CBSE Class 12 English Core Pre Board Sample Paper 2026-27 with Solutions

The CBSE Class 12 English Core Pre Board Sample Paper 2026-27 is now available for students preparing for the upcoming board examinations. It is made to help students strengthen their preparation, the sample paper follows the latest CBSE curriculum and exam pattern. It includes a detailed set of practice questions along with detailed solutions, which enables students to understand the expected question format and improve their answer-writing skills.

The sample paper has provided students with quality questions that closely resemble the level and style of the CBSE Board Examination. Solving the paper under timed conditions can help students assess their preparation, identify weak areas, and build confidence before the final examination.

CBSE Class 12 English Core Pre Board Sample Paper 2026-27: Overview

Check the table below to know the key pointers of CBSE Class 12 English Core Pre-Board Sample Paper 2026-27

CBSE Class 12 English Question Paper Pattern 2026-27

The question paper will contain three sections, all of them are compulsory. Check the tabulated information below for more clarity:

CBSE Class 12 English Core Sample Paper 2026-27

General Instructions:  

i. This question paper has 13 questions. All questions are compulsory.

ii. This question paper contains three sections: 

• Section A: Reading Skills, 
• Section B: Creative Writing Skills 
• Section C: Literature. 

iii. Attempt all questions based on specific instructions for each part. Write the correct question number and part thereof in your answer sheet. 

iv. Separate instructions are given with each question/part, wherever necessary. 

v. Adhere to the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.

CBSE Class 12 English Core 2026-27: Pre-Board Sample Paper

SECTION A : Reading Skills

Read the following carefully. 10 Marks

1 A recent survey was conducted among 2,000 college students and young professionals to analyse preferences for different types of jobs, including corporate roles, personal start-ups or family businesses, and service professions (example - defense, nursing, police). The study aimed to identify trends in career aspirations, the factors influencing these preferences, and their implications for workforce planning and education systems. Participants were asked to rank their preferences on a five-point scale. 

2 The study covered respondents across urban and semi-urban areas, representing diverse educational, economic, and cultural backgrounds. Researchers ensured diversity in gender, socioeconomic status, and career stages to make the findings representative of a broad spectrum of opinions. Data collection involved online questionnaires and in-person interviews, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of job preferences. The data was displayed as a bar graph given below.

3 Corporate jobs were commonly associated with financial stability, growth opportunities, and access to structured career paths. Start-ups and family businesses, on the other hand, appealed to those valuing autonomy, creativity, and the chance to work in more flexible environments. Service professions were perceived as fulfilling and prestigious, especially among individuals motivated by a sense of duty. 

4 The survey also highlighted several challenges. Geographic variations were significant, with urban respondents gravitating more toward corporate roles, while semi-urban participants showed a stronger inclination for service professions and family businesses. Respondents indicated limited mentorship opportunities and a lack of clarity about the long-term prospects of non-corporate careers as barriers influencing their decisions. 

5 The findings provide a foundation for further research into how cultural, regional, and generational influences shape career choices. Future studies could explore factors such as gender-based preferences, emerging industries, mentorship availability, and the role of technological advancements in shaping job markets. Additionally, longitudinal research could track how these preferences evolve as respondents advance in their careers. This could help educational institutions and employers develop tailored strategies to better align with the aspirations and values of young job seekers. Moreover, policies encouraging skill development and mentorship programmes may bridge the gaps identified in this survey, ensuring more informed career decisions among youth.

Answer the following questions, based on the given passage. 

I. What was the main purpose of the survey conducted among 2,000 college students and young professionals? 

A. To determine the popularity of specific jobs in rural areas versus urban areas 

B. To explore patterns in career aspirations and the factors influencing them 

C. To analyse the success rate of startups and family businesses 

D. To assess the salary expectations of young professionals opting for jobs 

II. Fill in the blank with the correct option from those given in brackets. The study ensured diversity in gender, socioeconomic status, and career stages to make the findings ________ (accurate / representative / specific). 

III. Fill in the blank with reference to the given bar graph chart. The profession preference for which policymakers primarily need to provide encouraging incentives is ____.

IV. Based on the bar graph, which of the following statements best reflects the correct trend in job preferences? 

A. Corporate jobs are more in the ‘Least preferred’ category than service professions. 

B. Service professions are less preferred than corporate jobs on the ‘Neutral’ scale. 

C. Service professions have a higher percentage of respondents marking them as ‘Highly Preferred’ compared to corporate jobs. 

D. Corporate jobs and service professions have an equal percentage of respondents marking them as ‘Preferred.’ 

V. Riya wishes to have a regular salary and defined growth in her career. Why is a corporate job better suited for her compared to joining a start-up or family business? (Ref: Paragraphs 3 & 4)  

VI. When the researcher says ‘Respondents indicated limited mentorship opportunities,’ what does s/he mean by ‘limited mentorship opportunities’? 

