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The syllabus below is transcribed word for word from Appendix-I of UPSC Special Advertisement No. 52/2026. Alongside it is something no syllabus page we could find publishes: the weight each topic actually carries, counted question by question across the 360 questions in the 3 APFC papers we have digitised and solved.
The single most useful thing in that count: current events proper is 1.9% of the paper. Head ix was 1, 3 and 3 questions in the three papers — so if you are budgeting months for monthly current-affairs compilations, you are preparing for roughly two or three questions in a 120-question paper.
Appendix-I opens: “The syllabus of the Test broadly comprises the following topics” — and then lists nine. Pages that advertise thirteen or sixteen EPFO topics have split these nine; the official number is nine. Each quoted line below is the Commission’s wording. The note under it is ours.
General English- To evaluate a candidate's understanding of English language & workman- like use of words.
Comprehension, grammar and error-spotting, vocabulary, cloze and para-jumbles. In every paper we hold this is a single contiguous block at the very start.
Indian Culture, Heritage and Freedom Movements.
Art, architecture, literature and the performing arts, alongside modern history and the freedom struggle.
Developmental Issues and Present Trends in Indian Economy.
Growth and national income, money and banking, budget and fiscal policy, the external sector, poverty and employment — and development schemes read as economic policy. This head absorbs most of what candidates mistake for current affairs.
Governance and Constitution of India.
The Constitution, rights, the three organs, federalism, constitutional and statutory bodies, elections, RTI and administrative machinery.
General Science and Basic Knowledge of Computer Applications.
Everyday physics, chemistry and biology, health and environment, plus computer fundamentals, office software, the internet and networking.
Elementary Mathematics, Statistics and General Mental Ability.
Arithmetic, data interpretation and statistics, and the full reasoning set — series, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction, clock and calendar.
Industrial Relations, Labour Codes and Social Security in India.
EPFO's own subject: EPF, EPS, EDLI, ESI, gratuity and pension; the four Labour Codes; trade unions, disputes and collective bargaining. Note that the official list makes this ONE head — labour and social security are not separate topics.
Principles of Accountancy, Auditing and Insurance.
Accounting concepts and final accounts, audit types and internal control, and insurance principles.
Current Events of National and International Importance.
Recent news facts with no home elsewhere in the syllabus — awards, appointments, summits, sport, reports released.
APFC has one written stage. There is no Mains, so the Recruitment Test both shortlists you for the interview and, on the weightage Appendix-I says may be adopted, carries three-quarters of your final standing.
| Mode | Pen & paper, objective type with multiple choices of answer |
|---|---|
| Duration | Two hours |
| Marks | All questions carry equal marks |
| Medium | Both English and Hindi |
| Negative marking | One-third of the marks assigned to that question, for every wrong answer |
| Un-attempted | No penalty |
| RT : Interview | 300 marks : 100 marks, weighted 75 : 25 — Appendix-I (III) says this weightage “may be adopted as was adopted in previous case” |
| Interview minimum | 50 and above for General/EWS; 45 for OBC; 40 for SC, ST and PwBD (relaxed standards) |
| This cycle | Special Advertisement No. 52/2026: eighty vacancies (UR-29, EWS-08, OBC-18, SC-15, ST-10; PwBD-03 within the eighty), Pay Level-10 of the 7th CPC. Recruitment Test on 20 December 2026; applications closed 11 September 2026. These figures belong to that advertisement — check the current one for any later cycle. |
Appendix-I fixes the duration and the marking. It is softer on the weightage: para (III) says the 300:100 marks and the 75:25 ratio “may be adopted as was adopted in previous case” — a stated expectation, not a guarantee. And it does not state a question count anywhere. Pages that print “120 questions” as an official figure are inferring it from past papers. Each of the 3 APFC papers we hold does carry 120 questions — that is our count of those papers, not a rule in the notification.
UPSC publishes no subject-wise split. This table is a count rather than an estimate: every question in the 3 APFC papers we have digitised — 2016 APFC, 2023 APFC, 2025 APFC+EO/AO — was assigned to exactly one of the nine official heads, so the heads sum to 360. The rule used for each head is stated under Sources & method, so you can disagree with it knowingly.
| Official Appendix-I head | Questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| vi. Elementary Mathematics, Statistics and General Mental Ability | 60 | 16.7% |
| v. General Science and Basic Knowledge of Computer Applications | 58 | 16.1% |
| i. General English | 50 | 13.9% |
| vii. Industrial Relations, Labour Codes and Social Security in India· job-core | 49 | 13.6% |
| iii. Developmental Issues and Present Trends in Indian Economy | 40 | 11.1% |
| viii. Principles of Accountancy, Auditing and Insurance· job-core | 33 | 9.2% |
| ii. Indian Culture, Heritage and Freedom Movements | 32 | 8.9% |
| iv. Governance and Constitution of India | 31 | 8.6% |
| ix. Current Events of National and International Importance | 7 | 1.9% |
| Total counted | 360 | 100% |
The two job-core heads — Industrial Relations, Labour Codes and Social Security in India and Principles of Accountancy, Auditing and Insurance — are 22.8% of the pooled count, but that average hides the story. Per paper the block runs 10.8% (2016), 29.2% (2023), 28.3% (2025). It roughly tripled after 2016 and has held near three in ten since — so on the two current papers it is the largest thing on the paper, and the pooled figure understates what you should expect.
