BPSC Mains Exam Pattern
- As per the exam pattern of BPSC Mains, there are four exam papers:
- General Hindi – 100 marks (Minimum qualifying marks – 30 marks)
- General Studies Paper 1 – 300 marks
- General Studies Paper 2 – 300 marks
- One Optional Subject – 300 marks
- The duration of each paper in Mains will be of 3 hrs
- The questions in the Mains exam will be of descriptive-essay type
- Candidates can write the answers in one of the following languages depending on the stated
preference in the application:
- Hindi
- Urdu
- English
- The minimum qualifying marks in BPSC Mains are:
- General Category – 40%
- BC – 36.5%
- OBC – 34%
- Women/SC/ST/PwD – 32%
- Candidates who clear the Mains stage will be called for an interview. As per the BPSC Exam
Pattern, the interview will be of 120 marks
- The final merit list will be made based on the candidates’ marks in Mains and Interview
BPSC Mains Syllabus
Qualifying Paper: General Hindi
- Out of the 100 marks, candidates are required to secure only 33 marks in the paper. Its
syllabus is of the level as that of the Bihar School Education Board (BSEB). It will be of 100 marks
and subjective in nature. The distribution of the marks is as follows:
Name of the Topic Marks
Essay 30
Grammar 30
Syntax 25
Summarisation 15
General Studies Papers (GS)
- There are two papers of General Studies. Each Paper of General Studies carries 300
marks.
Syllabus of GS Paper 1
- Modern History of India and Indian culture: History of the country with special reference to
Bihar in the middle of the nineteenth century, the introduction and expansion of western and
technical education, Bihar’s role in the Indian freedom struggle, the Santhal Uprising in
Bihar, Birsa movement, Champaran Satyagrah, the Quit India Movement, chief features of
Mauryan and Pal art, Patna Qulam painting, Roles of Gandhi, Tagore, and Nehru.
- Current events of national and international importance
- Statistical analysis, graphs, and diagrams: Questions to test the ability to draw conclusions
from statistical, graphical or diagrammatical information and to point out deficiencies,
limitations or inconsistencies.
Syllabus for GS Paper 2
- Indian Polity: Questions based on the political system in India including Bihar.
- Indian economy and Geography of India: Questions on planning in India and the physical,
economic and social geography of India and Bihar.
- The role and impact of science and technology in the development of India: Questions to
test awareness of the role and impact of science and technology in India and Bihar with
special reference to applied science.
- Salary and Promotion of DSP in BPSC
Optional Paper
- In Optional Paper, a candidate is required to choose any one subject which will be of 300
marks with a time limit of 3 hours. There are 34 Optional subjects in the BPSC Mains exam.
The syllabus of the Optional Paper will be the same as that of the Three-Year Honours Paper of
the respective subject of Patna University. Here is the list of the Optional Subjects:
1. Agriculture
2. Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science
3. Anthropology
4. Botany
5. Chemistry
6. Civil Engineering
7. Commerce & Accountancy
8. Economics
9. Electrical Engineering
10. Geography
11. Geology
12. History
13. Labour and Social Welfare
14. Law
15. Management
16. Mathematics
17. Mechanical Engineering
18. Philosophy
19. Physics
20. Political Science & International Relations
21. Psychology
22. Public Administration
23. Sociology
24. Statistics
25. Zoology
26. Hindi Language and Literature
27. English Language and Literature
28. Urdu Language and Literature
29. Bangla Language and Literature
30. Sanskrit Language and Literature
31. Persian Language and Literature
32. Arabic Language and Literature
33. Pali Language and Literature
34. Maithili Language and Literature
