MPSC Subordinate Services (Combined) Exam: Exam Pattern

Q: What is the nature of Paper-2 of the MPSC Combined Exam?

Paper-2, titled, ‘ General Aptitude Test and positional/subject knowledge’, is objective, and it is conducted bilingually, i.e., the candidates can appear in English and Marathi as per their convenience .

MPSC Subordinate Services (Combined) Exam: Exam Pattern

MPSC, which is Maharashtra PSC, is responsible for conducting various exams based on posts for recruitment to Maharashtra Government departments. One is the Maharashtra Grade-C Services Examination. It is conducted every year by MPSC to recruit PSI, STI and ASO officers. This Grade-B exam is called ‘MPSC Combined’ because it has one common Preliminary exam & one common mains paper for all the posts.

If you analyse it closely, you will find MPSC Combined Exam is simpler and easier than MPSC Rajyaseva due to the following two reasons:

Only one preliminary exam question paper.
There are only two mains papers.
All papers are in MCQs or Objective Response format.

Structure of Examination

Preliminary (1 papers - 100 marks) -> Mains (2 papers - 200 marks) -> Physical Test & Interview (Only for PSI)

A. Maharashtra Group C Services Combined (Pre) Examination

Subject and code	No. of Questions	Total Marks	Medium	Duration	Nature of Paper
General Ability Test	100	100	English & Marathi	1 hour	Objective

Note: There is negative marking for incorrect answers. The candidate will be penalised 25% or 1/4 of the marks allocated to that question. (same for Main exams). It is important to know that the marks of MPSC Combined Prelims Exams are not counted for the final merit list.

Preliminary Exam Syllabus: Link: Official syllabus of Preliminary Exam

Key Highlights of the MPSC Combined Preliminary Exam Pattern

The MPSC Subordinate Services exam pattern has the following important features:

MPSC Combined Exam is objective, i.e., MCQs
This paper is common to all the posts – PSI, STI and ASO
Exam duration is 1 hour
MPSC Combined Prelim exam paper consists of 100 Qs for 100 marks, i.e., each question carries one mark.

Maharashtra Group C Services (Mains) Exam Pattern

MPSC Combined Mains Exam stage consists of two papers. In this stage, Paper-1 is common for all three posts. The difference is in Paper-2, as it is different for different posts. Hence syllabus of Paper 2 also varies.

STI Mains Exam
PSI Mains Exam
ASO Mains exam

Paper

Subject

Total Marks

Medium

Duration

Nature of Questions

Paper 1

Section A: Marathi

Section B: English

Section C: General Knowledge

50+ 30+ 20 = 100

Marathi & English

1 hour

MCQs

Paper 2

General aptitude test and positional / subject knowledge

100

Marathi & English

1 hour

MCQs

Note: For each wrong answer, 25% or 1/4 of the gun will be deducted from the total score of that question.

Mains Exam Syllabus:

Revised syllabus from 2020, Link: Official syllabus of Mains Exam

For details, check here

Key Highlights of the MPSC Combined Preliminary Exam Pattern

MPSC Combined consists of two papers
Paper-I is common for all the posts, and Paper-II is conducted as per the posts mentioned
Paper-1 is conducted for 100 questions for 100 marks
Paper-2 is conducted for 100 questions for 100 marks
The duration of each paper is 1 hour

C. Physical Test & Interview

There is a Physical Test of 100 marks and an Interview of 40 marks for the PSI exam. Hence, the final result of PSI consists of marks of both marks of the Mains exam and Physical Test & Interview.

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FAQs

Is this true that after qualifying, the MPSC Combined Exam Group B posts are offered?

Yes, it is true. The notification and the GR also mention that Group B posts are offered through MPSC Combined Exam, unlike the MPSC State Services Exam where Group A, B and C services are offered.

In the marking scheme, what is the per cent of negative marks deducted for every wrong attempt?

The candidate will be penalised 25% or 1/4 of the marks allocated to that question in the Prelims Exam. (same for Main exams).
It is important to know that the marks of MPSC Combined Prelims Exams are not counted for the final merit list.

What is the exam duration for various stages of the MPSC Combined Mains Exam?

For both the papers, i.e., Paper 1 and Paper 2, the exam duration is one hour irrespective of conducting them separately for specific posts -PSI & STI and ASO.

What is the marking scheme for the MPSC Combined Interview?

After the candidates are declared qualified for MPSC Combined Mains, they are called for the personality test to assess their communication skills and other personality traits. The candidates are assessed for 40 marks.

What is the nature of Paper-2 of the MPSC Combined Exam?

Paper-2, titled, ‘General Aptitude Test and positional/subject knowledge’, is objective, and it is conducted bilingually, i.e., the candidates can appear in English and Marathi as per their convenience.