A. Lack of financial resources to hire mentors for jobs 

B. Absence of training programmes in semi-urban areas 

C. Reluctance of respondents to seek career advice from unknown people 

D. Difficulty in finding experienced professionals to guide career paths (Ref: Paragraph 4)  

VII. How might further studies in the understanding of emerging industries and technological advancements empower youth to make well-informed career decisions? (Ref: Paragraph 5) 

VIII Select the option that is NOT addressed in this study. 

A. The purpose of the survey 

B. The impact of gender on career preferences 

C. Regional and demographic variations in preferences 

D. Challenges faced by respondents 

E. The methodology used for data collection

SECTION B: Creative Writing Skills

3. Attempt ANY ONE of the following: (4 Marks)

(A) You are Jasreet Kaur, a member of the Teen Well-Being Association, Chandigarh. Your association is planning free pottery classes every Sunday. Write a notice in about 50 words inviting registrations

(B) Your school is planning an inter-class seminar on ‘The Importance of Mental Health’. As the head of the organizing committee, write a notice in about 50 words for classes XI-XII.

4. Attempt ANY ONE of the following: (4 Marks)

(A) As the Cultural Secretary, Kishan Kumar, of JBL School, Jamshedpur, draft an invitation for the Annual Music Festival, inviting Gajendra Hansda, an acclaimed local musician, to perform and judge the event. Provide the essential details in about 50 words.

(B) You are Anisha, the Secretary of the Environmental Club of WTH School, Madurai. Your school is organising an 'Eco-Fiesta' to raise awareness about environmental issues. Draft a notice in about 50 words, inviting students to participate in various activities and setting up of food stalls. Include all the necessary details. Put your notice in a box.

5. Attempt ANY ONE of the following in 120–150 words: (5 Marks)

(A) Write a letter to the editor of a local daily about the benefits of financial literacy education for children. You are Chitra Mahapatra from Puri.

(B) You are Pranab Chauhan, residing at 13-A, Gol Bazaar, Jaisalmer. Write a letter to the editor of The Nation Today, highlighting the need to assess sports talent at a young age by sports teachers and coaches to ensure that talent does not go unrecognised. Emphasise the importance of grooming young sportspersons to create a larger pool of talented athletes for the future. Draft the letter using your own ideas as well as the cues given.

•  Spotting natural abilities during formative years.
•  Building foundational skills early for long-term success.
•  Instilling discipline, teamwork, and sportsmanship from a young age.
•  Creating a larger pool of skilled athletes for the future.
•  Building a strong sports culture and national pride.

6. Attempt ANY ONE of the following in 120–150 words: (5 Marks)

(A) Write an article for The Progressive Educator on the role of digital communication in education.

(B) The cultural festival in LKS School, Kochi, was held recently to celebrate the school's achievements. As the senior editorial board member, Devaki Fernandes, write this report for the school magazine detailing various aspects of the festival. Write the report using your own ideas as well as the cues given.

•  Organisation and significance
•  Performances and exhibition
•  Participant engagement
•  Overall success

SECTION C: Literature

7. Read the extract and answer ANY ONE (A or B): (6 Marks)

A.… I saw my mother,

beside me,

doze, open mouthed, her face

ashen like that

of a corpse and realised with

pain

that she was as old as she

looked but soon

put that thought away, and

looked out at Young Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling

out of their homes…

I. What does the imagery of the ‘ashen face’ of the mother suggest about her physical

condition?(1)

II. Complete the following with the correct option.

The speaker’s use of the word 'realised' suggests that her awareness was _______

(delayed / expected / sudden). (1)

III. How does the phrase ‘merry children spilling out of their homes’ contribute to the

tone of the passage? (1)

IV. Complete the sentence by filling in the blank with a suitable phrase.

The primary theme highlighted in the extract is the _______ , as the narrator reflects

on her mother’s frailty and aging. (1)

V. What can be inferred about the emotional state of the speaker in the extract?

a) Distracted by the liveliness of the surroundings

b) Concerned about her mother’s discomfort

c) Overwhelmed by a sense of anguish

d) Preoccupied with thoughts about life experiences (1)

VI. All of the following are true for the extract EXCEPT – (1)

a) The comparison to a ‘corpse’ highlights the speaker’s fear of losing her mother.

b) The poet makes exclusive use of melancholic imagery in the given lines.

c) The speaker’s internal conflict creates a relatable portrayal of human

relationships.

d) The universality of themes makes the lines relevant to the readers

OR

B.While greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey,

Swarm over their lives enforcing benefits

That are calculated to soothe them out of their wits,

And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day,

Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way. (poem-The Roadside Stand)

(i) Select the phrase that suggests the following:

The so-called aids are not offered out of genuine care or consent but are imposed in a controlling and perhaps

unwelcome manner.

