Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) Exam Pattern

The Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) is the Public Service Commission of the State of Karnataka, which implements a state-level civil service examination of the multiple positions in the state. The test is performed in various governmental entities to enlist people for different positions.

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The official notice concerning the same is accessible on the Commission’s official website i.e. www.kpsc.kar.nic.in

KPSC 2020 Highlights of the Exam

Latest Updates

• One of the new reforms introduced in the Karnataka Administrative Services (KAS) examination has been that the Board must state in writing the reason for awarding any student less than 20 marks or more than 40 marks out of 50 in the Personality Test.
• The Government of Karnataka also said that all papers of the KPSC shall be released in Malayalam as well as in Kannada and Tamil including other minority languages in the future.

KPSC 2020 Exam dates

KPSC 2020 Exam Pattern

The examination is conducted in 3 phases being the preliminary, mains and the interview. The candidate needs to qualify all the 3 phases to reach the final level of the selection process. The pattern for all 3 is mentioned below-

Stage 1: Preliminary Examination (Objective Type)

The first stage of the KPSC examination is known as the Prelims stage, wherein the candidate needs to answer objective type of questions to qualify the round.

• The Preliminary Examination consists of two papers.
• Each of these papers consists of objective type of questions or multiple-choice questions (MCQs).
• The marks obtained in this examination is not counted in merit, the same is only qualifying in nature.
• The medium of the question paper is English.
• Duration of each of these papers is 2 hours.
• Negative marking exists wherein; 0.25 marks are deducted forever incorrect answer.

Stage 2: Mains Examination (Descriptive Type Questions)

The second stage is known as the Mains Examination. Only candidates who qualify the Prelims can appear for the Mains. The marks obtained in the Mains are counted in merit during the final calculation of marks.

• The written test consists of question papers of descriptive type out of which the qualifying structure of only one paper;
• Upon clearing the Mains examination with the certification mark requirements, the candidates are called for the personal interview;
• Each paper will be of 3 hours;
• The medium of the question paper will be English. However, the respective language papers will be released in the testing languages.
• The KPSC Mains has a total of 9 papers- 2 qualifying papers, 4 general papers and 2 optional papers.
• The total marks are about 1750.
• The seven papers counted for ultimate merit are the following-
• Essay, General Studies 1,2,3,4 and optional papers 1 and 2.

Stage 3: Final Interview

The last step of the recruitment process for the KPSC is the personal interview. The candidates who qualify both the preliminary and the mains appear for the interview session.

• Basically, the interview is performed to judge the applicants’ cognitive calibre. It is carried out in order to measure the academic skills and social attributes of the prospective candidates.
• Most of the questions asked during the interview are from current affairs or general events of national or international importance. The purpose is to judge the knowledge and interest of the candidates in the current state of the country as well as their alertness and critical thinking abilities.
• Applicants unable to obtain those minimum marks or the cut-off criteria as set by the commission in the first two stages of the examination are not called for the interview round.

KPSC 2020 Syllabus

Syllabus of Prelims Paper 1

• Current Affairs- National and International Importance
• Indian History- History of Karnataka and Indian National Movement
• Indian and World Geography along with the Geography of Karnataka
• Polity and Indian Economy- Political System of India and Economic Reforms

Syllabus of Prelims Paper 2

• Current affairs and current events related to the state of Karnataka
• Important schemes of the Karnataka State Government
• Broad Understanding of topics from General Science and Technology
• Ecology and Environment- Biodiversity, Climate Change, Health, Ecology, etc.
• General Mental Ability- Basic Numeracy, Data Interpretation, Charts, Graphs, Tables, Comprehension, Logical Reasoning.

Qualifying Papers:

• English
• Kannada

Paper 1 Essay & Paper 2 General Studies Syllabus:

Paper 3 General Studies 2:

Paper 4 General Studies 3:

Paper 5 General Studies 4

• Ethics – determinants, essence and consequences
• Ethics in public administration
• Accountability and ethical governance
• RTI and concept of public service
• Human values
• Impartiality, integrity and non-partisanship
• Aptitude and foundational values for civil service
• Emotional intelligence and contribution of social thinkers

KPSC 2020 Eligibility Criteria

The basic eligibility criteria are given below-

• The applicant applying for the test must be an Indian Citizen;
• In order to fit in within the eligibility criteria to be able to take the exam and for the various posts of KPSC – the candidates must be within 21 to 35 years of age;
• The applicants must earn a Bachelor’s degree or a Master’s degree from any accredited university or professional institution.
• KPSC 2020: Application process-
• Access the paper’s official’s website first and tap on the application page to help fill out the Stage-1 exam form.
• Complete the application form with the date of birth, name, name of parents’, a number of aadhar, mobile number, email ID, report of the performance of class 10, name of education board and classification.
• After the registration has been fully achieved, the candidates will submit a registration number along with an OTP on their mobile phone and email address. These are required to log in in the future.
• By signing in their profile again, the candidates can fill in the second stage of the form. It requires filling in the specifics like religion, which gender one identifies with, the requirement for education and anything relevant to the requirements for eligibility.
• After filling in the information, the candidate must upload the required documents which include a photograph, a signature and an SC/ST certificate. Make sure the records are all up to date and accessible.
• Also, choose the language for the exam carefully along with the choice of the centre or region.
• After submitting all the information and documentation, go to the payment page of the form and request for the application fees.
• Candidates will get a message and a page showing the transaction form when the payment is confirmed. For future reference save it or get a printout right away.

KPSC 2020 Admit Card

• The Admit Card shall be made available on the official website a few weeks before the examination date.
• To download the same one needs to visit their official website i.e. kpsc.kar.nic.in;
• Click for the link to download the KPSC 2020 admit card;
• A page for login will appear where one needs to enter their login credentials;
• The admit card will appear which should be saved or downloaded for future reference;
• If there are any errors in the records printed on the admit card, the same needs to be reported to the authorities immediately;
• It is mandatory for the candidates to carry the admit card along with valid identity proof to the examination centre.

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