Haryana State Exams 2026: HSSC CET and HPSC HCS Pattern, Syllabus, Eligibility, Dates and Preparation

Haryana exams at a glance

The facts on this page are as per the HSSC advertisements for the CET for Group C posts (Advt. No. 01/2025, dated 26 May 2025) and for Group D posts (Advt. No. 05/2026, dated 18 June 2026), the Haryana CET Policy notified on 31 December 2024 and amended on 11 July 2025, the HSSC (Process of Recruitment of Group C and D posts) Rules, 2025, and the HPSC advertisement for the HCS (Ex. Br.) & Other Allied Services Examination - 2025 (Advt. No. 22/2026, dated 30 January 2026), with the later notices of both commissions.

Selection process

HSSC CET and how its score is used

1. One-time registration on onetimeregn.haryana.gov.in. The Registration Number stays the same for every later CET; candidates of CET 2022 and CET 2025 use their old number.
2. CET written test. Group C and Group D have separate tests. The paper is bilingual (English and Hindi) and marked on OMR sheets by software, with no re-evaluation.
3. Qualifying marks. A candidate needs 50% (General) or 40% (reserved categories, vertical and horizontal). HSSC declares marks of those who reach the cut-off.
4. Validity. CET marks are valid for three years from the result date. Attempts are unlimited. A higher score in a later CET starts a fresh three-year validity; a lower one is ignored.
5. Group C, second stage. HSSC advertises posts to CET-qualified candidates. Of those who apply, up to ten times the number of posts are called on CET merit for a skill and/or written exam, with all candidates tied at the last score included. For police service posts, candidates are called on CET merit for a Physical Measurement Test and a Physical Screening Test, both qualifying, and then a written test. Teaching posts, which need HTET, are outside the CET under the policy.
6. Group C, final merit. It is prepared on second-stage marks, plus any score the rules add (such as NCC for police posts). The minimum is 50%, or 40% for reserved categories.
7. Group D. The CET score is 100% CET marks. HSSC shortlists on CET marks, advertises the posts, takes each candidate's willingness online and recommends names to departments.

Ties are broken by age, the older candidate first. A candidate who joins a post on CET marks cannot use the same marks for another post of the same pay level after 90 days of joining. The notices give no socio-economic bonus marks. Reservation benefits go only to bona fide residents of Haryana.

HPSC HCS

1. Online application on hpsc.gov.in, with the preference of services given in the form. It cannot be changed later.
2. Preliminary Examination, for screening only. Merit is on General Studies (Paper-I) alone, if the candidate scores 33% in the Civil Services Aptitude Test (Paper-II). Twelve times the number of vacancies are admitted to the Mains. Prelims marks do not count in the final selection.
3. Main Written Examination of six papers. A candidate needs 45% in the aggregate and 33% each in English and Hindi to be called for interview. Three times the number of vacancies are called.
4. Personality Test/Viva-voce of 75 marks. Candidates who opted for DSP also take a physical measurement test.
5. Final merit is out of 675 marks (Mains 600 and interview 75), and services are allotted by merit and preference. On a tie, higher Mains marks come first, then the older candidate.

Exam pattern

HSSC CET

All questions are compulsory. Each question has four options and a fifth circle for "not attempted". A wrong answer carries no penalty. A question with no circle filled costs 1 mark. Eligible PwBD candidates get 35 minutes extra. The Group D notice allows normalisation if the test runs in more than one shift. Each objection to the answer key costs ₹250.

The Group C second-stage test is set post by post. For the prison posts of Advt. No. 06/2026 it is 100 MCQs of 100 marks in 1 hour 45 minutes, with the same fifth-circle rule. Its syllabus gives 20% to general awareness (including Haryana history and current affairs), 10% to computers and 70% to subject topics, a split the notice calls tentative.

HCS Preliminary Examination

Both papers are objective and bilingual. Each wrong answer costs 0.25 mark, and marking two answers counts as wrong. Each question has five options; E is darkened to leave a question. A question with no circle darkened costs 0.25 mark, and leaving all circles blank in more than 10% of questions disqualifies the candidate. The advertisement does not state the number of questions.

HCS Main Written Examination and interview

Each Mains paper is conventional (essay type) and lasts 3 hours. Papers other than the language papers may be answered in English or Hindi, but not both in one paper. This six-paper scheme is from the Haryana Civil Service (Executive Branch) Amendment Rules, 2025, notified on 29 December 2025.

General Knowledge syllabus and Haryana GK

HSSC CET

• General Awareness, Group C: India and neighbouring countries, especially History, Indian Polity and Constitution, Art and Culture, Geography, Economics, General Policy, national and international organisations, Environment, Globalization, Climate, Events and General Science, with current events.
• General Awareness, Group D: India and neighbouring countries, especially History, Indian Polity and Constitution, Art and Culture and Geography, and General Science (Physics, Chemistry and Biology).
• General Knowledge of Haryana (the 25% part): History, Literature, Geography, Economy, Civics, Polity, Environment, Art, Culture, Customs, Society, Current Affairs and Events of Haryana.
• The rest is Reasoning, Quantitative Ability, English and Hindi, plus Computer Knowledge for Group C.