Head ix — Current Events of National and International Importance — accounts for 7 of 360 questions (1.9%) in the papers we counted. Published estimates put it near 10%. Both can be honest numbers; they are counting different things.
The rule we applied is the one the official list implies: a question belongs to head ix only if it has no home anywhere else in the syllabus. A question on the fiscal deficit in a recent Budget tests a durable economic concept and merely uses a recent year as its hook — that is head iii, Developmental Issues and Present Trends in Indian Economy, at 11.1%. A question asking who won a prize last year has nowhere else to go; that is head ix.
Across the APFC papers, 21 questions are current-dependent — you had to have followed the news. Here is where they sat, and the distribution is not what most preparation assumes:
The single largest group is not general current affairs at all — it is head vii, EPFO’s own subject. Recent developments in provident fund, pension and labour-code policy are current affairs you cannot get from a general compilation, and they are the ones this exam rewards.
Count every question that mentions something recent as “current affairs” and you land near a tenth of the paper. Count what the syllabus actually calls current events and you land at 1.9%. The practical consequence is large: the schemes, indices and budget numbers you are memorising from a monthly compilation are subject questions — mostly labour-and-social-security or economics — and they are better learned as the subject, with the concept attached, than as a list of facts that expires.
UPSC runs two EPFO recruitments — Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner, and Enforcement Officer / Accounts Officer. They share a topic list, and candidates routinely prepare from whichever set of notes they find first.
One caution about the pooled columns below, because it caught us out. General English reads as 16.7% of an EO/AO paper against 13.9% of an APFC one — but that gap is not a standing difference between the posts. English is exactly 20 questions in every paper we hold except the 2016 APFC booklet, which carried 10. One structurally odd paper from a decade ago moves the whole APFC average. Read the per-paper table further down before drawing conclusions from any pooled row here.
The pooled columns are averages; this is what each booklet actually contained. Read it before trusting any average on this page — one paper (2016 APFC) is structurally different from the rest and moves every APFC average it appears in.
| Official head | 2016 APFC | 2017 EO/AO | 2020 EO/AO | 2023 APFC | 2023 EO/AO | 2025 both |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i. General English | 10 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| ii. Indian Culture, Heritage and Freedom Movements | 12 | 15 | 16 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| iii. Developmental Issues and Present Trends in Indian Economy | 21 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 11 |
| iv. Governance and Constitution of India | 11 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 11 |
| v. General Science and Basic Knowledge of Computer Applications | 22 | 16 | 26 | 20 | 21 | 16 |
| vi. Elementary Mathematics, Statistics and General Mental Ability | 30 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 15 |
| vii. Industrial Relations, Labour Codes and Social Security in India | 10 | 19 | 9 | 20 | 23 | 19 |
| viii. Principles of Accountancy, Auditing and Insurance | 3 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 15 |
| ix. Current Events of National and International Importance | 1 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Questions in paper | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 | 120 |
| Official head | APFC (360 Q) | EO/AO (480 Q) |
|---|---|---|
| i. General English | 13.9% | 16.7% |
| ii. Indian Culture, Heritage and Freedom Movements | 8.9% | 10.4% |
| iii. Developmental Issues and Present Trends in Indian Economy | 11.1% | 9.4% |
| iv. Governance and Constitution of India | 8.6% | 6% |
| v. General Science and Basic Knowledge of Computer Applications | 16.1% | 16.5% |
| vi. Elementary Mathematics, Statistics and General Mental Ability | 16.7% | 12.7% |
| vii. Industrial Relations, Labour Codes and Social Security in India | 13.6% | 14.6% |
| viii. Principles of Accountancy, Auditing and Insurance | 9.2% | 10.4% |
| ix. Current Events of National and International Importance | 1.9% | 3.3% |
The 2025 Recruitment Test was one paper sat by candidates for both posts, so it counts toward both columns. That is why the columns overlap: 360 plus 480 is 840, for the 720 distinct questions we hold. Earlier sittings were separate tests under separate advertisements. Special Advertisement No. 52/2026 advertises APFC alone.
The largest head across the pooled count, though that is inflated by the 2016 paper’s 30-question maths part; the 2023 and 2025 papers carry 15 each. Still the most improvable material on the paper — reasoning and arithmetic reward drilling more than reading, and accuracy here is close to free marks.
