| Conducting body | Bihar Police Subordinate Services Commission (BPSSC). Official website ↗ |
|---|---|
| Posts | Police Sub-Inspector, Home Department (Police), Bihar, Level 6 |
| Qualification | A graduation degree from a recognised university, or an equivalent recognised by the state government, held by 1 August 2025. |
| Age limit | 20–37 years on 1 August 2025 for minimum age; 1 August 2024 for maximum age (general category) |
| Domicile | Not required |
| Selection stages | Preliminary exam (screening, at least 30% needed) → Main exam (merit list is based on this) → Physical Efficiency Test (qualifying) → Document verification |
| Latest notification | Advertisement 05/2025: Police Sub-Inspector · 1,799 vacancies |
Last checked . Sources
About Bihar Police SI
BPSSC recruits Police Sub-Inspectors for the Home Department of Bihar. Advertisement 05/2025 was issued for 1,799 posts in pay level 6. Selection runs through a prelims, a mains and a qualifying physical test, and the final merit list is based on mains marks. A separate Advertisement 09/2026 covers 150 Sub-Inspector posts in the Special Branch closed cadre.
Eligibility
Age limit
General category: 20–37 years, counted on 1 August 2025 for minimum age; 1 August 2024 for maximum age.
Age relaxation
- OBC: 3 years
- SC: 5 years
- ST: 5 years
- Unreserved men: 20 to 37 years; unreserved women: 20 to 40 years.
- BC and EBC (men and women): upper limit 40.
- SC, ST (men and women) and third gender candidates: upper limit 42.
- Bihar government employees with at least three years of regular service get 5 more years.
- Ex-servicemen get 3 years plus defence service, provided actual age is not above 57.
Qualification
A graduation degree from a recognised university, or an equivalent recognised by the state government, held by 1 August 2025.
Other conditions
- Minimum height: 165 cm for unreserved and BC men, 160 cm for EBC, SC and ST men, 155 cm for all women.
- Chest (men): 81 cm unexpanded and 86 cm expanded; 79 and 84 cm for SC and ST men; at least 5 cm expansion.
- Women need a minimum weight of 48 kg. Third gender candidates follow the standards for BC women.
- Final merit list minimum in the mains: 40% for unreserved, 36.5% for BC, 34% for EBC and 32% for SC, ST and women candidates.
Selection process
- Preliminary exam (screening, at least 30% needed)
- Main exam (merit list is based on this)
- Physical Efficiency Test (qualifying)
- Document verification
Exam pattern
Preliminary exam
Mode: Objective · Duration: 2 hours · Negative marking: 0.2 mark cut for each wrong answer
| SUBJECT | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| General knowledge and current affairs | 100 | 200 |
Main exam
Mode: Objective, two papers · Duration: 2 hours for each paper · Negative marking: 0.2 mark cut for each wrong answer
| SUBJECT | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1: General Hindi (qualifying, 30% needed, not added to merit) | 100 | 200 |
| Paper 2: General Studies, General Science, Civics, Indian History, Indian Geography, Mathematics and Mental Ability | 100 | 200 |
Physical Efficiency Test
Mode: Qualifying
| SUBJECT |
|---|
| Running: men 1.6 km within 6 minutes 30 seconds, women 1 km within 6 minutes |
| High jump: men 4 ft, women 3 ft |
| Long jump: men 12 ft, women 9 ft |
| Shot put: men 16 lb to 16 ft, women 12 lb to 10 ft |
Bihar Police SI syllabus
Prelims
- General knowledge
- Current affairs
Mains Paper 1
- General Hindi
Mains Paper 2
- General studies
- General science
- Civics
- Indian history
- Indian geography
- Mathematics
- Mental ability
What they ask
Both stages are objective, with 100 questions worth 200 marks in each paper and 0.2 marks cut per wrong answer. The prelims is general knowledge and current affairs only, and about twenty times the vacancies move to the mains. In the mains, the Hindi paper must be cleared with 30% but does not count towards rank. Your position depends on the second paper, which mixes history, geography, civics, science, maths and reasoning.
How to prepare
- Put most of your mains time into Paper 2; it is the only paper that decides the final merit list.
- Do not take General Hindi lightly. Below 30% there means you are out, however well you do in Paper 2.
- Train for the 1.6 km run well before the result; about six times the vacancies are called and you only need to pass.
- The penalty is small at 0.2 per wrong answer, so attempt questions where you can rule out two options.
- Build current affairs for the prelims with daily topic-wise quizzes on the free Improvam app.
Practise Bihar Police SI syllabus topics a few minutes a day with short quizzes in the Improvam app.
Bihar Police SI FAQs
Yes. Both prelims and mains cut 0.2 mark for each wrong answer.
Sources
- BPSSC Advertisement 05/2025: Police Sub-Inspector ↗ (official, checked )
- BPSSC Advertisement 09/2026: Police Sub-Inspector (Special Branch, General Closed Cadre) ↗ (official, checked )
- BPSSC home page ↗ (official, checked )
Checked against official sources on . Rules change with each notification, so read the latest one before you apply.
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