Maharashtra Board Previous Year Question Papers for SSC (Std 10) and HSC (Std 12)

What is actually in our papers collection

Before you plan your revision, it helps to know what's in the archive and what isn't. Below is the collection as listed on this site in October 2026. We add papers as they're released, so a missing subject may simply not be uploaded yet.

Two gaps are worth knowing about. There are no 2021 board papers for SSC or HSC, because the board cancelled the March 2021 written exams during COVID-19 and results were worked out from internal assessment. And the 2026 HSC folder has no Chemistry, Biology or Book-Keeping and Accountancy papers yet. Until those go up, use the 2025 papers for those subjects.

The 2026 folders for Std 9, 10 and 12 also hold school papers such as "1 SEM", "First Unit Test" and "Preliminary" exams. These are not board papers, but they are worth doing. Prelim papers in particular are set to the board pattern, so they make good mock tests. Just remember that board papers from March are the real benchmark.

Each paper opens on its own page, and you can scroll through it page by page. Most papers run to three to six pages.

Board papers vs sample papers vs prelims

People use these three words as if they meant the same thing. They don't.

• Previous year question paper: the exact paper the board set in a real exam session (March, or July/October for supplementary). That's what this page is about.
• Sample or model paper: a paper made to show a new or changed pattern, usually released before exams. It shows the format but has never been "tested" on lakhs of students. Our sample papers are kept on a separate page.
• Prelim or unit test paper: set by schools or district groups. The quality varies, but a well-made prelim is good timed practice.

If you have only a few weeks left, spend most of them on board papers from 2023 onwards. They match the current pattern most closely.

SSC (Std 10) paper pattern: what each paper looks like

Most SSC subjects are marked out of 100: 80 marks for the written board paper and 20 for internal assessment (oral, practical or project work, depending on the subject). To pass, you need 35 marks out of 100 in each subject. Maths, Science and Social Science are each split into two 40-mark papers. Each of those is a separate two-hour sitting, often on different days.

Here is what the two Maths papers look like from the inside, since that's where most students lose time. Both follow roughly the same shape:

• Q1 (8 marks): four MCQs plus four one-mark questions.
• Q2 (12 marks): "complete the activity" items, where you fill in the missing steps, plus a set of 2-mark problems with choice.
• Q3 (9 marks): one 3-mark activity plus two 3-mark problems chosen from several.
• Q4 (8 marks): two 4-mark problems, chosen from three.
• Q5 (3 marks): one creative or application-based question.

Science Part 1 and Part 2 follow a 10–10–15–5 shape. Q1 gives 10 marks of MCQs and one-word answers. Q2 asks for five 2-mark answers out of eight. Q3 asks for five 3-mark answers out of eight. Q4 is a single 5-mark question with an internal choice.

What this means when you practise: a 40-mark paper in 120 minutes gives you about three minutes per mark. That is generous. SSC students rarely run short of time on content. They lose it on neat diagrams, constructions in Geometry and over-long answers to 2-mark questions. When you time a PYQ, notice which of these three is eating your clock.

HSC (Std 12) paper pattern: what each paper looks like

HSC theory papers are 3 hours each. Science subjects with practicals (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) have 70-mark theory papers and 30 marks for practicals. Most other subjects have 80-mark theory papers, and the remaining 20 marks come from orals, projects or internal work.

Look at the choice built into Sections B and C: you answer 8 questions out of 12. Students who have solved several years of papers use that choice well. They can tell in the first five minutes which four questions to drop. Students who haven't often start a question they half-remember, get stuck and lose ten minutes. That skill comes almost entirely from PYQ practice.

Also note that HSC Physics, Chemistry and Biology MCQs are worth 1 mark each, but Maths MCQs carry 2 marks. Eight MCQs in Maths are worth 16 marks, as much as all of Section B. Practise them that way: work each one out on rough paper, never guess.

How many years of papers should you solve?

There's no magic number. The useful split is between papers set on the current syllabus and older ones.

• SSC: the Std 10 textbooks were revised in 2018–19, so the first exam on them was March 2019. Papers from 2019 onwards are on the current syllabus. Papers from 2015 to 2018 are still useful for Algebra and Geometry skills, but some chapters and the question format have changed.
• HSC: the revised Std 12 syllabus came in 2020–21, so the first exam on it was 2021 and the first written one we hold is 2022. Papers from 2022 onwards match today's pattern. Papers from 2012 to 2020 are older-syllabus papers. They're still good for practising core Physics derivations or Chemistry numericals, but don't use them to judge your time or score.

A practical target:

The 2022 papers come with a caveat. That year the board cut the syllabus by about 25% and gave extra writing time because of COVID disruption. Time yourself on 2022 papers to normal exam timings, and expect a few topics to be missing.

March papers vs July/October (supplementary) papers

The board holds its main exams in February–March. Supplementary exams are held in June–July. In 2026, the SSC supplementary exam ran from 16 to 30 June and the HSC one from 16 June to 8 July. In older years, especially for HSC up to around 2014, the second sitting was in October, which is why you'll see "Oct 2008" or "Oct 2013" papers in our HSC list.

Supplementary papers are set to the same blueprint and syllabus. Most students never open them, and that's a mistake for two reasons:

1. Fresh questions. If you have already done every March paper, a July paper is a full new paper you haven't seen.
2. A slightly different mix. Different setters lean on different chapters, so a July paper will often test topics the March paper skipped that year.

