Understanding the exam trends is one of the smartest strategies to score high in Political Science. Over the last few years, CBSE has made several changes in the exam pattern:

1. Weightage Shift – Earlier, more marks were given to questions from Indian Politics since Independence. Now, equal importance is given to both Contemporary World Politics and Politics in India since Independence.
2. Case-Based & Source-Based Questions – The question paper now includes 3–4 case-study/source-based questions to test analytical and critical thinking.
3. Long-Answer Questions – Topics like Cold War, Globalization, Emergency of 1975–77, Coalition Politics have frequently appeared in 6-mark or 8-mark questions.
4. Map-Based Questions – 1–2 questions are consistently asked from India and World maps (e.g., NAM countries, Princely States, or Partition-related maps).
5. Internal Choice – Students are given enough internal choices to reduce pressure, but selective study does not work anymore since the paper is designed to check overall syllabus coverage.

Key Insight: Students who practice PYQs and sample papers are better prepared to identify recurring question patterns and manage time effectively.