Bihar State Exams 2026: BPSC 72nd CCE and BSSC Inter and Graduate Level Pattern, Syllabus, Eligibility, Dates

Bihar exams at a glance

This page covers the two main recruitment routes to Bihar government jobs. BPSC holds the Integrated Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) for gazetted posts. BSSC holds the Graduate Level and Inter Level Combined Competitive Examinations for non-gazetted posts. The facts are as per the BPSC advertisement for the Integrated 72nd CCE (5 May 2026) and its later notices, the BPSC exam calendar of 14 August 2026, BSSC Advertisement 05/25 for the 4th Graduate Level exam (4 August 2025) and BSSC revised Advertisement 02/23(A) for the 2nd Inter Level exam (27 September 2025), with their corrigenda.

Selection process

BPSC Integrated CCE

1. Online application on the BPSC online portal after One Time Registration (OTR). For the 72nd CCE the window was 7 to 31 May 2026. A candidate pays ₹100 separately for each exam applied for: the 72nd CCE, Child Development Project Officer (CDPO), Financial Administrative Officer (FAO) and Sub-divisional Protection Officer (SDPO).
2. Preliminary examination. One objective paper of General Studies. It is a screening test only. Ten times the notified vacancies are called for the Mains, and every candidate at the category cut-off is included.
3. Main (written) examination. Successful candidates fill a separate online form and pay a Mains fee. Service and post preferences are given in this form; a post not chosen is not considered later.
4. Personality Test. Two and a half times the vacancies are called on Mains marks. It carries 120 marks, and a candidate who does not appear is left out of the merit list.
5. Final merit on 1,020 marks: 900 from the Mains and 120 from the interview. Posts are allotted by merit, preference and vacancy. A medical examination by the Commission's board follows the interview.

Minimum qualifying marks in both Prelims and Mains are 40% for General, 36.5% for BC, 34% for EBC and 32% for SC, ST, women and PwD candidates.

BSSC Graduate Level and Inter Level

1. Online application on bssc.bihar.gov.in. Candidates who had applied under the original Advertisement 02/23 did not need to apply again under 02/23(A).
2. Preliminary examination, held when more than 40,000 applications are received. It may run in more than one phase, with normalised results. Five times the category-wise vacancies go to the Mains.
3. Main examination, notified through a separate advertisement.
4. Typing or computer test for candidates who pass the Inter Level Mains.
5. Scrutiny of original certificates before the final result.

The written exams may be held online (computer based) or offline, as per a General Administration Department notification of 20 June 2024. The qualifying marks are the same as in BPSC: 40%, 36.5%, 34% and 32%.

Exam pattern

BPSC CCE Preliminary (72nd CCE)

Every question has five options. The answer is one of A, B, C or D; E means "not attempted". A wrong answer costs one-third of a mark. A question left with none of the five options marked also costs one-third of a mark. The advertisement does not state the number of questions.

BPSC CCE Main (72nd CCE)

For CDPO, FAO and SDPO, the Mains has General Hindi, GS Paper-I and GS Paper-II with the same marks, plus one optional subject of 300 marks (descriptive, 3 hours) that counts in merit in place of the Essay. Question papers are in Hindi and English. Answers may be written in Hindi, English or Urdu, one only.

BSSC Preliminary (Graduate Level 05/25 and Inter Level 02/23(A))

The Prelims is open-book. A candidate may bring three textbooks, one each for General Studies, Mathematics and General Science. Only NCERT, BSEB, ICSE or other board textbooks are allowed; guides, photocopies and notes are not.

BSSC Main (Graduate Level 05/25)

The Mains has two papers. Paper 1 is Hindi and is qualifying: the second paper of a candidate is evaluated only if he or she scores at least 30% in it. Paper 2 covers General Studies, General Science and Mathematics, and Mental Ability. The advertisement does not give the marks or time of the Mains papers. For the Inter Level, the Mains will be notified in a separate advertisement.

General Studies syllabus and Bihar GK

Both commissions test Bihar inside General Studies rather than in a separate paper.

