CTET Examination Syllabus and Exam Pattern

Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) official detailed syllabus has been released by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). CTET Syllabus 2021: CTET Exam is the eligibility test conducted in two phases – Paper I and Paper II for teacher posts. Paper-II will be held in the morning session and Paper-I in the evening session. The main question paper will be bilingual (Hindi/English) and we have provided the details in the below table at a glance.

CTET Syllabus	Highlights
Organization	Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
Name of Examination	CTET Exam
Duration of CTET Exam	2.5 hours (for each paper)
Language of Exam	20 languages
Maximum Marks	150 marks (for each paper)
Category	CTET Syllabus & Exam Pattern
Type of Questions	Multiple Choice Questions
Mode of Exam	Online
Marking Scheme	1 mark for each correct answer
Negative Marking	No negative marking for wrong answers

CTET Exam Pattern

Check the CTET exam pattern as this helps to make plans for studying and candidates can get a clear vision of which topic they should focus on more.

• CTET will be conducted in two phases; Paper-I for Class I-V and Paper-II for Class VI-VIII.

• There will be 150 MCQs in each paper.

• There will be no negative marking for any incorrect answers.

• For Paper-I, the difficulty level will be of the second stage and for Paper-II, the difficulty level will be of the senior secondary stage.

• CTET Paper-1 is Divided into 5 Sections: Child Development and Pedagogy, Language I & II, Mathematics, and Environmental Science.

• CTET Paper-2 is Divided into 4 Sections: Child Development and Pedagogy, Language I & II, Mathematics / Science, or Social Studies. The choice will be available between Maths/Science and Social Studies.

CTET Paper-I Syllabus (For Classes I to V) Primary Stage:

I. Child Development and Pedagogy	IV. Mathematics
II. Language – I	V. Environmental Studies
III. Language – II	–

The Paper I exam of CTET is an offline exam testing a candidate on the basis of their Language I & II, Child Development and Pedagogy, Mathematics, and Environmental Studies. Let’s have a look at CTET Syllabus 2021 for the Primary Stage (Classes I-V ):

I. Child Development and Pedagogy Syllabus: 30 Questions

a) Child Development (Primary School Child): 15 Questions

1. Concept of development and its relationship with learning
2. Principles of the development of children
3. Influence of Heredity & Environment
4. Socialization processes: Social world & children (Teacher, Parents, Peers)
5. Piaget, Kohlberg and Vygotsky: constructs and critical perspectives
6. Concepts of child-centered and progressive education
7. Critical perspective of the construct of Intelligence
8. Multi-Dimensional Intelligence
9. Language & Thought
10. Gender as a social construct; gender roles, gender-bias and educational practice
11. Individual differences among learners, understanding differences based on diversity of language, caste, gender, community, religion etc.
12. Distinction between Assessment for learning and assessment of learning; School-Based Assessment, Continuous & Comprehensive Evaluation: perspective and practice
13. Formulating appropriate questions for assessing readiness levels of learners; for enhancing learning and critical thinking in the classroom and for assessing learner achievement.

b) Concept of Inclusive education and understanding children with special needs: 5 Questions

1. Addressing learners from diverse backgrounds including disadvantaged and deprived
2. Addressing the needs of children with learning difficulties, ‘impairment’ etc.
3. Addressing the Talented, Creative, Specially abled Learners

c) Learning and Pedagogy: 10 Questions

1. How children think and learn; how and why children ‘fail’ to achieve success in school performance.
2. Basic processes of teaching and learning; children’s strategies of learning; learning as a social activity; social context of learning.
3. Child as a problem solver and a ‘scientific investigator’
4. Alternative conceptions of learning in children, understanding children’s ‘errors’ as significant steps in the learning process.
5. Cognition & Emotions
6. Motivation and learning
7. Factors contributing to learning – personal & environmental

II. Language I Syllabus: 30 Questions

a) Language Comprehension: 15 Questions

Reading unseen passages – two passages one prose or drama and one poem with questions on comprehension, inference, grammar, and verbal ability (Prose passage may be literary, scientific, narrative, or discursive)

b) Pedagogy of Language Development: 15 Questions

1. Learning and acquisition
2. Principles of language Teaching
3. Role of listening and speaking; function of language and how children use it as a tool
4. A critical perspective on the role of grammar in learning a language for communicating ideas verbally and in written form
5. Challenges of teaching language in a diverse classroom; language difficulties, errors and disorders
6. Language Skills
7. Evaluating language comprehension and proficiency: speaking, listening, reading and writing
8. Teaching-learning materials: Textbook, multi-media materials, multilingual resource of the classroom
9. Remedial Teaching