(ii) What does the imagery of ‘swarm’ NOT represent in the given extract?

(A) Coordinated help (B) Overwhelming force

(C) Discomfort and chaos (D) Neglect of individual needs

(iii) Complete the following suitably.

In the line, ‘destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way,’ the phrase ‘the ancient way’ refers to________.

(iv) Select the correct option from those given in brackets, to fill in the blank.

The poet has used phrases like ‘greedy good-doers’ and ‘beneficent beasts of prey’ to illustrate the ________ (irony/satire) in the situation where those claiming to help the rural poor actually impose self-serving and detrimental

actions on them.

(v) Read the assertion and the reason below, with reference to the given extract.

Assertion: The poet criticizes the way the rural poor are treated by benefactors, suggesting it instils ambition.

Reason: The interventions are overwhelmingly calming and lead to a loss of critical thinking among the rural poor.

Choose the correct option regarding their relationship:

(A) Both the assertion and the reason are true, and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion.

(B) Both the assertion and the reason are true, but the reason is not the correct explanation of the assertion.

(C) The assertion is true, but the reason is false.

(D) The assertion is false, but the reason is true.

(vi) State in one sentence, what cautionary advice your address to the rural poor from the extract, is most likely to include.

8. Read the extract and answer ANY ONE (A or B): (4 Marks)

A.My three hundred dollars bought less than two hundred in old-style bills, but I didn’t care; eggs were thirteen cents a dozen in 1894. But I’ve never again found the corridor that leads to the third level at Grand Central Station, although I’ve tried often enough. Louisa was pretty worried when I told her all this, and didn’t want me to look for the third level any more, and after a while I stopped; I went back to my stamps. But now we’re both looking, every weekend…

I. What does Charley’s indifference to the cost of old-style bills and his focus on the 

The price of eggs in 1894 suggests his view of the past? (1)

II. Complete the sentence suitably. Charley has been unsuccessful in finding the corridor to the third level despite ____. (1)

III. Where is the irony in Louisa’s reaction to Charley’s search for the third level in this extract?(1)

IV. Complete the following with a correct option based on the context in the extract.

The phrase ‘I went back to my stamps’ suggests _____. (1)

a) finding comfort in a hobby that is familiar

b) choosing a new hobby to forget earlier pursuits

c) attempting to engage together in a new hobby

d) approaching a familiar hobby with enthusiasm 

OR

B.I cried aloud, shaking my head all the while until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my thick braids. Then I lost my spirit. Since the day I was taken from my mother I had suffered extreme indignities. People had stared at me. I had been tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet. And now my long hair was shingled like a coward’s! In my anguish I moaned for my mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a soul reasoned quietly with me, as my own mother used to do; for now, I was only one of many little animals driven by a herder. (Memories of Childhood: The Cutting of My Long Hair)

(i) Complete the following suitably.

Zitkala-Sa’s description of her experience at the boarding school conveys a sense of abandonment through her portrayal of __________

(ii) List any one emotion that Zitkala-Sa experiences as her hair is being cut.

(iii) Select the suitable option to complete the following.

The metaphor of being ‘tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet’ contributes to the reader’s understanding of Zitkala-Sa’s feelings of being ________.

(A) Forced to interact with others (B) Manipulated and controlled

(C) Preached at and insulted (D) Made to exist like toy animals

(iv) In what ways does the imagery of her ‘long hair shingled like a coward’s’ symbolise the erasure of Zitkala’s cultural heritage and the imposition of Western norms? 

9. Read the extract and answer ANY ONE (A or B): (6 Marks)

A.“She thinks money grows on trees, don’t she, Dad?”, said little Derek, hanging on the back of his father’s chair. Their mother sighed. Sophie watched her back stooped over the sink and wondered at the incongruity of the delicate bow which fastened her apron strings. The delicate seeming bow and the crooked back. The evening had already blacked in the windows and the small room was steamy from the stove and cluttered with the heavy-breathing man in his vest at the table and the dirty washing piled up in the corner. Sophie felt a tightening in her throat. She went to look for her brother Geoff.  (Going Places)

I. Fill in the blank by choosing the correct option from those given in the brackets.

The literal meaning conveyed via the phrase ‘the evening had already blacked in the windows’ is the_______ (arrival of night / shadow over ambitions). (1)

II. What was mother most likely thinking when she sighed?

1. "Life would have been different if money did grow on trees!"

2. "I wish he would stop troubling my dear Sophie."

3. "We can only wish; we’ve never had enough anyway."

