Where Mindful Learning Begins
Where Mindful Learning Begins
Class 9 Science for 2026-27 (Subject Code 086) follows the newly launched Exploration textbook — Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth Science woven together across 13 chapters, aligned with NCF-SE 2023 and NEP 2020. This page covers the complete syllabus, unit-wise marks distribution, and free NCERT Solutions, added chapter-wise as they're completed — so check back as more chapters go live.
Four units, 12 marked chapters (13 including the introductory chapter), 80 theory marks + 20 marks Internal Assessment (Periodic Assessment, Practical Work, Portfolio) = 100 marks total. Annual Examination based on the entire syllabus.
📄 Download Official CBSE Syllabus PDF →| Unit | Chapters | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| I — World of Living | Cell: The Building Block of Life, Tissues in Action, Reproduction: How Life Continues, Patterns in Life: Diversity and Classification | 27 |
| II — Matter: Its Nature and Behaviour | Exploring Mixtures and their Separation, Journey Inside the Atom, Atomic Foundations of Matter | 25 |
| III — Motion, Force, Work and Sound | Describing Motion Around Us, How Forces Affect Motion, Work, Energy and Simple Machines, Sound Waves: Characteristics and Applications | 23 |
| IV — Earth as a System | Earth as a System: Energy, Matter & Life | 5 |
| Total (Theory) | 80 | |
| Internal Assessment (Periodic + Practical + Portfolio) | 20 | |
| Grand Total | 100 | |
This is the first year the 2026-27 syllabus is being taught — see exactly what changed from 2025-26 below, including the full unit-by-unit comparison and marks shift.
100 marks total per subject — 80 for the annual theory exam and 20 for school-conducted Internal Assessment through the year. Class 9 exams are school-conducted, not run by CBSE directly, but every CBSE-affiliated school follows this board-prescribed pattern.
| Theory Paper — 80 Marks (3 hours) | Weightage | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Demonstrate Knowledge & Understanding Recall, definitions, direct concept questions | 50% | 40 |
| Application of Knowledge/Concepts Numericals, applying concepts to new situations | 30% | 24 |
| Formulate, Analyse, Evaluate & Create Case-based, source-based, higher-order reasoning | 20% | 16 |
| Total Theory | 80 | |
| Internal Assessment — 20 Marks (School-Conducted) | Marks |
|---|---|
| Periodic Assessment Pen-paper tests conducted through the year — usually the largest single share of Internal Assessment | 10 |
| Subject Enrichment / Practical Work Lab activities and experiments, assessed against the prescribed practical list — see Lab Practical Mapping above | 5 |
| Portfolio Notebook submission — completeness, regularity, and correction of classwork/homework | 5 |
| Total Internal Assessment | 20 |
The 80-mark paper mixes VSA/objective questions, Assertion-Reasoning, Short Answer (SA), Long Answer (LA), and integrated Source/Case/Passage-based questions, with roughly 33% internal choice built in — so students aren't required to attempt every single question with no alternative.
To pass Class 9 Science, a student needs at least 27/80 (33%) in the theory paper and at least 7/20 (33%) in Internal Assessment — separately, not just combined — with an overall minimum of 33/100. Because Internal Assessment is earned steadily through the year via periodic tests, practicals and notebook checks, it's the most controllable part of the score, and worth treating as 20 real marks rather than a formality.
If you're starting Class 9 this year — as a student, or supporting one through it — you're walking into the first year of a genuinely restructured Science syllabus, not a minor chapter reshuffle. Here's exactly what's different from the 2025-26 syllabus, and what it means for how you prepare.
