The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is conducting the Class 12 board exam 2026 from February to April in the traditional pen-and-paper format. As part of the ongoing CBSE board exams 2026, students appeared for the Geography paper on February 26, 2026.
The three-hour exam commenced at 10:30 am and concluded at 1:30 pm. Students were given an additional 15 minutes, from 10:15 am to 10:30 am, to read the question paper before beginning the exam.
As per estimates, over 45 lakh students are appearing for the board exams across India and abroad this year.
Format of the Question Paper
The question paper was of 70 marks, with a duration of three hours, and was divided into 5 sections.
Section A – Questions 1 to 17 were multiple-choice questions carrying 1 mark each.
Section B – Questions 18 and 19 were source-based questions carrying 3 marks each.
Section C – Questions 20 to 23 were short-answer-type questions carrying 3 marks each. Answers to these questions were to be written in 80 to 100 words.
Section D – Questions 24 to 28 were long-answer-type questions carrying 5 marks each. Answers to these questions were to be written in 120 to 150 words.
Section E – Questions 29 and 30 were map-based questions carrying 5 marks each.
Teacher Analysis
Sharing her insights on the Class XII Geography Board paper, Ms Shilpa Maitra, Geography teacher at Apeejay School, Faridabad, described the overall difficulty level of the question paper as easy.
She mentioned, “The paper was balanced in terms of syllabus coverage, ensuring that all key topics were adequately represented.”
According to her, the question paper included a mix of concept-based, application-based, direct, and theoretical questions, allowing students to demonstrate both their understanding and analytical skills.
She further mentioned that there were no unexpected or tricky questions in the paper.
When asked about the most scoring sections, she highlighted that the MCQs and map-based questions were the easiest and most scoring parts of the examination.