ICSE (ISC) Class 11 Computer Science Syllabus 2025-26

CBSE Class 11 Computer Science Syllabus 2025-26

The CBSE Class 11 Computer Science syllabus is structured to provide a fundamental understanding of computer systems, programming skills in Python, and societal implications of technology. It consists of three units, focusing on both theoretical and practical aspects of computer science.

Course Structure:

The Indian School Certificate (ISC) Class 11 Computer Science syllabus for the academic year 2025-26 is structured to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of both theoretical concepts and practical applications in computer science. The curriculum is divided into two main components:

Paper I: Theory – 3 hours, 70 marks
Paper II: Practical – 3 hours, 30 marks

Paper I: Theory

The theory paper is further segmented into three sections: A, B, and C.

Section A: Basic Computer Hardware and Software

Numbers
- Representation of numbers in various bases: binary, octal, decimal, and hexadecimal.
- Interconversion between these bases.
- Addition and subtraction operations for numbers in different bases.
Encodings
- Binary Encodings for Integers and Real Numbers: Understanding sign-magnitude, 2’s complement, and mantissa-exponent notation.
- Character Encodings: Overview of ASCII, ISCII, and Unicode standards.
Propositional Logic, Hardware Implementation, Arithmetic Operations
- Propositional Logic: Concepts of well-formed formulae, truth values, and interpretation using truth tables.
- Logic and Hardware: Introduction to basic gates (AND, NOT, OR) and their universality; other gates like NAND, NOR, XOR, XNOR; design of half adders and full adders.

Section B: Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming using Java

Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

Fundamentals of OOP and its significance in modern programming.

Objects
- Understanding objects as a combination of data (attributes) and behavior (methods).
- Real-world examples illustrating objects and classes.
- Overview of Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and the process of compilation and execution in Java.
- Error handling: differentiation between compile-time and run-time errors; basics of exceptions and their handling using try-catch blocks.
Primitive Values, Wrapper Classes, Types, and Casting
- Exploration of primitive data types: byte, int, short, long, float, double, boolean, char.
- Corresponding wrapper classes for each primitive type.
- Concepts of type casting and type coercion in Java.
Variables and Expressions
- Role of variables as identifiers for values; distinction between variables and constants (using ‘final’).
- Formation and evaluation of expressions involving arithmetic and logical operators.
- Understanding the assignment operation and the difference between the left-hand side and right-hand side of an assignment.
Statements and Scope
- Various types of statements: conditional (if, if-else, switch-case), looping (for, while, do-while), and control statements (continue, break).
- Grouping of statements into blocks; concepts of scope and visibility of variables.
Methods and Constructors
- Definition and utilization of methods and constructors as abstractions for complex operations on objects.
- Distinction between formal and actual arguments in methods; behavior of primitive and object arguments.
- Understanding static methods and variables; usage of the ‘this’ keyword.
- Practical examples demonstrating algorithmic problem-solving using methods.
Arrays and Strings
- Introduction to structured data types: single and multidimensional arrays, and strings.
- Implementation of algorithms utilizing these data structures, such as searching, sorting, and solving systems of linear equations.

Section C: Advanced Topics

Basic Input/Output and Data File Handling
- Utilizing classes like Scanner and Printer for basic input and output operations.
- Fundamentals of data file handling, including reading from and writing to files.
Recursion: Concept of recursion and its application in solving problems like calculating factorials, finding the greatest common divisor (GCD), performing binary search, and converting numbers between different bases.
Implementation of Algorithms to Solve Problems
- Emphasis on practical lab assignments that cover major topics.
- Designing challenging assignments that encourage algorithm design, correctness verification, implementation in Java, and debugging.
Packages
- Definition and creation of packages in Java.
- Importing user-defined packages and facilitating interaction of objects across packages.
Trends in Computing and Ethical Issues
- Overview of emerging technologies: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR), and their societal impacts.
- Understanding cyber security concepts, privacy concerns, netiquette, spam, and phishing.
- Discussion on intellectual property rights, software copyrights and patents, and the role of organizations like the Free Software Foundation.

Paper II: Practical

The practical component is designed to assess students’ programming skills and their ability to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world problems. It consists of two main parts:

Programming Assignments: Students are expected to complete a minimum of twenty programming assignments throughout the academic year, covering various topics from the syllabus.
Project Work: Students must undertake one project based on any topic from the syllabus. The project should demonstrate their understanding and application of computer science concepts.

Evaluation Criteria:

Continuous Evaluation: 15 marks
- Programming assignments: 10 marks
- Project work: 5 marks
Terminal Evaluation: 15 marks
- Solution to a programming problem during the examination: 15 marks

ICSE (ISC) Class 11 Computer Science Syllabus 2025-26 : Free PDF download