BPSC guidance: how the paper is cracked, from your own numbers
Bihar Combined Competitive Examination. Conducted by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC). Vikram knows this paper from the site's own pattern pages — and reads your scores, your mocks and what you haven't touched before saying a word.
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Carries the marks · Indian EconomyHow to Write GS3 Mains AnswersMarks ~14 Open the chapter
The paper · BPSC150 marksWrong answers cost marks
Vikram“Before we plan anything: when do you sit BPSC, and how many hours a day do you really have?”
Talk TypeEnd & get my plan06:12
Ends in a plan
Stages
3
First paper
150 marks
Marking
Wrong answers cost marks
Your guide
Vikram, free
How it's decided
BPSC, stage by stage
Nominally annual by CCE (Combined Competitive Examination) number, but the cadence has run compressed and overlapping in recent cycles — the 70th CCE's Prelims (Dec 2024) and Mains (Apr 2025) had its final result declared only in Dec 2025, while the 71st CCE's Prelims followed just months later (Sep 2025). Always confirm BPSC's live exam calendar rather than assuming a clean annual rhythm.. Prelims: OMR-based objective, single General Studies paper (150 Qs, 150 marks, 2 hours). Mains: pen-and-paper descriptive, in Hindi or English (General Hindi paper is Hindi-only). Interview: in-person personality test board..
Prelims — single General Studies paperScreening gate only
One objective General Studies paper — unlike UPSC CSE or UPPSC, BPSC sets no separate CSAT/aptitude paper at Prelims.
Mains — 4 written papers, 900 marks (600 merit-counting)The real scoring stage
General Hindi (100, qualifying only at 30 marks) + Essay (300) + General Studies I & II (300 each, both merit-counting, both weaving Bihar-specific content through national sections).
Personality Test (Interview)Final 120 marks
A board interview assessing administrative aptitude, awareness of Bihar-specific issues and general personality. Final merit = Mains 900 + Interview 120 = 1,020 marks (General Hindi's marks do not enter merit).
The papers
3 papers, and how each is marked
Prelims — General Studies (single paper, no CSAT)
150 marks2 hoursNegative marking
Screening only
Marking: −1/3 (−0.33) per wrong answer, current since the 69th CCE. From the 72nd CCE (2026) onward, a mandatory "Option E — Not Attempted" bubble applies — leaving a question fully blank without marking E also draws the −0.33 penalty, unlike the old assumption that a blank answer was always safe.
History & CultureGeographyPolity & GovernanceEconomyEnvironment & EcologyScience & Technology
150 questions, 150 marks. Same static-knowledge syllabus as UPSC CSE Prelims GS1. BPSC's single-paper design (no CSAT) is a genuine structural difference from UPSC CSE and UPPSC — don't budget CSAT-style aptitude prep time for this exam.
Mains — General Studies I & II
600 marks3 hours per paper
Merit — 600 of your 900 Mains marks
GS Paper I300 marks · 180 minGS Paper II300 marks · 180 min
Both papers weave Bihar-specific content through otherwise-national sections. GS I: modern history & culture (with Bihar), current events, and a distinctive statistical-analysis section. GS II: Indian polity, and Indian economy & geography (with Bihar), plus science & technology.
Mains — Essay & General Hindi
300 marks3 hours per paper
Essay counts fully (300 marks); General Hindi is qualifying only
Essay (3 essays, one per section, 100 marks each)300 marks · 180 minGeneral Hindi (qualifying only — not modelled here)100 marks · 180 min
General Hindi (comprehension, grammar, sentence construction, précis) is a language-skill paper, out of scope for this hub's chapter format, and does not add to merit once you clear its 30-mark qualifying bar. The Essay paper's craft chapters are aliased from UPSC CSE.
Where the marks come from
Where your BPSC score comes from
Prelims is a single General Studies paper (screening only — BPSC sets no separate CSAT/aptitude paper, unlike UPSC CSE or UPPSC). Mains is where merit is decided: Essay (300) and General Studies I & II (300 each) all count fully, while General Hindi (100) is qualifying only at 30 marks and does not add to merit.
