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KPSC KAS (Karnataka Administrative Service)

Evidence status: ✅ official. This page has been verified against the official KPSC website.

KPSC's Karnataka Administrative Service exam recruits Karnataka's Group A and B officers.

At a glance
Conducted by Karnataka Public Service Commission
Stages Preliminary (objective) → Main (descriptive) → Interview
Preliminary Exam 2 papers, 200 marks each, 2 hours each
Main Exam (written) 7 papers (2 qualifying + 5 compulsory), 1250 marks
Personality Test 50 marks
Total Marks 1300
Negative marking 0.25 of the marks assigned to the question

Official sources

Exam pattern

The KPSC KAS exam consists of three stages: Preliminary (objective), Main (descriptive), and Personality Test (interview).

Preliminary Examination: - Paper I: General Studies (200 marks, 2 hours) - Paper II: General Studies (200 marks, 2 hours) - Total: 400 marks - Negative marking: 0.25 of the marks assigned to the question.

Main Examination: - Qualifying Papers: - Kannada: 150 marks (2 hours) - English: 150 marks (2 hours) - Compulsory Papers: - Paper I: Essay – 250 marks (3 hours) - Paper II: General Studies 1 – 250 marks (3 hours) - Paper III: General Studies 2 – 250 marks (3 hours) - Paper IV: General Studies 3 – 250 marks (3 hours) - Paper V: General Studies 4 – 250 marks (3 hours) - Total written marks: 1250 - Personality Test: 50 marks - Grand Total: 1300 marks

Syllabus

The syllabus covers General Studies (polity, history, geography, economy, environment, science and technology, current affairs), with state-specific history, geography, economy, and culture. The main exam adds essays, language papers, and specialized GS papers. The detailed syllabus is available on the commission's official website.

How to prepare (free, in order)

  1. Prepare the shared UPSC GS modules once. They cover most of every state PSC.
  2. Add the state's own history, geography, economy and schemes from official state sources.
  3. Solve the commission's own previous papers from its website: each commission has its own style.

Free resources