NCERT Class 12 English Book PDF – Flamingo, Vistas & Kaleidoscope
Table of Contents
- Which NCERT Class 12 English Book Do You Need: Core or Elective?
- NCERT Class 12 English Book PDF for English Core: Flamingo and Vistas
- NCERT Class 12 English Book PDF for English Elective: Kaleidoscope
- Class 12 English Syllabus 2026-27 for English Core and English Elective
- Class 12 English Sample Paper 2026-27 (Core and Elective) with Marking Scheme
Which NCERT Class 12 English book you need depends on your subject. English Core (code 301), taken by most CBSE students, uses Flamingo and Vistas; English Elective (code 001) uses Kaleidoscope. This page gives you every prescribed chapter of all three books as a Class 12 English book PDF, a short guide to each chapter, the Class 12 English syllabus for 2026-27 with marks, and links to the latest sample papers and solutions.
Which NCERT Class 12 English Book Do You Need: Core or Elective?
The NCERT Class 12 English book you study depends on your English subject. English Core students use two books, Flamingo and Vistas; English Elective students use one, Kaleidoscope. If you are unsure which subject you have, check the subject code on your registration: 301 is Core, 001 is Elective.
|
Book |
Subject |
Type |
In the NCERT book (2026-27 reprint) |
Prescribed by CBSE for 2026-27 |
Marks in board paper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Flamingo |
English Core (301) |
Main reader |
8 prose + 5 poems |
All 13 |
About 27 of 40 Literature marks |
|
Vistas |
English Core (301) |
Supplementary reader |
6 chapters |
All 6 |
About 13 of 40 Literature marks |
|
Kaleidoscope |
English Elective (001) |
Anthology |
5 stories, 8 poems, 6 non-fiction, 2 plays (21 pieces) |
16 pieces: 3 stories, 7 poems, 5 non-fiction, 1 play |
22 Textbook marks |
How many chapters are in the NCERT Class 12 English book?
English Core has 19 Class 12 English chapters for 2026-27: 13 in Flamingo and 6 in Vistas. English Elective has 16 prescribed pieces in Kaleidoscope plus one novel. Every listed chapter can appear in the board paper.
NCERT Class 12 English Book PDF for English Core: Flamingo and Vistas
English Core students need both books of the NCERT Class 12 English book set: Flamingo and Vistas. Download any chapter as a free PDF from the tables below, or from ncert.nic.in/textbook.php (Class XII → English → Flamingo or Vistas). Each Class 12 English book PDF opens on a phone and can be saved for offline study.
Flamingo Class 12 Chapters — Prose (8) with PDF
|
No. |
Chapter |
Author |
Central theme |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
The Last Lesson |
Alphonse Daudet |
The value of one's own language and freedom |
|
|
2 |
Lost Spring |
Anees Jung |
Child labour and poverty that steal childhood |
|
|
3 |
Deep Water |
William O. Douglas |
Overcoming fear through determination |
|
|
4 |
The Rattrap |
Selma Lagerlöf |
Kindness can redeem a person |
|
|
5 |
Indigo |
Louis Fischer |
Gandhi's Champaran movement and self-reliance |
|
|
6 |
Poets and Pancakes |
Asokamitran |
Life inside Gemini Studios, told with humour |
|
|
7 |
The Interview (Part I: Christopher Silvester; Part II: an interview with Umberto Eco) |
Christopher Silvester; Mukund Padmanabhan |
Do interviews inform or intrude? |
|
|
8 |
Going Places |
A. R. Barton |
Adolescent fantasy versus reality |
Flamingo Class 12 Chapters — Poetry (5) with PDF
|
No. |
Poem |
Poet |
Central theme |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
My Mother at Sixty-six |
Kamala Das |
Ageing and the fear of losing a parent |
|
|
2 |
Keeping Quiet |
Pablo Neruda |
Silence and introspection to end conflict |
|
|
3 |
A Thing of Beauty |
John Keats |
Beauty as a lasting source of joy |
|
|
4 |
A Roadside Stand |
Robert Frost |
Neglect of the rural poor by the city |
|
|
5 |
Aunt Jennifer's Tigers |
Adrienne Rich |
Oppression in marriage versus freedom in art |
Vistas Class 12 Chapters (6) with PDF
|
No. |
Chapter |
Author |
Central theme |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
The Third Level |
Jack Finney |
Escape from modern stress into the past |
|
|
2 |
The Tiger King |
Kalki |
Satire on the arrogance of power |
|
|
3 |
Journey to the End of the Earth |
Tishani Doshi |
Climate change seen from Antarctica |
|
|
4 |
The Enemy |
Pearl S. Buck |
Humanity beyond national hatred |
|
|
5 |
On the Face of It |
Susan Hill |
Loneliness and acceptance of disability |
|
|
6 |
Memories of Childhood (The Cutting of My Long Hair; We Too Are Human Beings) |
Zitkala-Ša; Bama |
Discrimination by race and caste |
Chapters no longer in the English Core books
NCERT's current reprints of Flamingo and Vistas no longer include three pieces that older copies still carry: the poem An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum, and the Vistas chapters Should Wizard Hit Mommy? and Evans Tries an O-Level. They will not be tested in 2026-27.
