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The ICSE date sheet 2027 is out: CISCE released the timetable on 10 November 2026, and ICSE (Class 10) exams will run from 15 February to 31 March 2027. ISC (Class 12) exams start earlier, on 9 February, and end on 8 April 2027. ICSE papers now begin at 10.15 am, 45 minutes earlier than last year.

Students write an exam at desks in a bright classroom

When do the ICSE and ISC 2027 exams start and end?

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) announced both timetables on 10 November 2026, according to ANI. The headline dates:

ICSE (Class 10): 15 February to 31 March 2027. The first paper is English Language (English Paper 1) on 15 February; the last day has Economics and French/Sanskrit (Group II electives) on 31 March.
ISC (Class 12): 9 February to 8 April 2027. Environmental Science and Western Music (Paper 1) open the exams on 9 February at 2 pm, followed by English Paper 1 (English Language) on 10 February. Legal Studies is the last paper on 8 April.

The bigger change is the clock. For ICSE candidates, reading time now starts at 10 am and writing at 10.15 am; earlier, reading began at 10.45 am and writing at 11 am, ANI reported. Students must be seated by 9.45 am, and papers last two to three hours. ISC papers run in two slots, 9 am and 2 pm, each with 15 minutes of reading time, according to CareerIndia. The full subject-wise PDF is on cisce.org.

What is the ICSE and ISC 2027 subject-wise timetable?

According to the subject-wise schedules published by Careers360, the main ICSE 2027 papers fall on these dates:

English Language: 15 February; Literature in English: 18 February
Mathematics: 22 February
History and Civics: 26 February; Geography: 1 March
Hindi: 4 March
Physics: 8 March; Chemistry: 12 March; Biology: 15 March
Group III electives, Section A (including Computer Applications and Physical Education): 17 March
Regional and foreign languages: 19 March
Environmental Science: 25 March; Commercial Studies: 29 March; Economics/French/Sanskrit: 31 March

Physics on 8 March leaves three clear days before Chemistry and two more before Biology. Mathematics has three clear days after the Literature paper.

For ISC, the same listings put English Paper 2 (Literature in English) on 15 February, Economics on 18 February, Chemistry on 24 February, Accountancy on 26 February and Mathematics on 1 March. Physics follows on 8 March, Business Studies on 11 March, Biology on 15 March and Computer Science on 17 March. History is on 19 March, Commerce on 29 March and Political Science on 2 April. Practical exam batches are set by schools. Science students preparing for engineering entrance tests should also keep track of JEE Main 2027 registration.

How does the 2027 schedule compare with 2026 and CBSE?

CISCE has brought the start forward and pushed the finish back slightly. In 2026, the date sheet came out on 13 November 2025; ICSE ran from 17 February to 30 March and ISC from 12 February to 6 April, according to the Free Press Journal. For 2027:

ICSE starts two days earlier and ends one day later, stretching the window from 42 days to 45.
ISC starts three days earlier and ends two days later, a 59-day window against 54 days in 2026.
In 2026, ICSE papers began at 11 am with reading time at 10.45 am. In 2027 that moves to 10 am reading and 10.15 am writing.

Against CBSE, the CISCE calendar is close but not identical. CBSE’s 2027 theory exams for both Class 10 and Class 12 begin on 16 February at 10.30 am; Class 10 ends on 9 March and Class 12 on 9 April, according to NationPath India. So ISC begins a week before CBSE Class 12 and finishes a day earlier, while ICSE starts a day before CBSE Class 10 but runs more than three weeks longer. Our CBSE 2027 date sheet explainer has the full CBSE picture.

How many students will take ICSE and ISC 2027?

A total of 3,79,980 candidates are registered for the 2027 exams, ANI reported. About 2.70 lakh will write ICSE, from 3,106 schools at 2,835 centres in India and overseas. ISC has 1,10,025 candidates from 1,651 schools at 1,477 centres. ICSE offers 76 subjects or papers and ISC 60 subjects.

For context, 2,58,721 candidates appeared for ICSE 2026 and 1,03,316 for ISC 2026, according to the Free Press Journal and Onmanorama. These are counts of students who sat the exams, while the 2027 figures are registrations, so the two are not an exact like-for-like comparison. Pass rates were high: 99.18 per cent in ICSE and 99.13 per cent in ISC in 2026. Girls did better in both, with 99.46 per cent in ICSE against 98.93 per cent for boys, and 99.48 per cent in ISC against 98.81 per cent.

Key numbers

10 November 2026: date CISCE released the 2027 timetable
15 February to 31 March 2027: ICSE (Class 10) exam window
9 February to 8 April 2027: ISC (Class 12) exam window
10.15 am: ICSE writing time, down from 11 am
3,79,980: total registered candidates for 2027
1,10,025: ISC 2027 candidates
99.18 and 99.13 per cent: ICSE and ISC 2026 pass rates

What did CISCE say, and what comes next?

Announcing the schedule, Dr Joseph Emmanuel, Chief Executive and Secretary of CISCE, said the council “remained committed to maintaining the credibility, fairness and integrity of its examinations,” ANI reported. He added that the council’s approach to assessment is being strengthened in line with the National Education Policy 2020, with a focus on conceptual understanding and problem-solving.

The earlier start time had been flagged before the release. On 8 November, India TV quoted a senior CISCE official as saying a decision on starting the exams at 10 am “will be taken soon.” The final timetable confirmed the change for ICSE.

Admit cards come next. Schools are expected to start distributing them in mid-December 2026, according to ANI and CareerIndia. Students should check with their school for the date.

For results, the only reliable guide is last year: ICSE and ISC 2026 results were declared on 30 April 2026. CISCE has not announced a 2027 result date. CareerIndia advises students to check the notice on cisce.org, confirm the PDF header and date, and ignore unverified forwards.

Frequently asked questions

When does the ICSE 2027 exam start?

ICSE Class 10 exams start on 15 February 2027 with English Language and end on 31 March 2027, according to the timetable CISCE released on 10 November 2026.