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This can be general exam tips for any kind of exam, but these are specific learnings I got through studying for my cbse class 10 boards.

First off a lil intro- I got 482/500 in my boards w a 98 in science, math and social studies. I’m actually pretty proud of my performance and I will say that a lot of hard work has been done to get to this point.

Let’s start off with some general tips

- think of every single chapter test/internal examination in your school as if it is the final board exam. Push to give your best. Go the extra mile. Trust me it makes a lot of difference.

- Be 100% thorough with your ncert textbooks. Do not slack off on this because book back questions for science and math are really important.

- Understand and analyse the mistakes you make in your internal exams. I’d recommend keeping a small notebook where you mention and note down the mistakes you’ve made. You can understand your shortcomings and focus on those parts.

- Plan your days properly especially when you get study holidays. Don’t waste your time, and ensure you study the subjects you’re weak in.

- I don’t have any particular tips for languages other than doing a LOT of writing practice because the most common way to loose mark in second languages (be it anything) is spelling mistakes.

- Past year papers are your best friend.

Math

- RD Sharma’s math guide book was a literal life saver. I finished almost every problem there and don’t worry you’re going to have a lot of time to do it.

- Practice, practice and more practice. Math was probably the trickiest subject and spent most of my time on it.

- Write every single step down. Scoring in cbse depends on step marks. So understand the marking scheme for every type of question. Write formulas down, write your assumption for x, write down your entire thought process. Imagine your explaining a certain sum to a kid and present it that way.

- Time your practice tests. Every single one of my classmates struggled with this. Make sure you spend only a certain amount of time for certain section and move on fast. My usual way of attempting the paper was in this particular order:

1. 1 marks - 15 mins

2. 4 marks- 50 mins

3. 3 marks- 50 mins

4. 2 marks - 30 mins

The rest to check and attempt sums I may have left because I didn’t know at first.

- don’t slack off on math. Spend your free time on this and it will pay off. After you understand the concepts properly math will get really easy. 10th grade math is easier than 9th grade if I’m being honest.

-Optional exercise is a scam. I repeat, a scam. Your teacher will force you to do it, just buckle up and do it. I can’t say it’s absolutely important but it definitely enhances concept understanding.

- After you get a hang of all the concepts, practice ncert exemplar because it challenges your brain to apply concepts you’ve already learnt in a higher level.

- Look through past papers to note what kind of questions are being asked for 4 marks and other higher level questions. After practising a lot you’ll notice a pattern and you’ll pretty much be able to predict the questions.

Science

- I used Arihant All in one guide for science and let me tell you that is a lifesaver.

- in text and book back questions are really important.

- For science, exemplar questions are more important than in math and will definitely be asked. Practice them.

- Write your long answers in bullet points esp for biology.

- I made a booklet of questions for myself. (For Chem and bio) It’s really useful to review in the last min. Writing down questions helps you to understand the concept from multiple perspectives.

- Please please make sure you completely understand the concepts in physics especially. Don’t try to memorise, questions will not be direct.

- I used khan academy to learn most of my physics and it was really well explained. Other YouTube teachers deserve a round of applause for how much they’ve saved my ass.

- I also used S Chand’s guidebook a little because it explains the concepts from the very beginning as if you’re a toddler. Very helpful to gain better understanding but not necessary at all.

- Do not forget to practice the diagrams in bio.

Social studies

- this is such an exhausting subject. So much theory 😫

- I used Arihant All in one for this too. Using this CLEARLY gave me an advantage over my peers. 100% will recommend. Using the guidebook gave me structured answers and access to previous years questions.

- History is pretty interesting for the most part. Understand the years and flow of events. Note down the main points of every single subtopic because any random sub topic can be asked as a question.

- Making/drawing Graphic organisers is helpful to arrange your thoughts.

- Write key words down.

- Geography(I hated it) was pretty tiring. after reading the chapter once you’ll get a hang of the key ideas and main questions that can come. There’s nothing tricky in that.

- Repeat and write down main points in geography tho. Because the only hard part is to retain all the information. Make sure you study everything because data orientated one mark question will be asked.

- Democratic politics was an easy part too. I literally studied most of it from the guide book. The basic advice applies here.

- For economics- read every book and corner of your textbook. because since it has such little content, anything can be asked and you can easily loose your marks in the 1 mark section.

- Please practice map a lot of times. I’ll repeat it- a LOT of times. This is where most students loose marks. Look at the list of maps given on the cbse website, and practice according to that.

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