1]
What if my interpretation differs from the suggested answer?
Identify the exact difference and the evidence that supports your reading. Ask whether your answer addresses the question, whether any detail contradicts it, and whether your conclusion is proportionate. A teacher can help judge a defensible alternative. If you suspect a source inconsistency, retain the question, source version and your working for review.
Should I rewrite the whole paper after checking it?
Start with the passage that contains the first substantive problem. Rewrite enough to fix the reasoning or purpose, then test that skill on another answer. A complete rewrite is useful only if it serves a specific need; copying an entire model paper can conceal the original misunderstanding.
Can this sample tell me which chapters to leave out?
Use the curriculum for prescribed scope. One sample paper is insufficient evidence for predicting topic frequency or deciding that an included chapter can be ignored.
SOURCES
[1] CBSE English Core Class XII sample question paper 2026–27.
https://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/SQP/ClassXII_2026_27/EnglishCore-SQP.pdf
[2] Matching CBSE marking scheme.
https://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/SQP/ClassXII_2026_27/EnglishCore-MS.pdf
[3] English Core curriculum linked from CBSE’s 2026–27 curriculum index.
https://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/CurriculumMain27/SecPart2/English_core_SecP2_2026-27.pdf
https://cbseacademic.nic.in/curriculum_2027.html
Official Class XII sample-paper index
https://cbseacademic.nic.in/SQP_CLASSXII_2026-27.html
TutorMax examples and review commentary are independent teaching material. They do not imply CBSE endorsement or guarantee a score.