What the board asks
We went through the ISC board papers, question by question, and matched each question to a topic. Here is what was asked, how often, and what was never asked.
Computer Science: 180 topics in the 2027 syllabus, across 10 units. The board has asked 117 of them at least once. 63 were never asked in the papers we checked.
Pick a unit
CS4 Types, Variables, Expressions and Statements
This unit carries about 4 marks in the paper. We split it into 22 topics: each is one thing an examiner can ask, and you can practise it on paper in 5 to 25 minutes. The board has asked 5 of them. 17 were never asked. The top 5 topics make 100% of all the times this unit was asked. Last asked: 2025.
5asked by the board at least once
17in the syllabus, never asked
5times a topic of this unit was asked
2.4hours for one attempt at every topic
What the papers ask most
- Output of switch case with and without breakonce, last 2025
- Effect of break and continue in loops and switchonce, last 2025
- Output of a loop: dry run with a value tableonce, last 2023
- State what a given loop method doesonce, last 2023
- Wrapper classes, autoboxing and unboxingonce, last 2018
In the syllabus, never asked (17)
They can still come, because they are in the syllabus. Give each one clean attempt. Your plan has two practice questions for each.
- The eight primitive types, sizes and defaultsStatement
- Output of wrapper class method callsDry run / output
- Class as a user-defined typeStatement
- Implicit type coercion versus explicit castingComparison
- Output of mixed-type and cast expressionsDry run / output
- Variables, named constants and finalStatement
- Left-hand side versus right-hand side of assignmentGive reason
- Evaluate an expression by precedence and associativitySum
- Output with prefix and postfix increment and decrementDry run / output
- Relational and logical expressions with short-circuit evaluationDry run / output
- Write a Java expression for a formulaSum
- Output of if, if-else and if-else-if codeDry run / output
- Ternary operator to and from if-elseSum
- Entry-controlled versus exit-controlled loops; convert one loop to anotherComparison
- Fill the blanks in a short loop-based methodProgram
- Scope of local, instance and class variablesGive reason
- Find and correct errors in a short code fragmentProgram
All the topics in Computer Science: Types, Variables, Expressions and Statements →
The 10 topics Computer Science papers ask most
Counted on the board papers from 2018 to the 2027 specimen paper, which every unit has been checked against.
- 1.Principle of duality: state it and write the dualCS1 Boolean Algebra · asked 8 times since 2018
- 2.Complement of an expression using De Morgan's theoremCS1 Boolean Algebra · asked 8 times since 2018
- 3.Word problem to truth table and SOP or POSCS1 Boolean Algebra · asked 8 times since 2018
- 4.K-map reduction of a four-variable POS expressionCS1 Boolean Algebra · asked 8 times since 2018
- 5.Pre-order, in-order and post-order traversalCS9 Data Structures · asked 8 times since 2018
- 6.K-map reduction of a four-variable SOP expressionCS1 Boolean Algebra · asked 7 times since 2018
- 7.Read a tree: leaves, internal nodes, parent, siblings, degreeCS9 Data Structures · asked 7 times since 2018
- 8.Truth table to classify tautology, contradiction or contingencyCS1 Boolean Algebra · asked 6 times since 2018
- 9.Convert between cardinal and canonical formsCS1 Boolean Algebra · asked 6 times since 2018
- 10.Address of an element, row major and column majorCS6 Arrays and Strings · asked 6 times since 2018