Thoughts on the 2026 Maths paper pattern?

We found that practicing the previous year’s sample papers released by the board helped a lot. They were surprisingly aligned with the actual paper. Don't rely solely on the textbook, please try the Exemplar series as well.

My daughter came out of the exam center feeling quite shaken. She said the case-based questions were nothing like the NCERT exercises. I think the days of just memorizing textbook formulas are over; we have started looking at RD Sharma and some online competitive coaching modules to get her used to the logic.

My nephew mentioned the same thing. He felt the section on geometry was very tricky and required knowledge outside the standard curriculum. It's becoming very competitive, which is quite stressful for the kids at this age.

Honestly, the schools are not really bridging the gap. I have seen that unless you enroll them in some extra foundation course for JEE, they struggle with the application-based logic. We switched to a tutor who specifically focuses on 'thinking' skills rather than just rote learning because the board is clearly moving towards the JEE format.

Is it really that tough? My son is in 10th and I haven't even looked at the 2026 pattern yet. Should I be worried about his school preparation?