BPSC CCE Prelims

• General Science: everyday observation and experience, as expected of an educated person
• Current events of national and international importance
• History of India and salient features of the history of Bihar
• General Geography, the main geographical divisions of Bihar and its major rivers
• Indian Polity and Economy, and major changes in Bihar's economy after independence
• Indian National Movement and Bihar's part in it
• General Mental Ability

BPSC CCE Mains

BPSC's syllabus lists General Studies Paper-I as Modern History of India and Indian culture, current events, and statistical analysis, graphs and diagrams. It names the Santhal Uprising, 1857 in Bihar, the Birsa movement, the Champaran Satyagraha and the Quit India Movement of 1942, and Mauryan and Pala art and Patna Qalam painting. Paper-II covers Indian Polity, the Indian economy and geography of India, and the role of science and technology in India's development, each with reference to Bihar. General Hindi is of secondary level: essay 30, grammar 30, sentence construction 25 and precis 15 marks.

BSSC

General Studies covers current affairs (scientific progress, national and international awards, Indian languages, books, scripts, capitals, currencies, sports and players, important events) and India and its neighbours (history, culture, geography, economic scene, freedom movement, agriculture and natural resources, the Constitution and polity, panchayati raj, community development, five-year plans, and Bihar's contribution to the national movement). The advertisement says questions may be asked especially about Bihar, India and its neighbouring countries. General Science is of matric level: Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geography. Mathematics covers the number system, decimals and fractions, percentage, ratio and proportion, average, interest, and profit and loss.

What GK24 covers. GK24 publishes national current affairs and topic-wise national GK: Polity, History, Geography, Economy and Science. It does not have a separate Bihar GK section. As guidance, GK24's notes cover the national parts of the syllabus above; the Bihar parts (Bihar's history, geography and rivers, its economy and its role in the freedom struggle) need state sources.

Eligibility and age limit

Qualification

Age limit

The date of birth is taken from the Matriculation certificate. Bihar government employees get 5 years of relaxation and a limit of five chances in their service. Ex-servicemen get relaxation as the advertisements set out. For the BSSC Graduate Level, candidates who were within the upper age limit on 1 August 2022 are also eligible. BPSC has no limit on attempts except for Bihar government employees.

Domicile and reservation

Reservation in BPSC and BSSC recruitment is only for permanent residents of Bihar. Candidates from other states may apply but compete as unreserved. The 35% horizontal reservation for women applies only to women domiciled in Bihar, as per a General Administration Department resolution of 9 July 2025. Reservation for persons with benchmark disabilities also applies only to Bihar-domiciled candidates. EWS candidates get 10% and grandchildren of freedom fighters 2%. In the BSSC Graduate Level, the lower fee for SC, ST and women is for Bihar residents only.

Important dates

The 72nd CCE date of 25 October 2026 is tentative. As of 25 September 2026, BPSC had not issued a fresh examination programme for it. BSSC had not announced a date for either preliminary exam.

How to prepare General Studies and current affairs for Bihar exams

This plan is guidance, not an official syllabus.

1. Build national GK first. Indian Polity, Modern History and the freedom movement, Geography of India, the Economy and General Science make up most of General Studies in both commissions. Read GK24's topic-wise GK notes for these subjects.
2. Read current affairs daily. The CCE Prelims asks current events of national and international importance, and GS Paper-I of the Mains lists them again. BSSC lists awards, books, sports and important events. GK24's daily current affairs, in English and Hindi, cover national and international news; revise each month.
3. Add Bihar from state sources. GK24 has no separate Bihar GK section. For Bihar's history, geography, rivers, economy and role in the national movement, use Bihar government publications such as the Bihar Economic Survey, and Bihar Board and NCERT textbooks.
4. Practise with quizzes and previous-year questions. Take GK24's timed quizzes and solve previous-year questions. BPSC also publishes question booklets of its exams on its website.
5. Mind the marking. In the CCE Prelims a wrong answer and an unmarked question both cost one-third of a mark, so mark option E for a question you skip. In BSSC a wrong answer costs 1 mark against 4 for a right one.
6. Prepare General Hindi and the Essay. General Hindi needs 30% in the CCE Mains and in the BSSC Graduate Level Mains. The Essay carries 300 marks in the 72nd CCE Mains.

Posts and pay

The advertisements print pay levels, not rupee figures. Numbers in brackets are vacancies.

BPSC 72nd CCE

The 44 posts of Sugarcane Officer (Level-9) in the advertisement were deleted by the corrigendum of 6 May 2026.

BSSC