CTET Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2026: Paper 1 and Paper 2

Which CTET Paper Should You Choose?

• Choose Paper 1 if you want eligibility to teach Classes 1 to 5.
• Choose Paper 2 if you want eligibility to teach Classes 6 to 8.
• Choose both Paper 1 and Paper 2 if you want eligibility for Classes 1 to 8.

How to Prepare with the CTET Syllabus

• Start with the official subject weightage and divide your weekly study time in proportion to the marks.
• Study NCERT content for the relevant class range, but prepare for application-based questions and the higher difficulty linkages described in the official notice.
• Do not treat pedagogy as a minor topic: every major subject includes a separate pedagogy component.
• Practise 150-question timed papers in 2 hours 30 minutes because accuracy and pacing matter even without negative marking.

Useful CTET Internal Links

Track all CTET resources from the CTET exam hub, verify the latest dates through the CTET notification page, and practise with the CTET previous-year questions hub.

You can also check upcoming exam dates and use the site-wide mock test section while building your revision plan.

CTET 2026 Exam Pattern Overview

Candidates who intend to teach Classes 1 to 5 take Paper 1. Candidates who intend to teach Classes 6 to 8 take Paper 2. Those seeking eligibility for both levels must take both papers.

CTET Paper 1 Exam Pattern 2026

CTET Paper 2 Exam Pattern 2026

CTET 2026 Marking and Qualifying Rules

CTET February 2026 Session Timing

CTET Paper 1 Syllabus 2026: Subject-wise Weightage

CTET Paper 1 Detailed Syllabus 2026

Child Development and Pedagogy - 30 Questions

• Child development: development and learning, principles of child development, heredity and environment, socialization, and the role of teachers, parents and peers.
• Learning theories and perspectives: Piaget, Kohlberg and Vygotsky; child-centred and progressive education; intelligence, multi-dimensional intelligence, language and thought.
• Diversity and assessment: gender, social and individual differences; assessment for learning and assessment of learning; school-based and continuous assessment; readiness and critical-thinking questions.
• Inclusive education: learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, children with learning difficulties or impairments, and talented, creative and specially abled learners.
• Learning and pedagogy: how children think and learn, causes of school failure, learning as a social activity, children as problem solvers, errors as learning steps, cognition, emotions, motivation and personal or environmental factors.

Mathematics - 30 Questions

• Content: geometry, shapes and spatial understanding, solids, numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, measurement, weight, time, volume, data handling, patterns and money.
• Pedagogy: nature and language of mathematics, logical thinking, place of mathematics in the curriculum, community mathematics, formal and informal evaluation, teaching problems, error analysis, diagnostic teaching and remedial teaching.

Environmental Studies - 30 Questions

• Content: family and friends, relationships, work and play, animals, plants, food, shelter, water, travel, and things we make and do.
• Pedagogy: concept and scope of EVS, integrated EVS, environmental education, learning principles, relation to Science and Social Science, presentation approaches, activities, practical work, discussion, CCE, teaching aids and remedial support.

Language 1 - 30 Questions

• Language comprehension: two unseen passages - one prose or drama passage and one poem - testing comprehension, inference, grammar and verbal ability.
• Language pedagogy: learning and acquisition, principles of language teaching, listening and speaking, grammar in communication, classroom diversity, language skills, proficiency evaluation, teaching materials and remedial teaching.

Language 2 - 30 Questions

• Comprehension: two unseen prose passages that may be discursive, literary, narrative or scientific, with questions on comprehension, grammar and verbal ability.
• Language pedagogy covers acquisition, teaching principles, listening and speaking, communicative grammar, learner difficulties, language skills, evaluation, multilingual resources and remedial teaching.

CTET Paper 2 Syllabus 2026: Subject-wise Weightage

CTET Paper 2 Detailed Syllabus 2026

Child Development and Pedagogy - 30 Questions

• Elementary-school child development, learning and socialization; heredity and environment; Piaget, Kohlberg and Vygotsky; child-centred education; intelligence; language and thought; gender and learner diversity.
• Inclusive education for disadvantaged learners, children with learning difficulties or impairments, and talented, creative and specially abled learners.
• Learning processes, social context, problem solving, alternative conceptions and errors, cognition, emotions, motivation and factors affecting learning.

Mathematics - 30 Questions

• Number system: knowing and playing with numbers, whole numbers, negative numbers, integers and fractions.
• Algebra: introduction to algebra, ratio and proportion.
• Geometry and mensuration: basic 2-D ideas, elementary 2-D and 3-D shapes, symmetry, construction with geometrical instruments, mensuration and data handling.
• Pedagogy: logical thinking, curriculum, mathematical language, community mathematics, evaluation, remedial teaching and problems of teaching.

Science - 30 Questions

• Content: food and its sources or components; cleaning food; materials of daily use; the world of the living; moving things, people and ideas; electric current and circuits; magnets; natural phenomena and natural resources.
• Pedagogy: nature and structure of science, aims and objectives, understanding and appreciating science, integrated approaches, observation, experiment and discovery, innovation, teaching aids, evaluation and remedial teaching.

Social Studies / Social Science - 60 Questions

• History: earliest societies, farmers and herders, first cities, early states, new ideas, empires, distant contacts, political developments, culture and science, kingdoms, Delhi Sultans, architecture, Company power, rural and tribal society, the 1857 revolt, reform, caste, nationalism and India after independence.
• Geography: Earth in the solar system, globe, natural and human environment, air, water, settlements, transport, communication, resources and agriculture.
• Social and Political Life: diversity, government, local government, livelihoods, democracy, state government, media, gender, Constitution, parliamentary government, judiciary, social justice and marginalized groups.
• Pedagogy: nature of Social Science, classroom processes and discourse, critical thinking, enquiry and empirical evidence, teaching problems, primary and secondary sources, project work and evaluation.

Language 1 and Language 2 - 30 Questions Each

• Language 1 includes 15 comprehension questions based on unseen prose or drama and poetry, plus 15 questions on language pedagogy.
• Language 2 includes 15 comprehension questions based on two unseen prose passages, plus 15 questions on language pedagogy.
• Language pedagogy includes acquisition, teaching principles, listening and speaking, communicative grammar, classroom diversity, language skills, evaluation, teaching-learning resources and remedial teaching.

CTET Language Options and Codes

Language 2 must be different from Language 1. Candidates select two languages from the official options and record them in the confirmation page.