NCERT Class 12 English Book PDF for English Elective: Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope is the NCERT Class 12 English book for English Elective. The NCERT book has 21 pieces in four sections, and CBSE prescribes 16 of them for 2026-27, along with one novel. Download the Kaleidoscope Class 12 PDF chapter-wise below, or from ncert.nic.in (Class XII → English → Kaleidoscope).
Kaleidoscope Class 12 Short Stories (3 prescribed) with PDF
|
No. |
Story |
Author |
In 2026-27 syllabus |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
I Sell My Dreams |
Gabriel García Márquez |
✅ Yes |
|
|
2 |
Eveline |
James Joyce |
✅ Yes |
|
|
3 |
A Wedding in Brownsville |
Isaac Bashevis Singer |
✅ Yes |
Kaleidoscope Class 12 Poetry (7 prescribed) with PDF
|
No. |
Poem |
Poet |
In 2026-27 syllabus |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
A Lecture Upon the Shadow |
John Donne |
✅ Yes |
|
|
2 |
Poems by Milton |
John Milton |
✅ Yes |
|
|
3 |
Poems by Blake |
William Blake |
✅ Yes |
|
|
4 |
Kubla Khan |
S. T. Coleridge |
✅ Yes |
|
|
5 |
Trees |
Emily Dickinson |
✅ Yes |
|
|
6 |
The Wild Swans at Coole |
W. B. Yeats |
✅ Yes |
|
|
7 |
Time and Time Again |
A. K. Ramanujan |
✅ Yes |
Kaleidoscope Class 12 Non-fiction (5 prescribed) and Drama (1 prescribed) with PDF
|
No. |
Title |
Author |
Section |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Freedom |
G. B. Shaw |
Non-fiction |
|
|
2 |
The Mark on the Wall |
Virginia Woolf |
Non-fiction |
|
|
3 |
Film-making |
Ingmar Bergman |
Non-fiction |
|
|
4 |
Why the Novel Matters |
D. H. Lawrence |
Non-fiction |
|
|
5 |
The Argumentative Indian |
Amartya Sen |
Non-fiction |
|
|
Play |
Chandalika |
Rabindranath Tagore |
Drama |
Kaleidoscope pieces are in the book but not in the 2026-27 syllabus
The Kaleidoscope book has two plays, but only Chandalika is prescribed; Broken Images by Girish Karnad is not. Four more pieces are also outside the 2026-27 syllabus: the stories Tomorrow (Joseph Conrad) and One Centimetre (Bi Shu-min), the poem Blood (Kamala Das), and the essay On Science Fiction (Isaac Asimov).
Novel prescribed with Kaleidoscope
English Elective students also study one novel, chosen by the school: A Tiger for Malgudi or The Financial Expert, both by R. K. Narayan. It carries 10 marks. These novels are not NCERT books, so there is no free NCERT PDF for them.
