Kerala PSC Degree Level Prelims
The exam pattern, the official syllabus with its marks, and who can apply — taken from Kerala PSC’s own notifications, syllabus and question papers, not from a coaching site.
- Conducted by
- Kerala PSC
- Questions
- 100 in 75 minutes
- Wrong answer
- −⅓ mark
- Qualification
- A degree
Exam pattern
- Objective Test100 questions · 75 minutes · OMR answer sheet100
Inside the Objective Test
| Section | Marks | Share |
|---|---|---|
| General Knowledge — History 10, Geography 5, Economics 5, Civics 5, Indian Constitution 5, Arts, Literature, Culture and Sports 10, Basics of Computer 5, Science and Technology 5 | 50 | 50% |
| Simple Arithmetic, Mental Ability and Reasoning | 20 | 20% |
| General English — Grammar 10, Vocabulary 10 | 20 | 20% |
| Regional Language — Malayalam, Tamil or Kannada | 10 | 10% |
- Negative marking — one-third of a mark is deducted for every wrong answer, and nothing for a question left blank.
- Medium — English together with Malayalam, Tamil or Kannada. General Knowledge and Arithmetic come in both; the General English section is in English only; the regional-language section is in Malayalam, Tamil or Kannada.
- Stages — The paper is sat in stages on different days, each with its own question paper. In 2025 Kerala PSC standardised the marks across stages to make them comparable before drawing the shortlist.
- Confirmation — You must confirm through your One Time Registration profile within the confirmation period. Only confirmed candidates can download the admission ticket, and Kerala PSC rejects the applications of those who do not confirm.
Who can apply
Qualification
A degree. The exact wording differs from post to post, and the police and excise posts add physical standards.
- Assistant, Kerala Administrative Tribunal (269/2025): a degree. A law degree is desirable.
- Special Branch Assistant (017/2025): graduation from a recognised university.
- University Assistant (454/2025): a degree in any faculty from a recognised university.
- Junior Assistant, Cashier and similar posts in state companies (382/2025): a B.A., B.Sc. or B.Com. degree.
- Excise Inspector (Trainee), direct (187/2025): a B.A., B.Sc. or B.Com. degree, plus physical standards and a Physical Efficiency Test. Not open to differently abled candidates.
- Sub Inspector of Police (Trainee), open market (448/2025): graduation, plus physical standards — 165.10 cm for men and 160 cm for women, lower for SC/ST. Not open to differently abled candidates.
- Armed Police Sub Inspector (Trainee), open market (446/2025): a graduate, with height 167 cm and chest 81 cm with 5 cm expansion. Not open to women or to differently abled candidates.
Age
Age limits are set post by post — 18 to 36 for most Assistant and clerical posts, and lower for the police and excise posts.
- 18 to 36 — born between 02.01.1989 and 01.01.2007: Assistant at the Kerala Administrative Tribunal, Special Branch Assistant, University Assistant, and the clerical posts in state companies.
- 19 to 31 — born between 02.01.1994 and 01.01.2006: Excise Inspector (Trainee), direct.
- 20 to 31 — born between 02.01.1994 and 01.01.2005: Sub Inspector of Police and Armed Police Sub Inspector (Trainee), open market.
- SC, ST and OBC candidates get the usual relaxation. The notifications do not print the number of years, so check Kerala PSC’s general conditions before relying on it.
- By-transfer posts have their own service-based conditions — read that post’s notification.