HPSC HCS

• Prelims General Studies (syllabus notified on 7 January 2026): General Science; current events of national and international importance; History of India and the Indian National Movement; Indian and World Geography; Indian Culture, Polity and Economy; General Mental Ability; and Haryana: economy and people, social, economic and cultural institutions and language.
• Mains: General Studies-I (culture, modern history, society, world geography), II (Constitution, polity, governance, international relations) and III (economy, agriculture, science and technology, environment, security) each include "Related issues of Haryana". General Studies-IV is ethics, integrity and aptitude.

GK24 covers national GK and current affairs. It does not have a separate Haryana GK section. As guidance, GK24's material maps to the General Awareness part of the CET and to much of HCS General Studies; the 25% Haryana part needs state sources. This mapping is ours, not the commissions'.

Eligibility and age limit

Hindi or Sanskrit. The CET Policy makes Hindi or Sanskrit in Matric, or Hindi in a higher standard, a condition for the Group D CET. For Group C, it is a condition of each post; the prison posts of Advt. No. 06/2026 require Hindi or Sanskrit in Matric or higher education. The HCS advertisement does not state it.

Age relaxation follows the Haryana instructions of 25 March 2022:

• 5 years for Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes of Haryana.
• 5 years for widowed, divorced, judicially separated and unmarried women, and for wives of military personnel disabled in service.
• Military service plus 3 years for Ex-servicemen.
• Completed years of ad hoc, contract, work-charged or daily-wage service on an equivalent Haryana Government post.
• Persons with disabilities: 10 years for Group C and D posts; 5 years for Group A and B posts filled by open competition, such as HCS; 5 more if also SC, BC or EWS.
• For police and prison posts with a lower upper age, 5 years for SC, BC and EWS only; for DSP, 5 years for SC and BC.

With all relaxations the upper age cannot exceed 52 years, except for Ex-servicemen. In HCS, category relaxation applies only where posts are reserved for that category. A corrigendum of 5 February 2026 lets employees of the Haryana Government, the High Court or courts subordinate to it with 4 years' service on 1 January 2026 apply for HCS up to 45 years, within three chances.

Application fee

The CET fee is a processing fee per test, set in the CET Policy against a standard rate of ₹1,000.

Applicants of CET Group C (Advt. No. 01/2025) paid no fresh fee for the Group D CET of Advt. No. 05/2026. Re-appearing to improve marks needs a new fee. Advt. No. 06/2026 charged no fee. The HCS fee is ₹1,000; ₹250 for DSC, OSC, BC-A and BC-B (non-creamy layer), ESM, EWS and women candidates of Haryana; nil for persons with benchmark disabilities of Haryana.

Important dates

As of 25 September 2026, HSSC has not announced the Group D CET date, and HPSC has not advertised HCS 2026. This page will be updated when either commission does.

How to prepare General Knowledge and current affairs for Haryana exams

This plan is GK24's guidance, not part of any notice.

1. Build the national base. The General Awareness part of the CET and much of HCS General Studies ask about Indian history, polity, geography, economy and science. Read GK24's GK notes topic by topic and revise each topic twice.
2. Read current affairs daily. GK24's daily current affairs are written in English and Hindi from official releases, dated by release. HCS Prelims asks current events of national and international importance.
3. Add Haryana from state sources. GK24 has no Haryana GK section. For the Haryana part, read official Haryana Government publications and department websites, and keep your own notes on its history, geography, economy, culture and schemes.
4. Test yourself with quizzes. GK24's quizzes are timed MCQs in English and Hindi. In the CET a wrong answer costs nothing but a blank costs 1 mark, so fill a circle for every question. In HCS Prelims a wrong answer costs 0.25 mark, so darken E when unsure.
5. Solve previous-year questions. GK24's PYQs show how national GK is asked. HPSC also posts previous years' question papers on its website.

Posts and pay

HCS (Ex. Br.) & Other Allied Services - 2025 (Advt. No. 22/2026)

The advertisement says the numbers may vary. It does not print pay scales, so none are given here. DSP candidates must meet the Haryana Police Service Rules, 2002: height 5 feet 7 inches for men and 5 feet 2 inches for women, and for men a chest of 33 inches with 1.5 inches expansion.

HSSC Group C and Group D

The CET itself has no posts. Group D posts are published separately. Group C posts come in post-wise advertisements open only to CET-qualified candidates. Advt. No. 06/2026 (CET Phase-II), for example, offered 1,238 Prison Department posts to CET 2025 qualifiers, with pay as printed below.

These posts also need a Physical Measurement Test and a Physical Screening Test, both qualifying; HSSC issued their schedules in July and August 2026.