The CTET Paper II Social Studies/Social Science section consists of 60 questions, with candidates choosing Social Science instead of Mathematics and Science for questions 31 to 90. The two question papers analysed here — CTET February 2026 and December 2024 — show a fairly broad distribution across History, Geography, Social and Political Life, Economics and Social Science pedagogy.
This analysis is based only on the two papers provided for review. It is not an official CBSE weightage statement. CBSE has multiple sets of Paper II question papers for both editions, so the distribution can vary across sets. The official CTET archive confirms multiple February 2026 and December 2024 Paper II sets.
In the February 2026 paper analysed, the 60 questions can be broadly classified as follows:
History — 14 questions, around 23.3%
Geography — 13 questions, around 21.7%
Social and Political Life/Civics — 9 questions, 15%
Economics — 2 questions, around 3.3%
Social Science pedagogy — 22 questions, around 36.7%
The paper therefore had a substantial pedagogy component alongside the subject-content questions.
History: 14 questions
History covered a wide chronological range rather than concentrating on a single period.
Questions included areas such as:
Hampi and its cultural history
Indigo and colonial economic history
Manimekalai
Mauryan art
Tribes, nomads and settled communities
The national movement
Satnami movement
Tribal rebellions
Masulipatnam and trade
James Mill and colonial historiography
Bengal temple architecture
Cotton mills and industrialisation
Colonial agrarian policies
The paper also used Assertion-Reason, statement-based and matching formats, rather than relying only on direct factual questions. The uploaded paper, for example, includes questions on Indigo, Hampi and historical developments through these formats.
Geography: 13 questions
Geography was the second major content area, with questions distributed across physical and human/economic geography.
The paper covered:
Water scarcity
Longitude and time calculation
Crops and climatic conditions
Commercial farming
Winds
Celestial bodies
Natural environment
Rainfall
Little Tibet/Ladakh
Globe as a model of Earth
Lithosphere
Time zones
River waterfalls
The questions tested both conceptual understanding and application. For instance, the paper included questions on water scarcity, longitude, crop-climate relationships and farming practices.
Civics/Social and Political Life: 9 questions
The Civics component included:
Panchayati Raj
Communication and society
Discrimination
State intervention in religion
Legislative accountability
Gender stereotypes
The Indian Constitution
Social justice
Marginalisation
The questions were not restricted to definitions. Several required candidates to distinguish between related concepts or interpret statements in a social context.
Economics: 2 questions
Economics had a comparatively smaller presence in this particular paper.
The two identifiable areas were:
Institutional sources of rural credit
Markets
This means Economics accounted for only about 3.3% of the 60-question section in the analysed February 2026 paper.
Pedagogy: 22 questions
Pedagogy formed the largest identifiable component.
Questions addressed:
Fieldwork and project work
Assessment
Learning outcomes
Question types and cognitive skills
Classroom discussion
Diversity
Gender and caste sensitivity
Social Science teaching methods
Critical thinking
Testing
Curriculum
Use of teaching-learning resources
5E approach
Data collection
Field trips
Action research
The December 2024 paper analysed here shows a somewhat different distribution:
History — 17 questions, around 28.3%
Geography — 13 questions, around 21.7%
Social and Political Life/Civics — 7 questions, around 11.7%
Economics — 2 questions, around 3.3%
Social Science pedagogy — 21 questions, 35%
History had greater representation
History accounted for 17 questions, three more than in the February 2026 paper.
The paper covered:
Hampi and regional history
Non-Brahman movements
Satnami movement
Mauryan history
Tribes and settled communities
National movement
Political associations
Masulipatnam
James Mill
Bengal temple architecture
Colonial cotton industry
Colonial agrarian policies
Rowlatt Act
Nelson Mandela and apartheid
Adivasi history
Government of India Act, 1909
Geography remained stable at 13 questions
An important observation from the two papers is that Geography had exactly 13 questions in both papers analysed.
The broad areas included:
Insolation
Winds
Longitude
Rock cycle
Grasslands
Agricultural practices
Environment
Rainfall
Time zones
Maps and globe
Water resources
Crops and climate
Thus, Geography represented approximately 21.7% of the Social Science section in both papers.
Civics/Social and Political Life
The December 2024 paper had 7 Civics/Social and Political Life questions, including:
Panchayati Raj
Local government
Discrimination
Indian Constitution
Independence of Judiciary
Gram Sabha
Political representation
Questions around constitutional provisions, local government and democratic institutions featured prominently.
Economics
Economics accounted for two questions, similar to the February 2026 paper.
The areas included:
Agricultural labour and wages
Casual workers and employment in small workshops/factories
Pedagogy remained a major component
The December 2024 paper contained 21 questions that primarily tested Social Science teaching-learning and assessment concepts.
These included:
Assessment
Critical thinking
Curriculum activities
Teaching-learning resources
Nature of Social Science
Open-ended questions
Right to Education and evaluation
Teaching methods
Dialectic approach
Exploratory questions
5E approach
Field trips
Data collection
Action research
Classroom stereotypes
The paper's pedagogy questions explicitly addressed assessment, critical thinking, classroom activities and Social Science teaching methods.
A comparison of the two uploaded papers reveals several observed similarities, without using them to predict future CTET papers:
Geography was the most stable content area: 13 questions in both papers.
Economics had a small presence: 2 questions in both papers.
History accounted for a larger share in December 2024: 17 questions compared with 14 in February 2026.
Civics had a slightly higher representation in February 2026: 9 questions compared with 7 in December 2024.
Pedagogy remained substantial in both: 22 questions in February 2026 and 21 in December 2024.
Across both papers, statement-based, Assertion-Reason, matching and application-oriented questions were repeatedly used alongside direct factual questions.
The February 2026 paper, for example, moves from historical and geographical content questions into questions testing assessment, classroom practice and Social Science teaching skills
The percentages above represent a question-by-question classification of the two specific papers provided for this analysis. They should not be treated as an official CBSE blueprint or as a guaranteed distribution for another CTET examination.
This distinction is particularly important because CBSE has published multiple Paper II sets for both February 2026 and December 2024.
