Previous-year papers: the official archives¶
Previous-year questions (PYQs) are the best free guide to what an exam really asks. Many bodies publish their own papers, and those are the only copies you can trust. "Memory-based" papers on coaching sites are reconstructions: useful at most for practice, never as the source of a fact.
Evidence status: 🟡 secondary. Every link below points to the body's own website. The links were located by web search on 2026-09-27, because the official sites could not be opened from the authoring machine. The list's daily link check re-opens every link. Archives move when a new cycle starts; if one breaks, open an issue with the new official link.
Central recruitment and entrance¶
| Body | Exams | Official papers |
|---|---|---|
| UPSC | Civil Services, Engineering Services, CDS, NDA, CAPF and other UPSC exams | Previous question papers · older years (archive) |
| SSC | CGL, CHSL, JE, MTS, GD, CPO and others | Previous year question papers |
| GATE (IISc and IITs) | All GATE papers | GATE 2027 downloads (IIT Madras): year-wise papers and answer keys. Each year's organising institute hosts them on its own GATE site |
| NTA | JEE Main, NEET UG, CUET, UGC NET, CMAT and others | Each exam's own NTA portal publishes its question papers and final answer keys (for example JEE Main). Start from nta.ac.in |
State public service commissions¶
| Commission | Official papers |
|---|---|
| Bihar (BPSC) | Question booklets |
| Karnataka (KPSC) | Previous question papers |
| Maharashtra (MPSC) | Previous question papers |
| Tamil Nadu (TNPSC) | Previous year question papers |
| Uttar Pradesh (UPPSC) | Previous year question papers |
Other commissions are added one at a time, each only once its own website's archive link is confirmed. Meanwhile every commission's official website is listed in all exams.
After the exam: official cut-offs and counselling data¶
| What | Official source |
|---|---|
| JEE (IITs, NITs, IIITs, GFTIs): opening and closing ranks, previous years | JoSAA archive |
| NEET UG all-India quota counselling: seat allotments by round | Medical Counselling Committee |
How to use previous papers well¶
- Take one full paper cold, timed, before studying a subject. Your score tells you where to start.
- Tag every question with a module and a topic. Use the shared modules in the overlap map: after a few papers you see which topics come back every year, and those come first in your plan.
- Keep a mistake log, not just a score. Re-solve every wrong question after a week, then after a month.
- Solve the latest papers last, as full mocks, in the real time limit.
- Prefer the official answer key. Where the body publishes a final answer key, it overrides every coaching solution.