| 2025-26 (Previous) | 2026-27 (Current — Exploration) | Marks Shift |
|---|---|---|
| Unit I — Matter: Its Nature & Behaviour Matter in Our Surroundings, Is Matter Around Us Pure, Atoms & Molecules, Structure of the Atom | Unit II — Matter: Its Nature and Behaviour Exploring Mixtures and their Separation, Journey Inside the Atom, Atomic Foundations of Matter | 25 → 25 |
| Unit II — Organisation in the Living World Cell — Basic Unit of Life, Tissues/Organs/Organ System/Organism | Unit I — World of Living Cell, Tissues in Action, + Reproduction (moved in from Class 10), + Diversity & Classification | 22 → 27 |
| Unit III — Motion, Force and Work Motion, Force & Newton's Laws, Gravitation, Floatation, Work/Energy/Power, Sound | Unit III — Motion, Force, Work and Sound Describing Motion Around Us, How Forces Affect Motion, Work, Energy & Simple Machines, Sound Waves — Gravitation & Floatation no longer separate named topics | 27 → 23 |
| Unit IV — Food; Food Production Plant/animal breeding, fertilisers, organic farming | Unit IV — Earth as a System Entirely new unit — Earth as a System: Energy, Matter & Life | 6 → 5 |
Not reliably. Chapter groupings have changed — Reproduction, for instance, didn't exist as a Class 9 chapter last year, so no Class 9 solution for it exists from the old syllabus. Chapters that carried over (Cell, Motion, Sound, Atomic structure) have also been rewritten for the Exploration textbook's more activity-based, in-text-question format, so page numbers, question numbering and sometimes the content itself won't line up with older solution sets. Use only solutions built specifically for Exploration — see our chapter-wise NCERT Solutions below, built for the current 2026-27 textbook.
Given the marks shift toward Biology, start with Cell and Tissues in Action to build the foundational vocabulary, then move to the two genuinely new chapters — Reproduction and Patterns in Life: Diversity and Classification — since this material isn't covered at the Class 8 level. Physics and Chemistry chapters carry over more familiar ground, so they're safer to schedule later. Anyone also considering the optional Advanced Level exam should note it assumes a confident grasp of the Standard syllabus first — not a substitute path.
Beyond what's covered, Exploration teaches differently from earlier textbooks — more curiosity-led, more activity-based, and built around in-text questions that develop thinking rather than rote recall.
Biology · Chemistry · Physics · Earth Science — new curiosity-based 2026-27 NCERT textbook
See below for the complete syllabus, or jump straight to all 13 chapters' NCERT Solutions →
This section is written specifically for teachers, not parents or students — it's about which lab activities to actually schedule this year, not what to study for exams. CBSE's official practical syllabus for 2026-27 lists 13 prescribed experiments, each mapped by CBSE itself to a specific Exploration chapter — so unlike many "old manual vs new textbook" gaps elsewhere, this list is already chapter-aligned. Below is that same official mapping, organised chapter-wise for planning.
Directly from CBSE's official practical syllabus (List of Experiments) for 2026-27
Ch. 1 (Exploration: Entering the World of Secondary Science), Ch. 8 (Journey Inside the Atom) and Ch. 13 (Earth as a System) don't appear against any of the 13 prescribed experiments — the first is introductory, Ch. 8 is conceptual/model-based (subatomic particles, atomic models) rather than hands-on, and Ch. 13 is an entirely new topic for 2026-27. Not a gap in the syllabus itself, just chapters this year's practical list doesn't touch.
This mapping follows the official CBSE Class 9 Science practical syllabus for 2026-27, which prescribes all 13 experiments with their corresponding chapters directly. See the official CBSE syllabus PDF linked above for the full document.
Step-by-step NCERT Solutions for the Exploration textbook, added incrementally, one chapter at a time. No sign-up required.
📗 Browse All 13 Chapters →From 2026-27, CBSE has introduced an Advanced Level in Science alongside the standard course for Class 9 (extending to Class 10 in 2027-28). It is entirely optional — students may choose to appear for the Advanced exam in addition to, not instead of, the mandatory Standard Science paper. It is based on its own separate textbook, "Science at Advanced Level (Optional)", and is aimed at students who want to go beyond the standard syllabus with HOTS-style questions.
📄 Download Official CBSE Advanced Science PDF → 📄 Download Official CBSE Advanced Maths PDF →Separate optional paper, on top of the mandatory Standard Science exam — not a replacement for it
The Advanced module goes noticeably deeper than the Standard syllabus — for instance, it introduces topics like pseudo force, spring potential energy derivations, electron sea model of metallic bonding, and full biotechnology (Bt crops, fermenters, rDNA technology) at the Class 9 level itself. It suits students who are already comfortable with the Standard syllabus and want an extra academic challenge — not a substitute for strengthening core fundamentals first.
Personalised, concept-first coaching for CBSE Class 9 Science — in Gurugram or fully online, pan-India.
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