Section Officer: three papers, and what comes before them
Section Officer has the longest route of the four. A hundred-mark preliminary split three ways, then three subjective papers of a hundred marks each at three hours apiece, then a practical stage.
Where do you actually stand?
Five questions, two and a half minutes, 20% off for a wrong answer and nothing off for a blank — the same arithmetic as the real paper. At the end it names the subject costing you the most.
Sit a five-question paper
Same rules as the real thing. Two and a half minutes, 20% deducted for a wrong answer, nothing deducted for leaving one blank.
- 2:30 on the clock
- 20% negative marking
- Blank costs nothing
How the exam is marked
| Stage I — Preliminary | General Awareness 50, Aptitude Test 30, English Language Competence Test 20, all at 1 mark each. Pass mark 45 per cent. | 100 |
| Stage II — Main | Three subjective papers, 10 questions at 10 marks each, 3 hours per paper. | 300 |
| Final stage | IT Skill Test practical, group test, individual presentation and interview. | varies |
Where the first-stage marks are
This is the part worth reading twice. Every subject is not worth the same, and time spent on the wrong one is the most common way a good candidate loses marks.
- General Awareness50 questions x 1 = 50
- Aptitude Test30 questions x 1 = 30
- English Language Competence Test20 questions x 1 = 20
Taken from the Commission’s published course. Check psc.gov.np for the current version before relying on it.
Subjects this covers
- Constitution
- Current affairs
- Geography
- History
- Socio-economy
- Science & environment
- Reasoning & IQ
- Mathematics
- English
- Office management
Accuracy is kept per subject rather than as one average, because an average hides the single subject that will fail you — which is the only thing worth knowing before the exam.
The official syllabus
The Public Service Commission publishes the syllabus itself, and it is updated from time to time. We link to it rather than reprinting it — a copy here could quietly go out of date, and somebody preparing from an outdated syllabus is worse off than somebody who read the original.
Open psc.gov.npAayogX is an independent study app and is not affiliated with the Public Service Commission.