Our HSC list has a March and a July paper for Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths in both 2016 and 2017. SSC 2020 has March and July papers for Maths and Science. Those pairs make neat "back-to-back" mocks: do March on Saturday and July on Sunday.

A timed-practice method that copies the exam hall

Doing a past paper with your notes open is revision, not practice. To get a real score, set it up like this:

1. Print the paper or open it on a second screen. Keep your phone in another room.
2. Set a timer for the real duration. That's 2 hours for an SSC 40-mark paper and 3 hours for an SSC language paper or any HSC theory paper. Don't add reading time. Practise as if the paper arrives and the clock starts at once.
3. Write on the same kind of paper you'll use in the exam, with ruled sheets and a blank sheet for diagrams and graphs. Use your exam pen and pencil, plus ruler and compass for Geometry.
4. Mark your start and finish time for each section in the margin. This takes a few seconds per section and tells you more than any score.
5. Stop when the timer ends. Unfinished is useful data. Pushing on for another 20 minutes gives you a fake result.

Don't do every paper as a full mock. Use sections too. Thirty minutes for HSC Section A alone, or one SSC Q2 block, fits into a school-day evening.

Marking your own paper against the pattern

Self-marking only helps if you're strict. Here's a method that works with the way Maharashtra Board papers are built.

Step 1: mark by question type, not just total. Make a quick tally like this after every paper:

After four or five papers, a pattern shows up. One student might keep scoring full marks on long answers but drop a mark or two in every MCQ block. That student needs concept revision, not more writing practice. Another might be accurate but leave two Section D questions blank, which is a timing problem.

Step 2: give step marks honestly. In numericals and maths problems, marks are usually split between the formula, the substitution, the working and the final answer with units. If you got the method right but made an arithmetic slip, take the step marks but not the final mark. If you skipped writing the formula, take that mark off as well.

Step 3: check activity boxes exactly. SSC "complete the activity" questions give marks per box. A box that is half right gets no mark.

Step 4: log every lost mark in one notebook. Write the year, the question number, what went wrong in one line, and the chapter. You'll revise from this notebook in the last two weeks.

For worked answers to textbook exercises, see our Maharashtra Board solutions. This page sticks to the papers themselves.

Spotting repeated topics and trends

The board doesn't repeat whole papers, but it does come back to the same ideas often. Here's how to find them yourself instead of trusting someone's "important questions" list.

Build a chapter × year grid. Take a sheet with chapters down the side and years across the top (for example 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026). Go through each paper and put the marks a chapter received in its box. It takes about 20 minutes per subject. When you're done, you'll see:

• Steady chapters: these carry close to the same marks every year. Never leave these for later.
• Rotating chapters: these show up big one year and small the next. Prepare them, but don't rest your revision on them.
• Question shapes that come back: for example, the same kind of HSC Physics derivation in Section D, an SSC Geometry construction, or a "give geographical reasons" question about the same idea. The wording changes but the skill is the same.

Here's an example of what the grid looks like for SSC Algebra (the marks shown are illustrative; fill in your own from the papers):

A word of caution: a topic that appeared in five straight papers is not "guaranteed" next year. The grid tells you where the marks usually are, not what will be asked.

Subject-wise focus while solving papers

• SSC Algebra and Geometry: time the constructions and theorem proofs separately. Most students underestimate them.
• SSC Science Part 1 and 2: redraw every diagram that appears in two or more papers until you can do it in under three minutes.
• SSC History and Political Science, Geography: practise concept maps, timelines, and map and graph questions. They are quick marks that students often lose through carelessness.
• HSC Physics and Chemistry: list the derivations and numerical types that recur in Section D over the last four years. Do each one cold, without notes.
• HSC Biology: labelled diagrams and "give reasons" answers tend to repeat in shape. Keep answers to the length the marks ask for.
• HSC Maths and Statistics: use the 2-mark MCQs as a daily warm-up. Ten minutes a day on old Section A questions builds speed.
• HSC Book-Keeping and Accountancy: do at least one full final-accounts problem from a past paper every week. Format errors cost more marks than wrong figures.
• Languages (both classes): time the writing-skills section on its own. It's where 3-hour papers slip.

Month-by-month PYQ plan for the 2027 exams

The board has announced probable dates: HSC written exams from 8 February to 16 March 2027, and SSC from 15 February to 11 March 2027. Practicals and internal assessments run from 20 January (HSC) and 28 January (SSC). Work back from those dates.

In the gap days between exams, solve just one section of the next subject's latest paper. That keeps you sharp without wearing you out.

For Std 9 and Std 11 students: you don't need the board-paper load yet. Use our unit test and semester papers once a month. Run them timed, mark them with the tally table above, and you'll start Std 10 or Std 12 already used to the format.

For parents: the most useful thing you can do is guard the clock. Sit nearby, keep the phone away, and call time at the exact minute. Then go through the tally table with your child rather than just asking for the total.

Downloading and using a paper from this site

1. Choose your class in the class-wise block near the top of this page.
2. Pick a year. Within the year, papers are listed by subject, and some subjects have more than one set.
3. Open the subject to view the paper page by page. Save or print it if you want to practise on paper.
4. Look at the code printed on the paper, such as N-819 or J-312. If two codes exist for one subject in the same year, they're different sets, so treat each as a separate mock.

Textbooks are on our Maharashtra Board books page.

Frequently asked questions