ICSE · Class 9 · 2026–27
ICSE Class 9, 2026–27 the start of the ICSE course
Your child begins a two-year course that ends with the ICSE examination in 2028. Here are the groups, the marking, the attendance rule and the choices that matter, from CISCE's own regulations.
Class 9 is where ICSE becomes a board course. Students in Class 9 in 2026–27 will sit the ICSE examination in 2028, at the end of a two-year course, and CISCE published the regulations for that examination in January 2026. Your child now takes six or more subjects in three groups, and the subjects chosen this year are the ones they carry into Class 10. Group I and Group II subjects are 80% written examination and 20% internal assessment; Group III subjects are marked half externally and half internally. The step up is real: longer answers, more reading, and questions that ask your child to use an idea, not repeat it.
Because the course runs for two years, a habit or a gap formed in Class 9 travels into the board year. That is why this page spends as much time on understanding as on rules.
Class 9 at a glance
- Board exam
- ICSE 2028, at the end of Class 10
- Course
- Two years: Class 9 and Class 10
- Attendance
- At least 75% in each year of the course
- Subject syllabuses
- On cisce.org, for example English for 2028
Checked on 2 October 2026 against CISCE's own documents.
What's new in 2026–27
Class 9 is the class most touched by CISCE's documents this session.
CISCE published the ICSE Regulations for Examination Year 2028 in January 2026. They govern the students who start Class 9 this session.
ICSE Regulations for Examination Year 2028 (CISCE, January 2026)
Group III now includes a Section B of vocational subjects, among them Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.
ICSE Regulations for Examination Year 2028 (CISCE, January 2026)
Candidates take all of Group I, two or three subjects from Group II and one or two from Group III, six or more in all, plus Socially Useful Productive Work and Community Service.
ICSE Regulations for Examination Year 2028 (CISCE, January 2026)
A candidate needs at least 75% attendance in each year of the two-year course; the regulations allow relaxation to 60% only in the cases they set out.
ICSE Regulations for Examination Year 2028 (CISCE, January 2026)
The compulsory part of ICSE also covers Art, SUPW and Community Service, Physical Education, and Education in Moral and Spiritual Values.
ICSE Regulations for Examination Year 2028 (CISCE, January 2026), Part I: Compulsory
Subjects and groups in ICSE Class 9
Your school decides which Group II and Group III subjects it offers. The full list is in the regulations.
English (Group I)
Language and literature, with prescribed texts and longer, planned writing.
A second language (Group I)
Compulsory in Group I, so it counts as much as any other subject.
History, Civics and Geography (Group I)
Three disciplines in one compulsory subject, with map work and source questions.
Mathematics (Group II)
Problems written out step by step, because method earns marks as well as the answer.
Science: Physics, Chemistry, Biology (Group II)
Three sciences, each with theory and practical work.
Other Group II choices
Economics, Commercial Studies, a modern foreign or classical language, or Environmental Science.
Group III
Computer Applications, Economic or Commercial Applications, Art, Performing Arts, Physical Education, Yoga and more, marked 50% internally.
Group III, Section B
Vocational subjects, including Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.
SUPW and Community Service
Socially Useful Productive Work and Community Service, compulsory and assessed in school.
What the questions will ask
Class 9 papers are set by your school, but they follow the ICSE course your child will be examined on in 2028. In Group I and II subjects, 80% of the final result comes from the written paper and 20% from internal work such as projects and practicals. In Group III the two are equal, so steady work through the year counts as much as the paper.
ICSE papers ask your child to explain, calculate and argue, not only to recall. Reports say CISCE is raising the share of application questions, but we have not read a CISCE figure for the 2028 examination and quote none. Practise the higher kinds of question from the start, not in the last term.
One topic, six kinds of question floating and sinking
One Physics idea, the upward push of a liquid, asked six ways.
Remember
State Archimedes' principle.
Understand
Explain why a steel ship floats although a steel nail sinks.
Apply
A block weighs 10 N in air and 6 N when fully under water. Find the upthrust on it.
Analyse
An egg sinks in tap water but floats once enough salt is stirred in. What changed, and what stayed the same?
Evaluate
To test whether a bangle is pure gold, one friend weighs it in air; another weighs it in air and in water. Whose method tells you more, and why?
Create
Design a boat from one sheet of foil that carries as many coins as possible, and explain your design using upthrust.
Ideas this year rests on
The ICSE course assumes these from Class 8. A shaky one costs time in every later chapter.
- Linear equations and simple algebraic expressions, used in every Physics and Chemistry calculation.
- Ratio, proportion and percentage.
- Force, pressure and the idea of density.
- Atoms, molecules and simple chemical formulae.
- Reading an unseen passage and saying what it suggests, not only what it says.
How SelfEnabler practises this
Two years is long enough for small gaps to grow. A SelfEnabler check shows, topic by topic, whether your child can recall an idea, explain it, use it or find the pattern in it, so you see a gap in Class 9 instead of discovering it in Class 10.
Each lesson starts with a question before teaching and ends with your child explaining what changed in their thinking. Notes come from their own mistakes. AI Guru answers doubts from the approved lesson material, and when a topic is "not yet", a person steps in to help.
See how a lesson works
For parents: what to watch this year
A Group III choice made in a hurry
Sign: the choice is made by what friends picked. Action: read the subject's syllabus on cisce.org together; Group III is half internal work, so the workload matters.
Attendance drifts
Sign: days off for coaching or travel add up. Action: keep a simple count; CISCE asks for 75% in each year of the course.
Answers are right but too short
Sign: marks are lost on questions your child understood. Action: ask them to explain the answer aloud first, then write it with each step shown.
Questions parents ask about ICSE Class 9
Is there a board exam in ICSE Class 9?
No. Class 9 is the first year of the two-year ICSE course. The board examination comes at the end of Class 10, in 2028 for this batch.
What are the six subjects in ICSE?
Six or more: the three Group I subjects (English, a second language, and History, Civics and Geography), two or three from Group II, and one or two from Group III, plus SUPW and Community Service.
Can my child change subjects in Class 10?
The subjects are studied as a two-year course, so a later change means catching up on Class 9 work. Whether a change is allowed is for your school and CISCE's rules. Ask before choosing, not after.
Which Group III subject is best?
There is no single best. Choose one your child enjoys and can keep up with all year, because Group III is marked half on internal work.
How is Class 9 different from Class 8?
Subjects are now chosen in groups, internal assessment counts towards the ICSE result, attendance is counted, and answers are expected to be longer and better argued.
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