III. Language II Syllabus: 30 Questions

a) Comprehension: 15 Questions

Two unseen prose passages (discursive or literary or narrative or scientific) with questions on comprehension, grammar, and verbal ability

b) Pedagogy of Language Development: 15 Questions

1. Learning and acquisition
2. Principles of language Teaching
3. Role of listening and speaking; function of language and how children use it as a tool
4. A critical perspective on the role of grammar in learning a language for communicating ideas verbally and in written form;
5. Challenges of teaching language in a diverse classroom; language difficulties, errors and disorders
6. Language Skills
7. Evaluating language comprehension and proficiency: speaking, listening, reading and writing
8. Teaching-learning materials: Textbook, multi-media materials, multilingual resource of the classroom
9. Remedial Teaching

IV. Mathematics Syllabus: 30 Questions

a) Content: 15 Questions

1. Geometry
2. Shapes & Spatial Understanding
3. Solids around Us
4. Numbers
5. Addition and Subtraction
6. Multiplication
7. Division
8. Measurement
9. Weight
10. Time
11. Volume
12. Data Handling
13. Patterns
14. Money

b) Pedagogical issues: 15 Questions

Nature of Mathematics/Logical thinking; understanding children’s thinking and reasoning patterns and strategies of making meaning and learning

1. Place of Mathematics in Curriculum
2. Language of Mathematics
3. Community Mathematics
4. Valuation through formal and informal methods
5. Problems of Teaching
6. Error analysis and related aspects of learning and teaching
7. Diagnostic and Remedial Teaching

V. Environmental Studies Syllabus: 30 Questions

a) Content: 15 Questions

I. Family and Friends:

• Relationships

• Work and Play

• Animals

• Plants

II. Food

III. Shelter

IV. Water

V. Travel

VI. Things We Make and Do

b) Pedagogical Issues: 15 Questions

1. Concept and scope of EVS
2. Significance of EVS, integrated EVS
3. Environmental Studies & Environmental Education
4. Learning Principles
5. Scope & relation to Science & Social Science
6. Approaches of presenting concepts
7. Activities
8. Experimentation/Practical Work
9. Discussion
10. CCE
11. Teaching material/Aids
12. Problems

CTET Syllabus for Paper-II (For Classes VI to VIII) Elementary Stage:

I.Child Development and Pedagogy	IV. Mathematics and Science
II. Language – I	V. Social Studies/Social Sciences
III. Language – II

The Paper-II exam of CTET is an offline exam testing a candidate on the basis of their Language I & II, Child Development and Pedagogy, and Mathematics & Science / Social Studies & Social Science. Let’s have a look at CTET Syllabus for Elementary Stage (Classes VI-VIII):

I. Child Development and Pedagogy Syllabus: 30 Questions

This topic is common in Paper-1 and Paper-2 which is compulsory to be attempted. Through this section, the candidate’s knowledge about child development and the Concept of Inclusive education will be covered. Go through the topics below to understand the syllabus in a clear manner.

a) Child Development (Elementary School Child): 15 Questions

1. Concept of development and its relationship with learning
2. Principles of the development of children
3. Influence of Heredity & Environment
4. Socialization processes: Social world & children (Teacher, Parents, Peers)
5. Piaget, Kohlberg and Vygotsky: constructs and critical perspectives
6. Concepts of child-centred and progressive education
7. Critical perspective of the construct of Intelligence
8. Multi-Dimensional Intelligence
9. Language & Thought
10. Gender as a social construct; gender roles, gender-bias and educational practice
11. Individual differences among learners, understanding differences based on diversity of language, caste, gender, community, religion etc.
12. The distinction between Assessment for learning and assessment of learning; School-Based Assessment, Continuous & Comprehensive Evaluation: perspective and practice
13. Formulating appropriate questions for assessing readiness levels of learners; for enhancing learning and critical thinking in the classroom and for assessing learner achievement.

b) Concept of Inclusive education and understanding children with special needs: 5 Questions

1. Addressing learners from diverse backgrounds including disadvantaged and deprived
2. Addressing the needs of children with learning difficulties, ‘impairment’ etc.
3. Addressing the Talented, Creative, Specially abled Learners

c) Learning and Pedagogy: 10 Questions

1. How children think and learn; how and why children ‘fail’ to achieve success in school performance.
2. Basic processes of teaching and learning; children’s strategies of learning; learning as a social activity; social context of learning.
3. Child as a problem solver and a ‘scientific investigator’
4. Alternative conceptions of learning in children, understanding children’s ‘errors’ as significant steps in the learning process.
5. Cognition & Emotions
6. Motivation and learning
7. Factors contributing to learning – personal & environmental

II. Language I Syllabus: 30 Questions

To test the candidate’s knowledge in the language they have opted there will be 30 questions in the CTET Paper-I and Paper-II.

a) Language Comprehension: 15 Questions

Reading unseen passages – two passages one prose or drama and one poem with questions on comprehension, inference, grammar, and verbal ability.

b) Pedagogy of Language Development: 15 Questions

1. Learning and acquisition
2. Principles of language Teaching
3. Role of listening and speaking; function of language and how children use it as a tool
4. A critical perspective on the role of grammar in learning a language for communicating ideas verbally and in written form; Challenges of teaching language in a diverse classroom; language difficulties, errors and disorders
5. Language Skills
6. Evaluating language comprehension and proficiency: speaking, listening, reading and writing
7. Teaching- learning materials: Textbook, multi-media materials, multilingual resource of the classroom
8. Remedial Teaching

