CTET Syllabus 2026: Check Paper 1 and 2 Exam Pattern and Download Subject-Wise PDF

Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE has officially announced the date for the 22nd edition of the Central Teacher Eligibility Test. The CTET September 2026 exam is scheduled for September 6, 2026. For thousands of teaching aspirants, this exam serves as a golden opportunity to qualify for positions in the Central Government Schools like KVS, NVS, and others. To be able to qualify for the CTET 2026 exam, candidates need to score the following marks:-

• For candidates belonging to the General Category, they must at least score 60% marks.
• For candidates belonging to Reserved Categories, they must at least score 55% marks.

Candidates wdetailed understanding of the CTET syllabus 2026 and the current offline exam pattern.

CTET Syllabus 2026: Exam Highlights

The CTET Exam 2026, which is to be conducted in September, will continue to follow the offline pen and paper format, where answers need to be marked on an OMR sheet. Given below is a quick look at the important details for the September exam:-

The CTET 2026 exam is conducted with two main papers, i.e., Paper 1 and Paper 2, and the candidates have a chance to appear in both papers individually or both papers. Paper 1 of the CTET is conducted for the teachers who wish to teach Classes 1 to 5, and Paper 2 of the CTET is conducted for those teachers who wish to teach Classes 6 to 8.

CTET Syllabus 2026: Paper 1 Syllabus for Classes 1 to 5

Paper 1 of the CTET 2026 is designed for those individuals who want to be primary teachers. The questions of the paper 1 will mainly focus on the educational psychology and the teaching-learning process for children aged between 6 to 11 years. Below is a subject-wise breakdown of the questions that can be asked in the paper 1 of the CTET exam:-

• 30 questions might be asked on Child Development and Pedagogy. This subject specifically focuses on child growth, understanding children with special needs, and the concept of inclusive education.
•  30 questions will be asked from the Language 1 and Language 2 subjects. These sections of the paper test the communication abilities and language proficiency of the candidate. Candidates should be aware that Language 2 must be different from Language 1.
• 30 Questions will be asked from the Mathematics section, which will cover topics related to geometry, numbers, addition and subtraction, data handling and volume. 
• From the subject of environmental studies, 30 questions will be asked based on NCERT classes 1 to 5, including themes of Family and Friends, Food, Shelter, and Water.

CTET Syllabus 2026: Paper 1 Syllabus for Classes 6 to 8

Paper 2 of the CTET 2026 is for those candidates who are aiming to teach the upper primary level, i.e., Classes 6 to 8. The syllabus difficulty is linked to the Senior Secondary stage. Questions subject-specific, language paper and child development and pedagogy. Below is a subject-wise breakdown of the questions that can be asked in the paper 2 of the CTET exam

• The subject of Child Development and Pedagogy will have 30 questions, focusing on the psychology of adolescents aged 11 to 14 years.
• Language 1 and 2 will also have dedicated 30 questions, which will have a higher level of reading comprehension and grammar compared to Paper 1.
• Subject-specific section questions will include 60 questions from each subject, which will include Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.

CTET Syllabus 2026:Preparation Tips for CTET Exam

While preparing for the CTET exam 2026, candidates should be aware that the CTET exam will consist of nearly 50% of the pedagogical questions. Don’t just learn the theory, understand how to implement and teach them as well.  One of the most important things is that NCERT is KEY. It is recommended by many experts that the NCERT will be really helpful, especially for classes 1 to 8. Most of the questions are directly picked from these textbooks.