Labour codes and social security together with accountancy, auditing and insurance — the material most general aspirants skip and the material the job is actually about. Be aware it is the block that has MOVED most: 10.8% in 2016, then 29.2% and 28.3%. That is a reason to prioritise it, not to trust it as a constant.
Everyday science plus computer fundamentals. Broad but shallow: the questions reward familiarity rather than depth, and the computer half is small enough to finish in a few sittings.
A contiguous block at the start of every paper we hold, and the fastest section to clear if your grammar and vocabulary are solid. Finite rules, high return.
Heads iii and iv are 19.7% combined. Learn the schemes and indices here, with the concept attached — much of what looks like current affairs lives in this pair.
Last, and lightly. Worth a weekly skim, not a monthly compilation. The interview rewards awareness more than the written test does.
One thing the ordering cannot show you: the nine official heads contain no Geography head, yet geography questions do appear. They arrive attached to another head — a river system as science, a resource as economics. Do not read the absence of the word as permission to skip the subject.
Every figure above is a count of questions you can read for yourself. Each paper below is published in full with the official answer where UPSC has released one, a worked explanation for every option, and a Hindi edition.
Every EPFO sitting we hold is solved question by question, with the official answer where one exists and a worked explanation for every option.
Appendix-I of UPSC Special Advertisement No. 52/2026 lists exactly nine topics for the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner Recruitment Test: General English; Indian Culture, Heritage and Freedom Movements; Developmental Issues and Present Trends in Indian Economy; Governance and Constitution of India; General Science and Basic Knowledge of Computer Applications; Elementary Mathematics, Statistics and General Mental Ability; Industrial Relations, Labour Codes and Social Security in India; Principles of Accountancy, Auditing and Insurance; and Current Events of National and International Importance. Many coaching pages list thirteen or sixteen topics by splitting these nine; the official count is nine.
Less than is usually assumed. Head ix — current events proper — was 1, 3 and 3 questions in the three APFC papers we have digitised, so on the order of two or three questions in a 120-question paper (7 across the 360 we counted). Separately, 21 questions are current-dependent — answerable only if you followed the news — but most of those keep a static head, chiefly head vii (labour codes and social security) and head iii (economy). That is the useful distinction: a scheme, index or budget figure is a subject question wearing a recent headline, and it is better learned as the subject, because the concept outlives the headline.
Yes. Appendix-I states that every wrong answer carries a deduction of one-third of the marks assigned to that question. There is no penalty for a question left un-attempted, so a genuine two-way elimination is worth attempting and a blind guess among four options is not.
Appendix-I sets this out under a hedge worth noticing. Its words are: "As per the prevailing practice, the following weightage may be adopted as was adopted in previous case" — 300 marks for the Recruitment Test and 100 for the interview, in the ratio 75:25. So treat 75:25 as the Commission's stated expectation rather than a guarantee. What is fixed is that there is no second written stage: the RT both shortlists you for the interview and, on that weightage, carries three-quarters of your final standing. The minimum interview suitability standard is 50 for General and EWS candidates, 45 for OBC, and 40 for SC, ST and PwBD candidates.
Look at the two most recent papers rather than the pooled average, because the 2016 booklet is built differently and distorts it. In the 2023 and 2025 papers the job-core block — Industrial Relations, Labour Codes and Social Security together with Principles of Accountancy, Auditing and Insurance — was 29.2% and 28.3% of the paper. In 2016 it was 10.8%. So the block roughly tripled and has since held near three in ten, which makes it the highest-return material on the paper and the material most general aspirants skip. After that, General Science and Basic Knowledge of Computer Applications and General English are the reliable blocks, both close to a sixth of every recent paper.
They share the topic list, and on our counts the recent papers are more alike than most comparisons suggest. General English is exactly 20 questions in every paper we hold except the 2016 APFC booklet, which carried 10 — so the often-quoted English gap between the two posts is an artefact of that one old paper, not a standing difference. The differences that do persist are in the domain block and in mathematics. Since 2025 UPSC has set a single Recruitment Test sat by candidates for both posts, so that paper counts toward both; earlier sittings were separate tests under separate advertisements.
Not as a named topic — and this catches candidates out. The nine official heads contain no Geography head at all, yet geography questions do appear in the papers. In practice they arrive dressed as something else: a question about a river system reads as general science or as economic geography inside the economy head. Do not skip physical and economic geography of India on the grounds that the syllabus does not name it.
The syllabus is Appendix-I of UPSC Special Advertisement No. 52/2026, published on upsc.gov.in. It is not issued as a standalone syllabus file — any site offering an "official EPFO APFC syllabus PDF" is offering its own re-typed copy. The advertisement itself is the primary document, and the topic list on this page is transcribed from it word for word.