History & Civics question insights
What 11 years of ICSE Class 10 History & Civics papers actually asked — by chapter, question length, type, difficulty and diagrams. Every figure is computed from the 487 questions in this bank.
These are descriptive statistics of past papers, not predictions. A chapter appearing often historically does not guarantee it will appear again.
Which chapters carry the most weight
A prominence index combining how many papers a chapter appeared in and its share of total marks.
Chapter prominence index (0–100)
- The Union Parliament95/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 12.0% of all marks (131) · 69 Qs
- The Union Executive: The President and the Vice-President82/100Appeared in 100% of papers (11/11) · 6.7% of all marks (73) · 35 Qs
- National Movement: 1919-1934 (Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement and Other Forces at Work)78/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 7.0% of all marks (76) · 32 Qs
- United Nations Organisation: Origin, Objectives and the Principal Organs77/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 6.7% of all marks (73) · 29 Qs
- The Union Executive: The Prime Minister, the Union Cabinet and the Council of Ministers75/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 6.1% of all marks (66) · 31 Qs
- The First War of Independence (1857)74/100Appeared in 82% of papers (9/11) · 7.5% of all marks (82) · 31 Qs
- The Second World War (1939-1945)72/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 5.1% of all marks (56) · 22 Qs
- The Union Judiciary: The Supreme Court70/100Appeared in 82% of papers (9/11) · 6.4% of all marks (70) · 29 Qs
- Second Phase of the Indian National Movement: Partition of Bengal and Other Developments68/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 4.0% of all marks (44) · 24 Qs
- The First World War (1914-1918)67/100Appeared in 82% of papers (9/11) · 5.3% of all marks (58) · 25 Qs
- Independence and the Partition of India66/100Appeared in 82% of papers (9/11) · 5.2% of all marks (57) · 20 Qs
- Major Agencies of the United Nations66/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 3.6% of all marks (39) · 15 Qs
Index = 60% appearance frequency + 40% marks share, across all available papers. Historical, not predictive.
The Union Parliament leads: it appears in 91% of papers (10 of 11) and carries 12.0% of all marks (131) across 69 questions.
Most questions asked
Share of all questions, by chapter.
- The Union Parliament14%69 Qs
- The Union Executive: The President and the Vice-President7.2%35 Qs
- National Movement: 1919-1934 (Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement and Other Forces at Work)6.6%32 Qs
- The Union Executive: The Prime Minister, the Union Cabinet and the Council of Ministers6.4%31 Qs
- The First War of Independence (1857)6.4%31 Qs
- United Nations Organisation: Origin, Objectives and the Principal Organs6.0%29 Qs
- The Union Judiciary: The Supreme Court6.0%29 Qs
- The First World War (1914-1918)5.1%25 Qs
- Second Phase of the Indian National Movement: Partition of Bengal and Other Developments4.9%24 Qs
- Factors Leading to the Growth of Nationalism and Foundation of the Indian National Congress4.9%24 Qs
Percentages are of the full 487-question bank.
Most marks asked
Share of total marks, by chapter.
- The Union Parliament12%131 marks
- The First War of Independence (1857)7.5%82 marks
- National Movement: 1919-1934 (Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement and Other Forces at Work)7.0%76 marks
- The Union Executive: The President and the Vice-President6.7%73 marks
- United Nations Organisation: Origin, Objectives and the Principal Organs6.7%73 marks
- The Union Judiciary: The Supreme Court6.4%70 marks
- The Union Executive: The Prime Minister, the Union Cabinet and the Council of Ministers6.1%66 marks
- The First World War (1914-1918)5.3%58 marks
- Independence and the Partition of India5.2%57 marks
- The Second World War (1939-1945)5.1%56 marks
Percentages are of the 1,090 marks across all papers.
Short vs long questions
Short = less than 2 marks (recall / one-liners). Long = 2 marks or more (explanations, diagrams, reasoning).
