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As of 27 September 2026, BPSC has not held the 72nd CCE Prelims. When it does, we will link the question paper and BPSC’s own answer key here.
Until then, this page holds what BPSC has put in writing: the date status, the post count, the new Option E rule, the exam pattern, and the four most recent papers to practise on.
| Item | Status | BPSC source |
|---|---|---|
| Exam date | 25 October 2026 (tentative) | Exam calendar dated 14.08.2026, headed “All dates are tentative” |
| Original date | 26 July 2026 (Sunday): postponed “for unavoidable reasons”; BPSC said the new date would be notified later | Notice signed 18.07.2026 |
| Posts | 1,187 (Deputy Superintendent of Police posts cut from 22 to 20)* | Corrigendum signed 03.09.2026 |
| Advertisement | Published 05.05.2026; online applications from 07.05.2026 | 72nd CCE advertisement |
| Admit card | As of 27 September 2026, BPSC has not issued an admit-card notice. | BPSC What’s New |
| Question paper & answer key | Not released as of 27 September 2026. We will link both here when BPSC releases them. | BPSC question booklets |
* BPSC’s exam calendar dated 14.08.2026 prints 1,189 vacancies. The corrigendum signed 03.09.2026 is the later document and states the total as 1,187.
Every question in the 72nd Prelims has five options, A to E. E means “Not Attempted”. BPSC’s advertisement sets three rules:
Five options (A, B, C, D, E) will be provided for each question. The candidate has to choose one of (A), (B), (C) or (D) as the correct answer and mark it on the answer sheet. If the candidate does not want to answer a question, choosing option (E) is compulsory. In every case only one answer is to be chosen for each question. If a candidate chooses none of the five options (A, B, C, D, E), 1/3 (one third) mark will be deducted as negative marking for each such unanswered question.Before this, BPSC’s own notice says, each question had four options (A to D) and choosing one was not compulsory. That notice is signed 1 May 2026. The 71st CCE Prelims (13 September 2025) was held before it, so the 72nd is the first CCE Prelims under the rule.
Example (our arithmetic)
Say you answer 110 questions, get 80 right and 30 wrong, and skip 40.
We count a marked E as zero: BPSC’s rules name a deduction only for a wrong answer and for a question with nothing marked.
| Paper | One General Studies paper |
|---|---|
| Questions | Objective, multiple choice |
| Duration | 2 hours |
| Total marks | 150 |
| Wrong answer | −1/3 mark |
| Nothing marked | −1/3 mark |
| Role | Screening only: it selects candidates for the Mains |
| Mains shortlist | 10 times the notified vacancies, category-wise; everyone on the same cut-off mark is included |
From the 72nd advertisement, page 6, clauses (i) to (iv). Each recent paper we hold (69th to 71st, with the 70th re-exam) had 150 questions, one mark each, printed with four options.
| Category | Minimum | Out of 150 (our arithmetic) |
|---|---|---|
| General | 40% | 60 |
| Backward Class (BC) | 36.5% | 54.75 |
| Extremely Backward Class (EBC) | 34% | 51 |
| SC/ST, women and candidates with disability | 32% | 48 |
These percentages are the minimum BPSC’s advertisement sets (page 7, clause (vi)). They are not the cut-off. The Mains list is 10 times the vacancies, drawn category-wise: at 1,187 posts that is about 11,870 names (our arithmetic), plus everyone tied at the cut-off.
For the 72nd Combined Competitive Examination posts, as printed in row 01 of the advertisement (page 7). As of 27 September 2026, BPSC has not published a Mains date.
| Paper (code) | Marks | Duration | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Hindi (01) | 100 | 3 hours | 30% needed; not counted for merit |
| General Studies Paper I (02) | 300 | 3 hours | |
| General Studies Paper II (03) | 300 | 3 hours | |
| Essay (38) | 300 | 3 hours | |
| One optional subject (codes 04–37) | 100 (100 objective MCQs) | 2 hours | Minimum marks set by the State Government needed; not counted for merit |
The same integrated exam also fills the posts in the advertisement’s Table II: Child Development Project Officer (20), Financial Administrative Officer (32) and Sub-divisional Protection Officer (101), 153 posts in the advertisement. Their Mains is different: General Hindi and the two General Studies papers, no essay, and one 300-mark subjective optional (3 hours) that counts for merit (advertisement, page 8).
The standing Gazette structure on our BPSC syllabus page differs from the table above for the 72nd CCE posts: it has a 300-mark optional that counts for merit and no essay paper. For the 72nd, go by the advertisement, post by post.
The 72nd advertisement (page 6, clause (v)) lists the same fields as the Bihar Gazette. In the Gazette’s own English:
General ScienceCurrent events of national and international importance.History of India and salient features of the history of Bihar.General Geography and geographical division of Bihar and its major river systems.Indian Polity and Economy and major changes in the economy of Bihar in the post independence period.Indian National Movement and the part played by Bihar in it and also Questions on General Mental Ability.Questions on General Mental Ability.The numbering is ours. The Gazette prints five unnumbered lines, and the line with field 6 also carries General Mental Ability, listed here on its own as field 7.
Bihar Gazette syllabus (bpsc.bihar.gov.in). For questions per field, see the subject weightage counted from 579 questions. Bihar sits inside four of these fields.
The four papers before the 72nd, solved question by question, in English and Hindi.
BPSC's exam calendar dated 14.08.2026 lists the Integrated 72nd CCE Prelims on 25 October 2026, and the calendar says all its dates are tentative. The exam was first due on 26 July 2026; BPSC postponed it by a notice signed 18.07.2026, citing unavoidable reasons. As of 27 September 2026, BPSC has not issued an admit-card notice.
1,187, according to BPSC's corrigendum signed 3 September 2026, which cut Deputy Superintendent of Police posts from 22 to 20. BPSC's exam calendar dated 14.08.2026 prints 1,189; the corrigendum is the later document.
Each question has five options, A to E, and E means "Not Attempted". To answer, you mark one of A, B, C or D; to skip a question, marking E is compulsory. The rule is in clause (ii) on page 6 of the 72nd advertisement and in BPSC's notice signed 1 May 2026, which says that earlier papers had four options and marking one was not compulsory.
Yes. If none of the five options is marked, BPSC deducts 1/3 mark for that question, the same as for a wrong answer. Marking E avoids that deduction: BPSC's rules name a penalty only for a wrong answer and for a question left with nothing marked.
As of 27 September 2026, BPSC has not announced when the 72nd answer key will come out. We will link it here when BPSC releases it. For the 71st CCE, held on 13 September 2025, BPSC's provisional answer key file is dated 19 September 2025 and the final key file 31 October 2025. The 72nd may follow a different timetable.
The 69th, 70th, 70th re-exam and 71st CCE Prelims papers are solved question by question on UnlockIAS, in English and Hindi, and each is linked from this page. They are the four papers before the 72nd.
Work through the 69th to 71st Prelims papers, solved question by question in English and Hindi.