General Studies I & II600 marks · 66.7%
Two-thirds of Mains merit, and the papers where this hub's Bihar-specific chapters do the most work alongside the aliased national content.
Essay300 marks · 33.3%
A full hour and 100 marks per essay — more space than UPSC CSE's own essay format, rewarding a sustained, well-evidenced argument over a tightly compressed one.
General Hindi0 marks · 0%
Qualifying only at 30 of 100 marks — clear the bar, then redirect all further Hindi-paper study time elsewhere; it adds nothing further to merit.
What changed this cycle
Things last year's advice gets wrong
33) per wrong answer — introduced at the 68th CCE and raised to its current level from the 69th CCE onward. The 72nd CCE (2026) notification adds a genuinely new wrinkle: a mandatory 5th "Option E — Not Attempted" bubble on the OMR sheet.
The 70th CCE (Dec 2024 Prelims) saw a paper-leak/irregularity dispute at one Patna examination centre, leading BPSC to re-conduct the exam only for the ~12,000 affected candidates rather than statewide, and triggering large protests.
68% — this hub's Bihar-specific chapter teaches the survey's findings as settled fact, but the resulting law raising reservation from 50% to 65% was struck down by the Patna High Court in June 2024, with Bihar's appeal still pending before the Supreme Court — treat the 65% figure as NOT currently in force, and the 50% ceiling as the operative one, until a final court ruling changes that.
India's criminal-procedure and evidence framework changed structurally on 1 July 2024: the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) replaced the CrPC and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) replaced the Indian Evidence Act — relevant wherever this hub's content touches law and order.
The chapters that carry the marks
Where a plan for BPSC usually starts
The highest-weight chapters in each subject, linked to their notes. Weights are estimates from previous papers where the conducting body publishes none. Your guide weighs these against your own scores.
Prelims, Mains and the interview as one long campaign, for UPSC and the state commissions. Pick one to start, or just talk — Vikram has read your profile either way.
1. Prelims — single General Studies paper — Screening gate only. 2. Mains — 4 written papers, 900 marks (600 merit-counting) — The real scoring stage. 3. Personality Test (Interview) — Final 120 marks.
How is the BPSC paper marked?
Prelims — General Studies (single paper, no CSAT): 150 marks, 2 hours. Marking: −1/3 (−0.33) per wrong answer, current since the 69th CCE. From the 72nd CCE (2026) onward, a mandatory "Option E — Not Attempted" bubble applies — leaving a question fully blank without marking E also draws the −0.33 penalty, unlike the old assumption that a blank answer was always safe.
Is there negative marking in BPSC?
Yes. −1/3 (−0.33) per wrong answer, current since the 69th CCE. From the 72nd CCE (2026) onward, a mandatory "Option E — Not Attempted" bubble applies — leaving a question fully blank without marking E also draws the −0.33 penalty, unlike the old assumption that a blank answer was always safe.
What decides the final merit in BPSC?
Prelims is a single General Studies paper (screening only — BPSC sets no separate CSAT/aptitude paper, unlike UPSC CSE or UPPSC). Mains is where merit is decided: Essay (300) and General Studies I & II (300 each) all count fully, while General Hindi (100) is qualifying only at 30 marks and does not add to merit.
What has changed in BPSC recently?
33) per wrong answer — introduced at the 68th CCE and raised to its current level from the 69th CCE onward. The 72nd CCE (2026) notification adds a genuinely new wrinkle: a mandatory 5th "Option E — Not Attempted" bubble on the OMR sheet. Marking E costs nothing, but leaving a question completely blank without bubbling E now also triggers the same −1/3 penalty as a wrong answer — the old "blank is always safe" assumption no longer holds unless E is explicitly marked.
What does the BPSC guide know about me?
Only what you have done on the site: your scores by subject and chapter for BPSC, what you have never been tested on, the kinds of mistake you make across topics, your mocks, your projected score, your error book, your last two weeks and your goals. You can open the exact page Vikram reads before you start.
Is it free?
Talking to Vikram, the AI guide, is free — up to four talks a day. Real guides who have cleared or teach BPSC set their own prices, and many offer a free call or a short demo.
Every fact on this page comes from the exam's blueprint on this site. How the guide uses it: how Guidance works.