Overall split
- Short (<2 marks)172(35%)
- Long (≥2 marks)315(65%)
Short vs long by chapter
How each chapter's questions divide between short and long.
- Short (<2 marks)
- Long (≥2 marks)
- The Union Parliament61% short (42) · 39% long (27)
- The Union Executive: The President and the Vice-President49% short (17) · 51% long (18)
- National Movement: 1919-1934 (Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement and Other Forces at Work)25% short (8) · 75% long (24)
- The Union Executive: The Prime Minister, the Union Cabinet and the Council of Ministers42% short (13) · 58% long (18)
- The First War of Independence (1857)26% short (8) · 74% long (23)
- United Nations Organisation: Origin, Objectives and the Principal Organs21% short (6) · 79% long (23)
- The Union Judiciary: The Supreme Court24% short (7) · 76% long (22)
- The First World War (1914-1918)24% short (6) · 76% long (19)
- Second Phase of the Indian National Movement: Partition of Bengal and Other Developments46% short (11) · 54% long (13)
- Factors Leading to the Growth of Nationalism and Foundation of the Indian National Congress38% short (9) · 63% long (15)
- The Second World War (1939-1945)18% short (4) · 82% long (18)
- Independence and the Partition of India10% short (2) · 90% long (18)
Most short-answer-heavy chapters
Best for quick recall and one-mark practice.
- The Subordinate Courts86%12/1412 of 14 are short (under 2 marks)
- The Union Parliament61%42/6942 of 69 are short (under 2 marks)
- Objectives and Methods of Struggle of the Early Nationalists50%4/84 of 8 are short (under 2 marks)
- The Union Executive: The President and the Vice-President49%17/3517 of 35 are short (under 2 marks)
- Second Phase of the Indian National Movement: Partition of Bengal and Other Developments46%11/2411 of 24 are short (under 2 marks)
Most long-answer-heavy chapters
Where higher-mark, explanation-type questions cluster.
- Rise of Dictatorships: Fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany93%13/1413 of 14 are long (≥2 marks)
- Independence and the Partition of India90%18/2018 of 20 are long (≥2 marks)
- Major Agencies of the United Nations87%13/1513 of 15 are long (≥2 marks)
- The Second World War (1939-1945)82%18/2218 of 22 are long (≥2 marks)
- United Nations Organisation: Origin, Objectives and the Principal Organs79%23/2923 of 29 are long (≥2 marks)
How questions are framed
Question types
Share of all questions, by format.
- Short answer54%265
- MCQ23%114
- Reasoning9.0%44
- Definition8.4%41
- Source-based3.9%19
- Difference0.8%4
By marks
Share of all questions, by weight.
- 1 mark34%168
- 1.5 marks0.8%4
- 2 marks20%98
- 3 marks30%148
- 4 marks14%69
By difficulty
Share of all questions, by rating.
- Easy23%110
- Moderate55%267
- Hard23%110
Diagram load
Chapters where diagram-based questions are most concentrated.
Most diagram-heavy chapters
- Rise of Dictatorships: Fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany36%5/145 of 14 carry a diagram
- Second Phase of the Indian National Movement: Partition of Bengal and Other Developments29%7/247 of 24 carry a diagram
- National Movement: 1919-1934 (Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement and Other Forces at Work)25%8/328 of 32 carry a diagram
- Subhas Chandra Bose, Forward Bloc and the Indian National Army (INA)19%3/163 of 16 carry a diagram
- Independence and the Partition of India15%3/203 of 20 carry a diagram
Share of the chapter's questions that include a diagram.
Year-by-year trends
Shown as a share of each paper, so years stay comparable even though 2021 and 2022 used the reduced semester format with fewer questions.
Short-answer share by year
Percentage of the paper's questions worth less than 2 marks.
Diagram share by year
Percentage of the paper's questions that include a diagram.
Chapter coverage by year
How many questions each chapter contributed to each paper. Darker = more questions.
Chapter × year heatmap
Most frequently tested topics
Recurring topics across chapters.