Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) – Pattern

• 12 Apr 2023

Last Updated: May 2024

Introduction

The examinations conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC), Patna are also the center of attraction for the candidates preparing for the Civil Services Examination (CSE). Despite the subtle differences in the nature and procedure of examination, the syllabus of Preliminary and Main of UPSC CSE has a significant role in the examination conducted by BPSC. This is the reason why students preparing for UPSC CSE are succeeding in this BPSC examination as well.

Examinations conducted by the Commission

• The examinations for state government, semi-government, judicial and other subordinate services in Bihar are mainly organized by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC), Patna.
• The most popular exam conducted by the commission is Bihar PCS, which is usually not conducted every year but at an interval of 1 or 2 years.

Nature of Exam

This competitive exam conducted by BPSC generally consists of three levels sequentially-

1. Preliminary Examination – Objective Nature
2. Main Exam - Objective & Descriptive Nature
3. Interview - Oral

Exam Process

• Process of Preliminary Examination
  
  • First of all, the release related to the examination is issued by the commission, after that the process of filling the online application form starts. The detailed information related to the process of filling the form is given under the heading 'How to apply online?'
  • A detailed description of various aspects related to the said examination is given in the release. Therefore, it is beneficial to study it before filling the form.
  • After the completion of the form filling process, the preliminary examination is usually conducted after 3 to 4 months.
  • The preliminary examination is conducted on the same day at different centers of the state as decided by the commission.
  • The preliminary examination conducted by the commission is objective in nature, in which one has to choose one correct option out of four given options for each question - (A, B, C and D).
  • The selected option related to the question has to be filled with black or blue ballpoint pen at the appropriate place in the respective circle in front of it in the OMR sheet given by the commission.
  • At present, in this preliminary examination of the commission, unlike other states, only one question paper is asked from General Studies (objective), in which the total number of questions is 150 and maximum marks are 150. Candidates have to answer this within the time limit of two hours prescribed by the commission.
  • Generally 60-70% marks are required to pass in this exam, but sometimes this percentage can be less depending on the difficulty level of the questions.
  • There is a provision for negative marking. Each correct answer is awarded 1 mark and 0.33 mark is deducted for each incorrect answer.
  • If a candidate gives more than one answer to a question, that answer will be treated as wrong.
  • The question papers are given in two languages (Hindi and English). In case of any dispute regarding the language of the question, preference will be given to the questions printed in English language.
  • The preliminary examination is qualifying in nature. The marks obtained in this are not added with the marks of the main exam or interview.
• What is the change in the Preliminary Exam?
  
  • Now on the basis of this examination, the number of candidates to be selected for the Main Examination will be ten times the total notified vacancies (earlier this number was about 10% of the total number of candidates appeared in the Preliminary Examination).
  • There is no change in the syllabus, question paper, question number, distribution of marks etc. of the preliminary examination. For detailed description of the syllabus, read the course title.
• Mains Exam Process
  
  • For the successful candidates in the preliminary examination, the main examination is organized in Patna at various centers fixed by the commission.
  • The main exam is descriptive in nature. In this, the answers to the questions have to be written in the answer-book given by the commission.
  • The question paper of the main examination is divided into two parts (compulsory and optional).
  • Compulsory Subjects- General Hindi, General Studies First Paper, General Studies Second Paper and Essay Paper are included.
  • Optional Subject - During the release by the candidate, one optional subject is selected from the subjects given in it. The standard of optional subjects in the main examination will be almost the same as that of the three year honors examination of Patna University. The optional paper will be MCQ based and of Qualifying nature.
  • The choice of optional subjects once made in the Main Examination will be final and will not be changed in any case.
• What is the change in the mains exam?
  
  • The main examination will have a total of 900 marks (except the qualifying general Hindi paper and optional paper).

  • Subject	Marks	Time
    General Hindi	100	03 Hour
    General Studies - I	300	03 Hour
    General Studies - II	300	03 Hour
    Essay	300	O3 Hour
    Optional (MCQ Based)	100	03 Hour

  • From the point of view of the main examination, there has been a partial modification in the previous examination structure, which is as follows-

General Hindi

• There will be a question paper of 100 marks in General Hindi. Which will be descriptive in nature. It will be qualifying and mandatory to get 30% marks.
• Candidates who do not obtain at least 30% marks in the written examination of General Hindi subject will not be considered qualified.
• The marks obtained in General Hindi subject are only for qualifying, these marks are not added to the merit list.
• The detailed description of the syllabus of General Hindi subject is given in the course title under the release.

General Studies

• Earlier, both the papers of General Studies (1st paper and second paper) had a total of 200-200 marks, which was to be completed on the same day on the date fixed by the commission in two shifts in a time duration of three hours each.
• According to the latest release, both the papers of General Studies (1st paper and second paper) will carry 300-300 marks, and will be completed on the same day on the date fixed by the commission in two shifts of three hours duration.
• The marks obtained in these papers will be added to the merit list as before.

Essay :

• The essay paper will carry 300 marks and the marks obtained in this paper will be added to the merit list .
  

Optional Subject

• The Optional Paper is of 100 marks and is qualifying in nature. The questions will be MCQ based.
• It will be mandatory to obtain minimum qualifying marks of 40% for general candidates, 36.5% for Backward classes, 34% for Extremely Backward classes and 32% for SC/ST, Women and Disabled candidates.
• These marks are not added to the merit list.

Note:

• The merit list will be prepared on the basis of the sum of the marks obtained in General Studies and Essay Paper ; the successful candidates will be invited for an interview before the commission.
• All the above subjects can be answered by the candidate in any one language in Hindi (Devanagari), English or Urdu script. Answers in other languages will not be allowed.
• In the order of answering, only technical words, phrases, excerpts can be given English version along with the selected language.
• The candidate will have to write his/her own answer to the question paper in his/her own hand. Under no circumstances, the help of any other person will be allowed for this.
• Credit will be given to the answers that are organized, subtle and with powerful expression in the least number of words in all the subjects of the examination.
• If the candidate wishes, he can use a simple calculator to solve the questions of statistical analysis, drawing and illustration in the first paper of general studies in the main examination (use of calculator is prohibited in the preliminary examination).
• Any candidate can get the correctness of the sum of the scores checked by depositing it in the form of Indian Postal Order (IPO) at the rate of Rs.5 per subject within 60 days from the date of declaration of the final result of the main examination.

Interview Process

• The candidates selected in the main examination usually have to appear for an interview before the commission after one month.
• The number of candidates appearing in the interview will be 2.5 times the number of required seats.
• The personality of the candidates is tested during the interview in which oral questions are asked by the members of the commission at the designated place in the commission. The answer is to be given by the candidate orally. This process lasts for more than one day depending on the number of candidates.
• The final merit list is prepared on the basis of the sum of the marks obtained in the main examination and interview.
• Candidates having NCC training certificate for police services and product inspector are given weightage in interview.
• The list of finally selected candidates is released usually one week after the completion of the entire interview.
• The Personality test for candidates who have passed the main written examination will carry a weightage of 120 marks.
• It is mandatory for the candidates invited for personality test to participate in the personality test, otherwise they will not be included in the merit list prepared for the final result.