Class 12 English Syllabus 2026-27 for English Core and English Elective
Both Class 12 English subjects are marked out of 100 in 2026-27: an 80-mark, 3-hour board paper plus 20 marks of internal assessment. The section-wise marks differ because English Core is tested on Flamingo and Vistas, and English Elective is tested on Kaleidoscope and a novel.
|
Section |
English Core (301) |
English Elective (001) |
|---|---|---|
|
Reading |
22 |
20 |
|
Grammar |
— |
8 |
|
Creative writing |
18 |
20 |
|
Literature/textbook |
40 (Flamingo + Vistas) |
22 (Kaleidoscope) |
|
Novel |
— |
10 (A Tiger for Malgudi or The Financial Expert) |
|
Internal assessment |
20 (Listening 5, Speaking 5, Project 10) |
20 (Seminar) |
|
Total |
100 |
100 |
English Core syllabus: creative writing and literature marks
The English Core board paper has 13 compulsory questions. Its writing section has four tasks, and its 40-mark literature section draws on both English Core books.
|
Part |
Task or question type |
Marks |
|---|---|---|
|
Writing |
Notice (up to 50 words) |
4 |
|
Writing |
Formal or informal invitation and reply |
4 |
|
Writing |
Letter: job application or letter to the editor (120–150 words) |
5 |
|
Writing |
Article or report (120–150 words) |
5 |
|
Literature |
Poetry extract (Flamingo) |
6 |
|
Literature |
Prose extract (Vistas) |
4 |
|
Literature |
Prose extract (Flamingo) |
6 |
|
Literature |
Short answers, 5 of 6 (Flamingo, 40–50 words) |
10 |
|
Literature |
Short answers, 2 of 3 (Vistas, 40–50 words) |
4 |
|
Literature |
Long answer (Flamingo, 120–150 words) |
5 |
|
Literature |
Long answer (Vistas, 120–150 words) |
5 |
English Elective syllabus: Kaleidoscope and novel marks
|
Part |
Question type |
Marks |
|---|---|---|
|
Kaleidoscope |
Prose extract |
6 |
|
Kaleidoscope |
Poetry extract |
6 |
|
Kaleidoscope |
Two short answers (30–40 and 40–50 words) |
5 |
|
Kaleidoscope |
One long answer (120–150 words) |
5 |
|
Novel |
Two short answers and one long answer |
10 |
For the 2026-27 syllabus of every Class 12 subject, see eSaral's CBSE Class 12 Syllabus 2026-27.
Class 12 English Sample Paper 2026-27 (Core and Elective) with Marking Scheme
CBSE has released separate 2026-27 sample papers for English Core and English Elective, each with a marking scheme. The English Core paper has 13 compulsory questions for 80 marks in 3 hours, and its design is unchanged from last year. Solve the sample paper for your subject once you have finished your NCERT Class 12 English book, under exam timing.
Download Class 12 English Sample Paper 2026-27 → CBSE Class 12 Sample Paper 2026-27 with Marking Scheme
Solutions and Study Material for the NCERT Class 12 English Book
Step-by-step answers to the textbook questions in the NCERT Class 12 English book are on eSaral's solution pages, split by book.
|
Resource |
For |
Link |
|---|---|---|
|
Flamingo solutions |
English Core |
|
|
Vistas solutions |
English Core |
|
|
All English solutions |
Core |
|
|
Chapter notes |
Core |
|
|
Writing formats |
Core and Elective |
|
|
Past board papers |
Core |
|
|
Important questions |
All subjects |
|
|
Other Class 12 NCERT books |
All subjects |
Get Free Class 12 English Solutions → NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English
How to Study the NCERT Class 12 English Book
The fastest route to 90+ in Class 12 English is to treat the textbook and writing marks as fixed scores: they come from set chapters and set formats.
- Read each chapter twice: first for the story, then for theme and characters. Note one quotation per chapter.
- Make a five-line summary of every prescribed chapter: 19 for Core, 16 for Elective. These cover most short answers.
- Learn the writing formats. Layout alone earns marks in notices, invitations, letters and articles.
- Practise one unseen passage a week. Reading carries 22 marks in Core and 20 in Elective.
- Elective students: finish the novel by December. It carries 10 marks and needs character and theme notes.
- End with past papers and the 2026-27 sample paper, timed at 3 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions.