Mathematics question insights
What 11 years of ICSE Class 10 Mathematics papers actually asked — by chapter, question length, type, difficulty and diagrams. Every figure is computed from the 598 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)
- Cylinder, Cone and Sphere95/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 6.7% of all marks (71) · 31 Qs
- Banking (Recurring Deposit Account)91/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 6.1% of all marks (65) · 32 Qs
- Reflection86/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 5.2% of all marks (55) · 46 Qs
- Graphical Representation86/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 5.2% of all marks (55) · 36 Qs
- Matrices86/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 5.2% of all marks (55) · 26 Qs
- Factorization of Polynomials (Remainder and Factor Theorems)86/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 5.2% of all marks (55) · 23 Qs
- Shares and Dividend85/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 5.1% of all marks (54) · 32 Qs
- Similarity (With Applications to Maps and Models)84/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 4.9% of all marks (52) · 45 Qs
- Measure of Central Tendency (Mean, Median, Quartiles and Mode)84/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 5.0% of all marks (53) · 27 Qs
- Trigonometrical Identities82/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 4.6% of all marks (49) · 17 Qs
- Quadratic Equations79/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 4.2% of all marks (44) · 17 Qs
- Tangents and Intersecting Chords76/100Appeared in 82% of papers (9/11) · 4.4% of all marks (47) · 35 Qs
Index = 60% appearance frequency + 40% marks share, across all available papers. Historical, not predictive.
Cylinder, Cone and Sphere leads: it appears in 91% of papers (10 of 11) and carries 6.7% of all marks (71) across 31 questions.
Most questions asked
Share of all questions, by chapter.
- Reflection7.7%46 Qs
- Similarity (With Applications to Maps and Models)7.5%45 Qs
- Graphical Representation6.0%36 Qs
- Tangents and Intersecting Chords5.9%35 Qs
- Banking (Recurring Deposit Account)5.4%32 Qs
- Shares and Dividend5.4%32 Qs
- Cylinder, Cone and Sphere5.2%31 Qs
- Probability5.2%31 Qs
- Measure of Central Tendency (Mean, Median, Quartiles and Mode)4.5%27 Qs
- Matrices4.3%26 Qs
Percentages are of the full 598-question bank.
Most marks asked
Share of total marks, by chapter.
- Cylinder, Cone and Sphere6.7%71 marks
- Banking (Recurring Deposit Account)6.1%65 marks
- Reflection5.2%55 marks
- Graphical Representation5.2%55 marks
- Matrices5.2%55 marks
- Factorization of Polynomials (Remainder and Factor Theorems)5.2%55 marks
- Shares and Dividend5.1%54 marks
- Measure of Central Tendency (Mean, Median, Quartiles and Mode)5.0%53 marks
- Similarity (With Applications to Maps and Models)4.9%52 marks
- Trigonometrical Identities4.6%49 marks
Percentages are of the 1,060 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)365(61%)
- Long (≥2 marks)233(39%)
Short vs long by chapter
How each chapter's questions divide between short and long.
- Short (<2 marks)
- Long (≥2 marks)
- Reflection87% short (40) · 13% long (6)
- Similarity (With Applications to Maps and Models)93% short (42) · 7% long (3)
- Graphical Representation69% short (25) · 31% long (11)
- Tangents and Intersecting Chords83% short (29) · 17% long (6)
- Banking (Recurring Deposit Account)41% short (13) · 59% long (19)
- Shares and Dividend72% short (23) · 28% long (9)
- Cylinder, Cone and Sphere26% short (8) · 74% long (23)
- Probability90% short (28) · 10% long (3)
- Measure of Central Tendency (Mean, Median, Quartiles and Mode)52% short (14) · 48% long (13)
- Matrices46% short (12) · 54% long (14)
- Equation of a Line81% short (21) · 19% long (5)
- Factorization of Polynomials (Remainder and Factor Theorems)35% short (8) · 65% long (15)
Most short-answer-heavy chapters
Best for quick recall and one-mark practice.
- Similarity (With Applications to Maps and Models)93%42/4542 of 45 are short (under 2 marks)
- Probability90%28/3128 of 31 are short (under 2 marks)
- Reflection87%40/4640 of 46 are short (under 2 marks)
- Tangents and Intersecting Chords83%29/3529 of 35 are short (under 2 marks)
- Circles81%17/2117 of 21 are short (under 2 marks)
Most long-answer-heavy chapters
Where higher-mark, explanation-type questions cluster.
- Height and Distances92%11/1211 of 12 are long (≥2 marks)
- Trigonometrical Identities82%14/1714 of 17 are long (≥2 marks)
- Linear Inequations (In one variable)75%9/129 of 12 are long (≥2 marks)
- Cylinder, Cone and Sphere74%23/3123 of 31 are long (≥2 marks)
- Solving (simple) Problems (Based on Quadratic Equations)69%9/139 of 13 are long (≥2 marks)
How questions are framed
Question types
Share of all questions, by format.
- Numerical58%345
- MCQ17%99
- Graph8.9%53
- Proof5.5%33
- Short answer5.5%33
- Construction5.0%30
- Assertion-Reason0.8%5
By marks
Share of all questions, by weight.
- 1 mark50%299
- 1.5 marks11%66
- 2 marks15%87
- 3 marks16%98
- 4 marks7.7%46
- 5 marks0.3%2
By difficulty
Share of all questions, by rating.
- Easy39%234
- Moderate48%288
- Hard13%76
Diagram load
Chapters where diagram-based questions are most concentrated.
Most diagram-heavy chapters
- Circles100%21/2121 of 21 carry a diagram
- Graphical Representation92%33/3633 of 36 carry a diagram
- Tangents and Intersecting Chords86%30/3530 of 35 carry a diagram
- Similarity (With Applications to Maps and Models)78%35/4535 of 45 carry a diagram
- Measure of Central Tendency (Mean, Median, Quartiles and Mode)70%19/2719 of 27 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.