NCERT 2025-26: Complete Hub for Books, Syllabus & Exam Prep

NCERT — the National Council of Educational Research and Training — publishes India's most widely used school textbooks. Every CBSE-affiliated school, most state boards that have adopted the National Curriculum Framework, and a sizeable share of private and KV/JNV schools follow NCERT books verbatim. If your child is in Class 1-12 and the school says "open your textbook," that book is almost certainly NCERT.

This page is your single jump-off point for everything NCERT on GetSchoolsInfo. Every link below opens directly on ncert.nic.in (the official Government of India portal). We do not host PDFs ourselves, we do not ask you to sign up before downloading, and we do not put ads in the way of the file. We are an aggregator of public links, with original commentary on syllabus changes, entrance-exam relevance, and class-by-class strategy.

What is NCERT, and why is it the canonical Indian school syllabus?

The National Council of Educational Research and Training was established in 1961 as an autonomous body under the Government of India's Ministry of Education. Its mandate covers four things — develop curricula and textbooks, train teachers, conduct educational research, and run the Regional Institutes of Education. Over the decades NCERT became the de-facto syllabus authority for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE — for some content), the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), and dozens of state boards that follow the National Curriculum Framework (NCF).

When a school in India says it "follows CBSE," it almost always means: the syllabus is the NCERT booklist for that class, the assessment pattern is what CBSE prescribes (internal evaluation through Class 9, board examinations at Class 10 and 12), and the medium of instruction is whichever NCERT publishes — typically English and Hindi, with regional-language editions for select books. International boards (IB, Cambridge IGCSE) maintain their own curricula and do not follow NCERT, but even there many Indian-side preparatory institutes use NCERT as supplementary reference for foundational concepts.

The NCF-SE 2023 transition — what's new in 2025-26

The National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023 (NCF-SE 2023) is the structural blueprint that's currently rewriting India's K-12 syllabus. It was developed under the National Education Policy 2020 mandate, and NCERT is implementing it in phases:

• Class 1-2 received NCF-SE 2023-aligned books in 2024-25 — Mridang (English), Sarangi (Hindi), Joyful Mathematics. These are visibly more activity-based, illustration-heavy, and structured around competency outcomes rather than chapter-completion.
• Class 3-7 received NCF-SE 2023-aligned books in 2024-25 / 2025-26 — Math Mela, Veena (Hindi), Santoor (English), Our Wondrous World (EVS), Ganita Prakash (Maths Class 6-7), Curiosity (Science Class 6-7), and Social Science split into separate Geography / History / Civics volumes for Class 6-7.
• Class 8-12 are still on the 2022 rationalised editions for 2025-26. Phased rollout to senior classes is expected over subsequent years.

For parents whose child is using a printed textbook from before 2024, the content for Class 1-7 may not match what their school is currently teaching. Cross-check the inside cover of the textbook for the print year, then download the latest version free from ncert.nic.in (links to every book are on the class hubs above).

The 2022 rationalisation — what was removed and why it still matters

In April 2022, NCERT released a series of "rationalisation booklets" — BookletClass7.pdf through BookletClass12.pdf — that listed every chapter, sub-section, and exercise removed from senior-class NCERT textbooks. The official rationale was pandemic-era load reduction; the practical effect was a roughly 30 percent trim across Class 7-12 content. Some chapters were dropped entirely, others lost specific sub-sections, and a handful of topics were relocated to different classes.

For CBSE board examinations, the rationalisation has fully taken effect — Class 10 and 12 board papers strictly follow the post-rationalisation textbooks. For entrance examinations administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA), it has not. NEET, JEE Main, JEE Advanced, and several state engineering / medical entrance exams continue to draw their syllabi from documents that pre-date the rationalisation. The result: students preparing for entrance exams need to cover both the current NCERT and several deleted topics that NTA still tests.

We maintain reconciliation pages for the three big national entrance exams:

How to download NCERT books free — the right way

NCERT publishes every textbook for free at https://ncert.nic.in. There are exactly three ways to download an NCERT book legally and freely:

1. The textbook portal at ncert.nic.in/textbook.php — pick Class → Subject → Book Title from the three dropdowns, click Go, and you land on a page that lists every chapter as a clickable PDF. This is the canonical source.
2. The direct PDF URL at ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/{book-code}{NN}.pdf — where {book-code} is NCERT's 5-character identifier (e.g. iemh1 for Class 9 Maths) and NN is the zero-padded chapter number. The full-book ZIP archive is at ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/{book-code}dd.zip.
3. The ePathshala flipbook at epathshala.nic.in — for in-browser reading without downloading a PDF.

Every link on every GetSchoolsInfo /ncert page points directly to one of these three official sources. If you ever land on a download page that asks you to register, sign up, or watch an ad before downloading an NCERT PDF, close the tab — that's a third-party website charging you (in attention, in email address, or worse in money) for a file that NCERT publishes free.

Subject-wise overview

The NCERT booklist scales with class. Class 1-2 carries three textbooks (Hindi, English, Maths). Class 3-5 adds Environmental Studies, taking the count to four. Class 6 is the major curricular jump — Social Science splits into three parallel sub-books (History, Geography, Civics), Science becomes a substantial standalone subject, and Mathematics gets the new NCF-SE 2023-aligned Ganita Prakash. Class 9 adds a fourth Social Science sub-book (Economics), and Class 11 fully separates Physics, Chemistry, and Biology into their own multi-volume sets. Class 11-12 expands to 14+ subjects covering Science (PCM, PCMB), Commerce (Accountancy, Business Studies, Economics), and Humanities (History, Geography, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology) streams.

• Mathematics runs from primary numeracy through calculus and linear algebra. Class 12 NCERT Maths Part-I + Part-II is the canonical JEE 2026 syllabus.
• Science is one combined volume Class 6-10 (Physics + Chemistry + Biology interleaved), then splits into separate subjects from Class 11.
• Social Science is structured as parallel sub-books from Class 6 onwards — History ("Our Pasts" series), Geography ("Contemporary India"), Civics ("Democratic Politics" / "Social and Political Life"), and Economics from Class 9.
• Languages — Hindi as a single core volume + supplementary readers (Sparsh, Sanchayan, Kritika); English with main reader + supplementary reader pair; Sanskrit (Ruchira, Shemushi) for schools that include it.
• Senior-class electives — at Class 11-12 students typically pick a stream (Science / Commerce / Humanities) and the booklist follows that selection.

NCERT vs CBSE — what's the difference?

NCERT is a publisher and curriculum authority. CBSE is an examination board. NCERT writes the textbooks and the syllabus framework; CBSE conducts the board examination at Class 10 and Class 12 using NCERT-prescribed content. Schools affiliated to CBSE follow NCERT books but may adopt commercial supplementary publishers (R D Sharma, R S Aggarwal, Lakhmir Singh, Arihant, MTG) for additional practice. The board paper, however, sticks strictly to NCERT chapters.

State boards have their own examination authorities — Maharashtra State Board (MSBSHSE), Tamil Nadu Directorate of Government Examinations (DGE-TN), Bihar Board (BSEB), and so on — and many adopt NCERT books partially while maintaining their own state-specific Social Science / language curricula. Check our board-wise hubs for state-specific syllabus references.

NCERT for entrance-exam aspirants — NEET / JEE / CUET

For anyone preparing for an Indian undergraduate entrance examination, NCERT is the foundation document — but the relationship varies by exam.

NEET-UG 2026 (medical) — administered by NTA, syllabus drawn from a document that pre-dates the 2022 rationalisation. Class 11 and Class 12 NCERT Biology, Physics, and Chemistry together account for roughly 95 percent of NEET content; the remaining 5 percent is in topics removed from current NCERT but retained in NTA's syllabus document (Polymers, Strategies for Enhancement in Food Production, parts of Hydrogen Chemistry, etc.). NEET aspirants should keep a pre-2022 NCERT edition alongside the current one.

JEE Main + Advanced 2026 (engineering) — administered by NTA. Coverage is closer to current NCERT than NEET but still tests Mathematical Induction, Mathematical Reasoning, and certain Hydrogen / Polymer chemistry topics that have been removed from current Class 11-12 textbooks. Most JEE aspirants supplement NCERT with HC Verma (Physics), Cengage / Arihant problem banks, and a coaching-issued question bank.

CUET-UG 2026 (general undergraduate) — administered by NTA, syllabus aligned with the current rationalised NCERT. Of the three exams, CUET has the cleanest alignment — you can prepare entirely from current NCERT books and not worry about coverage gaps from rationalisation. CUET also has a General Test (numerical ability, mental ability, general awareness) that is not based on NCERT.

For each entrance exam plus the relevant NCERT subject, we maintain a chapter-level mapping page. See the JEE / NEET mapping links above, or jump from the relevant subject hub (e.g. Class 12 Maths).

NCERT in Hindi medium and regional languages

NCERT publishes parallel Hindi-medium editions of every English-medium book — these have a different book code (the same content with translations of chapter titles, exercises, and figure captions). The Hindi versions are available on the same ncert.nic.in/textbook.php portal — when you select the Class and Subject, the Book Title dropdown lists both English and Hindi options. NCERT also publishes Urdu-medium editions for many subjects and regional-language editions for select Social Science books.

For a Hindi-medium student, the experience on GetSchoolsInfo today is mostly via the official Hindi PDFs hot-linked from NCERT. We are working on a Hindi-medium UI pass for the /ncert section in a future release; it is currently English-only.

Common myths about NCERT — fact-check

"NCERT is not enough for Class 10 / 12 boards." False. CBSE Class 10 and Class 12 board papers are constructed strictly from NCERT-prescribed chapters. The back-of-chapter exercises and the NCERT Exemplar Problems together cover the bulk of board paper question types. Commercial supplementary publishers add practice volume, not new content.

"NCERT is not enough for NEET / JEE." Partially true. NCERT is the canonical conceptual foundation, but problem-solving for entrance exams requires additional practice from competitive question banks (HC Verma, DC Pandey, MTG, Arihant, coaching-issued material). The right framing is NCERT is necessary but not sufficient for entrance exams.

"You have to buy NCERT books." False. Every NCERT textbook is free as a PDF at ncert.nic.in. Many parents do buy printed copies (NCERT also distributes printed books at heavily subsidised prices through CBSE-affiliated bookstores), but the PDF is the legal free alternative.

"NCERT and CBSE are the same thing." False. NCERT writes textbooks; CBSE conducts examinations. They are separate Government of India institutions that work in coordination but have distinct mandates.

Find schools that teach NCERT near you

GetSchoolsInfo's primary database is 64,000+ K-12 schools across India sourced from UDISE+ 2024-25 — the official Government of India school-information portal. The same dataset that powers our school discovery feature also tells us which schools follow NCERT books: every CBSE-affiliated school by definition follows NCERT, plus most KV/JNV schools, and a sizeable share of state-board schools that have adopted NCF-aligned curricula.

If you're choosing a school for your child and want one that follows the NCERT textbooks discussed on this page, jump to the city / metro / state-specific search below — the schools listed there are CBSE-board schools where Class 1-12 will use the NCERT books for which we've published direct download links above. Use the filters on each search result page to narrow down by board, fee range, distance, and amenities.

