| Conducting body | Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC). Official website ↗ |
|---|---|
| Posts | Sub-divisional Officer / Senior Deputy Collector (Bihar Administrative Service), Deputy Superintendent of Police (Bihar Police Service), Revenue Officer (Bihar Revenue Service), Child Development Project Officer, Financial Administrative Officer and equivalent posts, Sub-divisional Protection Officer (women only), Other state service posts listed in the 72nd CCE advertisement |
| Qualification | A bachelor's degree from a recognised university. Financial Administrative Officer needs a degree in commerce, economics, maths or statistics, and Sub-divisional Protection Officer needs a degree in psychology or law. For CDPO any degree works, but you must pick home science, psychology, sociology or labour and social welfare as the mains optional. |
| Age limit | 20–37 years on 1 August 2026 (general category) |
| Domicile | Not required |
| Selection stages | Preliminary exam (objective, screening only) → Main written exam → Interview (personality test, 120 marks) → Medical examination by the Commission's medical board |
| Latest notification | Integrated 72nd Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination advertisement |
Last checked . Sources
About BPSC CCE
The BPSC Combined Competitive Examination fills officer posts in many Bihar government departments, from Sub-divisional Officer and DSP to Revenue Officer, through one prelims, one mains and an interview. The 72nd round has an integrated prelims, so the same paper also screens candidates for Child Development Project Officer, Financial Administrative Officer and Sub-divisional Protection Officer posts. The Sub-divisional Protection Officer post is open only to women. Aspirants call it the Bihar state civil services exam.
Eligibility
Age limit
General category: 20–37 years, counted on 1 August 2026.
Age relaxation
- OBC: 3 years
- SC: 5 years
- ST: 5 years
- PwBD: 10 years
- Minimum age is 20, 21 or 22 years depending on the service; check the service-wise table in the advertisement.
- Upper age limit: unreserved men 37, unreserved women 40, BC and EBC (men and women) 40, SC and ST (men and women) 42.
- Persons with benchmark disability get 10 more years on their category limit.
- Ex-servicemen get 3 years plus the period of defence service, provided actual age is not above 57.
- Regular Bihar government employees get 5 years, within a limit of five attempts at BPSC exams.
Qualification
A bachelor's degree from a recognised university. Financial Administrative Officer needs a degree in commerce, economics, maths or statistics, and Sub-divisional Protection Officer needs a degree in psychology or law. For CDPO any degree works, but you must pick home science, psychology, sociology or labour and social welfare as the mains optional.
Other conditions
- Any Indian citizen can apply. Reservation, including the 35% horizontal quota for women, is given only to permanent residents of Bihar.
- Sub-divisional Protection Officer posts are reserved entirely for women.
- Fee is Rs 100 for each exam you apply for, plus Rs 200 per exam if you do not give an Aadhaar number.
Selection process
- Preliminary exam (objective, screening only)
- Main written exam
- Interview (personality test, 120 marks)
- Medical examination by the Commission's medical board
Exam pattern
Preliminary exam
Mode: Objective, multiple choice with five options · Duration: 2 hours · Negative marking: 1/3 mark cut for each wrong answer, and also for a question where none of the five options is marked
| SUBJECT | MARKS |
|---|---|
| General Studies | 150 |
Main exam
Mode: Written · Duration: 3 hours for each compulsory paper; 2 hours for the optional paper
| SUBJECT | QUESTIONS | MARKS |
|---|---|---|
| General Hindi (qualifying, 30% needed, not added to merit) | 100 | |
| General Studies Paper 1 | 300 | |
| General Studies Paper 2 | 300 | |
| Essay | 300 | |
| Optional subject (100 MCQs, qualifying only) | 100 | 100 |
Interview
Mode: Personality test
| SUBJECT | MARKS |
|---|---|
| Personality test (merit is mains 900 + interview 120 = 1,020 marks) | 120 |
BPSC CCE syllabus
Prelims: General Studies
- General science
- Current events of national and international importance
- History of India and main features of Bihar's history
- General geography and the geographical divisions and main rivers of Bihar
- Indian polity and economy
- Changes in Bihar's economy after independence
- Indian national movement and Bihar's part in it
- General mental ability
Mains: compulsory papers
- General Hindi (qualifying)
- General Studies Paper 1
- General Studies Paper 2
- Essay
Mains: optional subject (choose one, qualifying)
- Agriculture, animal husbandry and veterinary science, anthropology, botany, chemistry, zoology, physics, geology
- Civil, electrical and mechanical engineering
- Commerce and accountancy, economics, management, statistics, mathematics
- Geography, history, law, labour and social welfare, philosophy, political science and international relations, psychology, public administration, sociology
- Language literature: Hindi, English, Urdu, Bangla, Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Pali, Maithili
Mains optional for CDPO, FAO and SDPO (300 marks, descriptive, counted in merit)
- CDPO: home science, psychology, sociology, or labour and social welfare
- Financial Administrative Officer: commerce, economics, maths or statistics
- Sub-divisional Protection Officer: psychology or law
What they ask
The prelims is a single General Studies paper of 150 marks, and it only decides who reaches the mains. About ten times the number of vacancies are called to the mains. Each question has five options, and option E means you are choosing not to answer. If you leave all five blank you still lose a third of a mark, so mark E when unsure. Bihar-specific history, geography and economy questions come up alongside national topics.
How to prepare
- Keep a separate notebook for Bihar: its history, rivers, economy after independence and its role in the national movement are named in the prelims syllabus.
- Practise marking option E. A blank question costs the same 1/3 mark as a wrong one, so the habit matters on exam day.
- Clear the prelims minimum first: 40% for unreserved, 36.5% for BC, 34% for EBC and 32% for SC, ST, women and PwD candidates.
- Do not neglect General Hindi in the mains. It carries no merit marks, but scoring below 30% ends your candidature.
- Revise current affairs and mental ability with daily topic-wise practice quizzes on the free Improvam app.
BPSC CCE is one of the exams in the Improvam app. Open it to start a practice quiz.
Open in the Improvam appBPSC CCE FAQs
Yes. Any Indian citizen with a degree can apply, but candidates from outside Bihar are treated as unreserved and cannot claim caste, EWS or women's reservation.
Sources
- BPSC advertisement: Integrated 72nd Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination ↗ (official, checked )
- Bihar Public Service Commission 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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