Competency-Based Questions in Class 9 and 10 Science and Maths: How to Prepare

What has changed in the paper

CBSE has, over the last few sessions, shifted a large share of the question paper in Classes 9 and 10 towards competency-based questions: case-studies, source-based passages, assertion–reason items and multiple-choice questions that test application rather than recall. The exact share and format are set in the board’s sample papers and circulars each year, so look at the current ones instead of relying on what an older student or an older guide book said. What matters for parents is the direction of change: the paper increasingly rewards understanding.

What these questions look like

• Case-study (Science): a short passage, perhaps about a circuit in a house, a soil sample or a family tree, followed by three or four sub-questions that use a chapter’s concept.
• Case-study (Maths): a real-life situation, such as a staircase, a garden plan or a set of marks, converted into an equation, an AP or a geometry problem.
• Assertion–reason: two statements; the student decides whether each is true and whether the second explains the first. Four fixed options, but the thinking has to be precise.
• Application MCQs: a question where memory of a definition is not enough and a short calculation or comparison is required.

Why strong memorisers struggle

A child who has memorised answers from a guide book meets a passage with unfamiliar words and freezes. The concept is in the passage somewhere, but it is dressed differently. These questions are not harder in content; they are different in presentation. This is also why they can be practised: the underlying chapters are the same.

A method for any case-study question

1. Read the sub-questions first, then the passage. This tells you what to look for.
2. Underline numbers, units and key words as you read.
3. Name the chapter in one phrase. “This is series and parallel circuits.” Naming it recalls the formulae.
4. Write the answer in the form the marks suggest: one mark, one fact; two marks, a fact and a reason or two steps.
5. For calculations, write the formula, substitute with units and state the result.

Assertion–reason: a short checklist

Check the assertion alone first. Then check the reason alone. Only if both are true, ask: does the reason actually explain the assertion? Students lose marks by assuming that two true statements always go together. Practise this in a ten-question set until the checklist is automatic.

How to practise at home

• After finishing each chapter, ask the child to write three questions about it of different types, one case-based. The act of writing questions builds the same skill.
• Use the board’s sample and previous question papers for the format, and the NCERT in-text and exercise questions for content.
• Do one timed case-study per subject per week. Twelve minutes for a three-part question is a fair guide.
• Review wrong answers by asking “which concept was hiding in the story?” rather than looking only at the key.
• Read short, factual passages from a newspaper aloud and have the child summarise the data. It sounds unrelated, but reading passages carefully is half the skill.

Subject-wise notes

Science: units and the quantities they belong to matter. A child who knows that the unit of resistance is the ohm and that power is in watts, is halfway through an electricity case-study. For biology, diagrams and flow charts are common stems. For chemistry, equations and observations again.

Maths: practise converting words to equations. Set up the unknown clearly, as “let the number of rows be x”, before any algebra. That one line fetches a mark in most word problems.

Where a tutor helps

A tutor can write fresh case-based questions from the chapter being studied and mark them with the same eye an examiner would. For students in Dwarka and Gurugram, a weekly home session devoted to application questions, alongside normal chapter teaching, is an inexpensive way to close this gap. It also shows the parent early whether the child is learning or only remembering.

A sample of what to practise this month

A simple weekly rhythm works. Monday: one science case-study from the chapter being taught at school. Wednesday: one maths word problem that must be converted to an equation, with the setting-up line written first. Friday: five assertion–reason items from two chapters, answered with a one-line justification each. On the weekend, the child corrects mistakes in a notebook kept only for them. After three or four weeks the notebook shows which kind of question keeps failing, and that tells the tutor, or you, what to work on next. Keep the sessions short; twenty-five focused minutes beat an hour of tired guessing.

Questions parents ask

Are guide books and sample papers sold in the market good enough?

Use the board’s own sample papers as the baseline for format. Other material is useful for volume but vary in quality, so a tutor or teacher should check the questions before the child relies on them.

Does this apply to ICSE too?

The ICSE and ISC papers have their own style, with more descriptive and structured answers. Application and reasoning are still tested, but the board’s own specimen papers are the right guide.

Can marks in these questions be improved quickly?

Often yes, in a few weeks, because the issue is usually habit: reading the stem fully, naming the concept, and writing in the expected structure.

My child reads the passage and panics. What helps?

Start with short, easy case-studies and untimed practice, then add time. Confidence follows familiarity.