Best free supplementary resources beyond NCERT textbooks

NCERT is the syllabus document. For practice problems, video explanations, and additional study material, the Government of India provides three more free platforms — none of them require signups, none have ad walls, all are official:

• NCERT Exemplar Problems (ncert.nic.in/exemplar-problems.php) — separate practice volumes published by NCERT alongside textbooks. Available for Maths and Science from Class 6, and for Physics/Chemistry/Biology at Class 11-12. Exemplar problems are higher-order — designed for conceptual depth and competitive-exam preparation. Most coaching institutes draw problem patterns from Exemplar.
• DIKSHA (diksha.gov.in) — the National Teachers Platform, hosts NCERT chapter videos, interactive quizzes, energised textbooks, and offline-cached content via an Android app. Most NCERT chapters now have at least one DIKSHA video lesson published by NCERT or a state SCERT.
• ePathshala (epathshala.nic.in) — NCERT's own browser-based flipbook reader. Lets you read every NCERT textbook online without downloading a PDF. Particularly useful for Hindi-medium and audio-supported reading.
• NPTEL (nptel.ac.in) — the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning, run by the IITs. Hosts free university-level courses; useful for Class 11-12 students who want to go beyond NCERT for JEE / advanced study.

For official sample papers and previous-year question papers, CBSE Academic (cbseacademic.nic.in) is the canonical source — board exam sample papers for Class 10 and 12 are released here every January-February.

Stream selection — choosing PCM, PCB, PCMB, Commerce, or Humanities

For parents and students at Class 9-10 looking ahead to Class 11-12 stream selection, the NCERT booklist gives a clear preview of what each stream involves. Each stream is a Class 11-12 NCERT subject combination:

• PCM (Physics + Chemistry + Maths) — engineering aspirants, JEE Main + Advanced. Adds Computer Science / English. Class 12 NCERT books: leph1, leph2, lech1, lech2, lemh1, lemh2.
• PCMB (PCM + Biology) — keeps both engineering and medical doors open. Heaviest workload but maximum optionality. Adds Class 11/12 NCERT Biology (kebo1, lebo1).
• PCB (Physics + Chemistry + Biology) — medical aspirants, NEET-UG. NCERT Biology is half the NEET syllabus.
• Commerce — Accountancy + Business Studies + Economics + (optional Maths or English). Class 11/12 NCERT books: keac1, keac2, kebs1, keec1, keec2 + their Class 12 counterparts. Pathway to CA, B.Com, BBA.
• Humanities — History + Geography + Political Science + Sociology / Psychology / Economics + Language. Wide breadth — pathway to law (CLAT), civil services, journalism, social sciences.

The NCERT booklist itself is the cheapest decision aid: if you flip through the Class 11 books for each stream, you'll know within 30 minutes which subjects engage you. Class 9-10 students should also explore the /ncert/ncert-books-for-class-11 hub for the full Class 11 subject list before stream selection.

How to cite NCERT in your work

For academic essays, project reports, or research, NCERT books should be cited like any government publication. Standard format:

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). {Book Title} (Class {N}, {Year} edition). New Delhi: NCERT. Retrieved from {full URL}.

For example:

NCERT. Mathematics (Class 12, 2025-26 edition). New Delhi: NCERT. Retrieved from https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/lemh1dd.zip

NCERT itself does not require a license fee for academic citation. The body acts as a Government of India publisher with the authority of the Ministry of Education.

A note on attribution and copyright

NCERT is an autonomous Government of India body under the Ministry of Education. Its textbooks are freely distributable for non-commercial educational use under the standard government copyright terms — see ncert.nic.in/copyright.php. We hot-link to NCERT's CDN; we do not download, mirror, or rehost the PDFs ourselves. The chapter list, book code mapping, and class-wise structure on every /ncert page is sourced from NCERT's own publications, with original commentary and reconciliation against entrance-exam syllabi added by GetSchoolsInfo's editorial team.

If NCERT publishes a structural change (new edition, chapter renumbering, code change), our nightly link-health check will flag broken PDFs within 24 hours and we will update the affected pages. If you ever encounter a broken link or a chapter PDF that 404s, please use the feedback widget below the article — that's the fastest way to reach our team.