4. "I’m too tired to respond to such comments anymore."

5. "Our struggles will never end; no matter what Sophie dreams of."

Select the most suitable option.

A. 1, 3 and 5

B. 2, 4 and 5

C. 1 and 4

D. 2 and 3 (1)

III. The delicate bow on Sophie’s mother’s apron and her crooked back highlights the theme of ______.

A. appearance vs. reality

B. resilience through hardship

C. the fragility of youth

D. the complexity of familial love (1)

IV. The line from the extract that correctly captures Sophie’s emotional response to the contrast between her dreams and the limitations of her current circumstances is ‘________.’ (1)

V. What does the writer emphasise by associating the term ‘cluttered’ with ‘heavy Breathing’? (1)

VI. How does the setting of the room contribute to the mood of the extract? 

OR

B.What a thunderclap these words were to me! Oh, the wretches; that was what they had put up at the town-hall! My last French lesson! Why, I hardly knew how to write! I should never learn anymore! I must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons, for seeking birds’ eggs, or going sliding on the Saar! My books, that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my history of the saints, were old friends now that I couldn’t give up. And M. Hamel, too; the idea that he was going away, that I should never see him again, made me forget all about his ruler and how cranky he was. (The Last Lesson)

(i) What was the writer’s purpose in using the metaphor of a ‘thunderclap’?

(ii) Select the correct option from those given in brackets to fill in the blank.

The use of exclamatory marks in the first five sentences of the extract serves to express the speaker’s _______ (hidden/ intense) emotions.

(iii) Complete the following suitably.

The activities of seeking birds’ eggs and sliding on the Saar reveal two things about Franz’s character before his change in perspective. First, his youthful carefree nature and second, his preference for _________________.

(iv) What is reflected through the shift in the speaker’s perception of Mr. Hamel, conveyed through his readiness to forget the ruler?

(v) Select the textual option that is closest to indicating a sense of panic.

(A) Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons.

(B) Why, I hardly knew how to write!

(C) Oh, the wretches; that was what they had put up at the town-hall!

(D) And M. Hamel, too;

(vi) What is the following line from the exact showcase?

My books, that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my history of the saints, were old friends now that I couldn’t give up.

(A) Realization (B) Confusion

(C) Expectation (D) Affirmation

10. Answer ANY FIVE in 40–50 words each: (10 Marks)

I. What role does the French language played in ‘The Last Lesson’, in the context of the narrator’s feelings towards it?

II. What lesson can individuals learn from Douglas’s experience in overcoming his fear of water? (Deep Water)

III. Based on what Keats’ suggests in ‘A Thing of Beauty,’ how can recognising the lasting value of beauty help someone in the real world cope with challenges or difficulties?.

IV. Symbolism of the rattrap.

V. Rudyard Kipling’s view on interviews.

VI. How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?

11. Answer ANY TWO in 40–50 words each: (4 Marks)

I. Discuss the significance of the toy tiger in the climax of ‘The Tiger King.’

II. Interpret the significance of both literal and metaphorical journeys in the story, ‘The Third Level.’

III. Derry’s perspective on how people console others.

12. Answer ANY ONE (A or B) in 120–150 words: (5 Marks)

(A) How do ‘Indigo’ by Louis Fischer and ‘The Roadside Stand’ by Robert Frost, highlight the theme of exploitation, and what similarities do they reveal about the plight of marginalized communities?

OR

(B) Compare the ambitions of Sophie (Going Places) and the office boy (Poets and Pancakes).

13. Answer ANY ONE (A or B) in 120–150 words: (5 Marks)

(A) Analyse traditions and patriotism in ‘The Enemy’. 

OR

(B) Discuss the narrative techniques used by the author in The Third Level. How do these techniques effectively convey the themes of escapism and nostalgia? Provide specific examples from the text to support your analysis.

CBSE Class 12 English Core 2026-27: Sample Paper Answers

SECTION A

SECTION C

Preparation Tips for CBSE Class 12 English Core Exam 2026-27

To score well in English Core, students should:

• Solve one full-length sample paper every week
• Practise comprehension passages regularly
• Revise important chapters, poems, and literary themes
• Improve vocabulary and grammar through daily practice
• Focus on structured answer writing and presentation
• Analyse mistakes after every mock test and revise accordingly

Note: The answers provided in the CBSE Class 12 English Core Pre Board Sample Paper 2026-27 are for reference purposes only. They are intended to help students understand the expected approach, structure, and key points while answering different types of questions. Since English is a subjective subject, there may be multiple correct ways toan answer. Students are encouraged to use these solutions as a guide, develop their own writing style, and present responses in their own words during the examination.

Also Check: CBSE Class 12 English Core Syllabus 2026-27: Download PDF