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WBCS (West Bengal Civil Service)

Evidence status: 🟢 official. Every number below is from the scheme and syllabus for the West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) etc. Examination, 2024 (Advt. No. 08/2024), the final answer key of its preliminary exam, and the Commission's announcements — all fetched from psc.wb.gov.in on 2026-09-28. Eligibility, age limits and fees live in the detailed advertisement, which is no longer hosted on the site; for those, see the notification.

The West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) and allied services exam is conducted by the Public Service Commission, West Bengal, for Group A, B, C and D services and posts.

At a glance
Conducted by Public Service Commission, West Bengal
Stages Preliminary (objective, screening only) → Main (compulsory + optional papers) → Personality Test
2024 cycle (Advt. 08/2024) Preliminary held 14.06.2026 (per the final answer key); online applications closed 17.12.2025
2025 cycle (Advt. 03/2025) Only the indicative advertisement (29.11.2025) is out; the detailed notification is awaited
Qualification / age / fees See the detailed notification (not in the scheme document)
Final merit Main Examination + Personality Test taken together; prelim marks do not count

Official sources

Exam pattern

Preliminary: one paper on General Studies — objective, 200 multiple-choice questions, 200 marks, 2½ hours, graduate standard. The 200 marks split into eight fields of 25 marks each: English Composition; General Science; Current events of National and International Importance; History of India; Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal; Indian Polity and Economy; Indian National Movement; General Mental Ability. It is a screening test only: the marks do not count for final selection, and only prelim-qualified candidates are admitted to that year's Main.

Main: six compulsory papers of 200 marks each (3 hours each), plus — only for Group A and/or B candidates — one optional subject of two papers (200 marks each). Four compulsory papers (General Studies-I, General Studies-II, Constitution of India and Indian Economy, Arithmetic and Test of Reasoning) are MCQ type answered on OMR sheets; Paper I (language) and Paper II (English) are conventional written papers. There is negative marking for wrong MCQ answers (the scheme document does not print the per-question deduction — take it from the detailed advertisement). The Commission may fix qualifying marks paper-wise and in aggregate; a paper without qualifying marks is not counted in the aggregate.

Paper Marks
Paper I: Bengali / Hindi / Urdu / Nepali / Santali (letter/report, précis, composition, translation from English) 200
Paper II: English (letter/report, précis, composition, translation) 200
Paper III: General Studies-I 200
Paper IV: General Studies-II 200
Paper V: Constitution of India and Indian Economy (incl. RBI role and functions) 200
Paper VI: Arithmetic and Test of Reasoning 200
Optional subject, two papers (Groups A and B only) 2 × 200

Personality Test: one test per candidate (no separate test per group): 200 marks for Group A, 200 for Group B, 150 for Group C, 100 for Group D. Totals: 1800 (A), 1800 (B), 1350 (C), 1300 (D).

Syllabus

  • Preliminary: the eight fields above; the scheme's Appendix I outlines each (for example English Composition covers synonyms, antonyms, idioms, phrasal verbs and vocabulary).
  • Main GS-I: Indian History with emphasis on the National Movement; Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal.
  • Main GS-II: Science and scientific/technological advancement, Environment, General Knowledge and Current Affairs.
  • Main Paper V: the Constitution of India and the Indian Economy, including the role and functions of the Reserve Bank of India.
  • Main Paper VI: Arithmetic at about Madhyamik (Class 10, West Bengal Board) standard, plus Test of Reasoning (analytical and logical reasoning, series, data inference, non-verbal reasoning).
  • Optional subjects (38): literature papers (Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, English, Pali, Arabic, Persian, French, Urdu, Santali, Nepali, Comparative Literature) and Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Anthropology, Botany, Chemistry, Civil / Electrical / Mechanical Engineering, Commerce and Accountancy, Computer Science, Economics, Geography, Geology, History, Law, Mathematics, Management, Medical Science, Philosophy, Physiology, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Statistics, Zoology.
  • The scheme notes the syllabi are indicative and questions may assume the degree-level qualification prescribed in the advertisement.

How to prepare (free, in order)

  1. Cover the shared UPSC-style GS base once (polity, history, geography, economy) — it carries both the prelim and the Main GS papers (see the overlap map).
  2. Add West Bengal specifics: state history and the National Movement, West Bengal geography, state economy and schemes, from official state sources.
  3. Practise Madhyamik-level arithmetic plus reasoning daily — Paper VI is MCQ on an OMR sheet with negative marking, so speed with accuracy matters.
  4. Write daily: précis, letter/report and translation for the two compulsory language papers.
  5. Solve the Commission's own papers and answer keys from psc.wb.gov.in for the real question style.

Free resources