III. Language II Syllabus: 30 Questions

The second language test will be for accessing the candidate’s knowledge of the English language. There will be 30 questions in the CTET Paper-I and Paper-II.

a) Comprehension: 15 Questions

Two unseen prose passages (discursive or literary or narrative or scientific) with questions on comprehension, grammar, and verbal ability

b) Pedagogy of Language Development: 15 Questions

1. Learning and acquisition
2. Principles of language Teaching
3. Role of listening and speaking; function of language and how children use it as a tool
4. Critical perspective on the role of grammar in learning a language for communicating ideas verbally and in written form; Challenges of teaching language in a diverse classroom; language difficulties, errors and disorders
5. Language Skills
6. Evaluating language comprehension and proficiency: speaking, listening, reading and writing
7. Teaching-learning materials: Textbook, multi-media materials, multilingual resource of the classroom
8. Remedial Teaching

IV. (A) Mathematics and Science Syllabus: 60 Questions

The candidates can check the topics to be covered in Mathematics and Science section. The questions of Maths should be attempted with tricks and accuracy. There will be 30 questions from Maths and 30 from Science subject.

(i) Mathematics: 30 Questions

a) Content: 20 Questions

• Number System

• Knowing our Numbers

• Playing with Numbers

• Whole Numbers

• Negative Numbers and Integers

• Fractions

• Algebra

• Introduction to Algebra

• Ratio and Proportion

• Geometry

• Basic geometrical ideas (2-D)

• Understanding Elementary Shapes (2-D and 3-D)

• Symmetry: (reflection)

• Construction (using Straight edge Scale, protractor, compasses)

• Mensuration

• Data handling

b) Pedagogical issues: 10 Questions

• Nature of Mathematics/Logical thinking

• Place of Mathematics in Curriculum

• Language of Mathematics

• Community Mathematics

• Evaluation

• Remedial Teaching

• Problem of Teaching

(ii) Science: 30 Questions

a) Content: 20 Questions

I. Food

• Sources of food

• Components of food

• Cleaning food

II. Materials

• Materials of daily use

III. The World of the Living

IV. Moving Things People and Ideas

V. How things work

• Electric current and circuits

• Magnets

VI. Natural Phenomena

VII. Natural Resources

b) Pedagogical issues: 10 Questions

• Nature & Structure of Sciences

• Natural Science/Aims & objectives

• Understanding & Appreciating Science

• Approaches/Integrated Approach

• Observation/Experiment/Discovery (Method of Science)

• Innovation

• Text Material/Aids

• Evaluation – cognitive/psychomotor/affective

• Problems

• Remedial Teaching

V. Social Studies/Social Sciences Syllabus: 60 Questions

In this subject, the topics are divided into two parts: One includes History, Geography, Social & Political Life and the Second one includes Pedagogical issues. The ratio of questions will be 40:20 respectively.

I. History

A strong catch on historical events, days, and dates to score good marks in this section. The questions will be asked from the below topics

• When, Where and How

• The Earliest Societies

• The First Farmers and Herders

• The First Cities

• the Early States

• New Ideas

• The First Empire

• Contacts with Distant lands

• Political Developments

• Culture and Science

• New Kings and Kingdoms

• Sultans of Delhi

• Architecture

• Creation of an Empire

• Social Change

• Regional Cultures

• The Establishment of Company Power

• Rural Life and Society

• Colonialism and Tribal Societies

• The Revolt of 1857-58

• Women and reform

• Challenging the Caste System

• The Nationalist Movement

• India After Independence

II. Geography

Though it is difficult for anyone to understand the complete geography of India unless they go deep into it. However, CBSE has included a Geography subject for CTET Paper-II but no worries, you have to prepare only for a few topics that have been provided below.

• Geography as a social study and as a science

• Planet: Earth in the solar system

• Globe

• Environment in its totality: natural and human environment

• Air

• Water

• Human Environment: settlement, transport, and communication

• Resources: Types-Natural and Human

• Agriculture

III. Social and Political Life

This section will test the candidate’s knowledge about its surroundings and the topics that a candidate must be knowledgeable about have been listed below.

• Diversity

• Government

• Local Government

• Making a Living

• Democracy

• State Government

• Understanding Media

• Unpacking Gender

• The Constitution

• Parliamentary Government

• The Judiciary

• Social Justice and the Marginalised

b) Pedagogical issues

There will be 20 questions from this section and the motive of this section will be to understand the candidate’s intelligence and presence of mind for Pedagogical issues. The topics that will be covered in this section are mentioned below:

• Concept & Nature of Social Science/Social Studies

• Class Room Processes, activities, and discourse

• Developing Critical thinking

• Enquiry/Empirical Evidence

• Problems of teaching Social Science/Social Studies

• Sources – Primary & Secondary

• Projects Work

• Evaluation

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