The syllabus, topic by topic
History · 3 topics · 10 marks
- Kerala — the arrival of the Europeans; Travancore from Marthanda Varma to Sree Chithira Thirunal; social and religious reform movements; the national movement in Kerala; literary sources; the United Kerala movement; Kerala after 1956
- India — medieval India; the establishment of British rule; the First War of Independence; the Indian National Congress; the Swadeshi movement; Gandhi; India after independence; the reorganisation of states; political history after 1951
- World — the revolutions in England, America, France, Russia and China; the world after the Second World War; the United Nations
Geography · 6 topics · 5 marks
- The earth’s structure, the atmosphere, rocks, landforms and winds
- Global warming and pollution
- Maps, topographic signs, remote sensing and GIS
- Oceans and continents
- India — physiography, rivers, climate, agriculture, minerals, energy and transport
- Kerala — the same, plus districts and wildlife
Economics · 7 topics · 5 marks
- National income and per capita income
- Factors of production
- Economic planning, the Five Year Plans and NITI Aayog
- The Reserve Bank of India
- Public revenue — tax and non-tax — and public expenditure
- The budget and fiscal policy
- Consumer protection and consumer rights
Civics · 5 topics · 5 marks
- Public administration, bureaucracy, the Indian and state civil services, and e-governance
- The Information Commission and the RTI Act; the Lokpal and Lokayukta
- The executive, the judiciary and the legislature; elections and political parties
- Human rights, consumer protection, watershed management, labour and employment, rural employment schemes and land reforms
- Protection of women, children and the elderly; social welfare and social security
Indian Constitution · 8 topics · 5 marks
- The Constituent Assembly and the Preamble
- Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties
- Citizenship
- Amendments
- Panchayati Raj
- Constitutional institutions
- Emergency provisions
- The Union, State and Concurrent Lists
Arts, Literature, Culture and Sports · 4 topics · 10 marks
- Kerala’s visual and performing arts — places, institutions, artists and writers
- Sport — sportspersons, awards and trophies, team sizes, sporting terms, the Olympics (including Winter and Para), the Asian, Commonwealth, SAF and National Games
- Malayalam literature — movements, first works, pen-names, characters, famous lines, journalism, awards and Jnanpith winners; Malayalam cinema
- Kerala’s festivals and cultural centres
Basics of Computer · 5 topics · 5 marks
- Hardware — input, output and memory devices
- Software — system and application software, operating systems, word processors and spreadsheets, programming basics
- Networks — LAN, WAN and MAN; switches, hubs, routers, bridges and gateways
- The internet — the web, e-mail, search engines, social media and HTML basics
- Cyber crime and the IT Act, at awareness level
Science and Technology · 5 topics · 5 marks
- Everyday science, the human body, public health, food and nutrition, and Indian scientists
- Space and defence — ISRO and DRDO
- Energy — resources, policy, energy security and nuclear policy
- Environmental science — biodiversity, climate change, the Western Ghats, forest and wildlife law, pollution and global warming
- Biotechnology, green technology and nanotechnology
Simple Arithmetic · 12 topics · 10 marks
- Numbers
- Fractions and decimals
- Percentage
- Profit and loss
- Simple and compound interest
- Ratio and proportion
- Time and distance
- Time and work
- Average
- Laws of exponents
- Mensuration
- Progressions
Mental Ability · 13 topics · 10 marks
- Series
- Mathematical signs
- Position test
- Analogy
- Odd man out
- Number problems
- Coding and decoding
- Family relations
- Sense of direction
- Clock angles
- Clock reflections
- Date and calendar
- Clerical ability
General English · 2 topics · 20 marks
- Grammar (10 marks) — types of sentences, parts of speech, subject–verb agreement, articles, auxiliaries and modals, question tags, infinitives and gerunds, tenses and conditionals, prepositions, correlatives, direct and indirect speech, active and passive voice, sentence correction, degrees of comparison
- Vocabulary (10 marks) — singular and plural, gender, collective nouns, prefixes and suffixes, compound words, synonyms, antonyms, phrasal verbs, foreign words, one-word substitutes, words often confused, spelling, idioms, abbreviations
Regional Language — Malayalam, Tamil or Kannada · 1 topics · 10 marks
- Malayalam (translated from the official list; Tamil and Kannada have their own) — correct word forms, correct sentences, translation, one-word substitutes, synonyms, antonyms, idioms and proverbs, similar words, joining words, masculine and feminine forms, singular and plural, splitting words, component words
The 2026 exam
One common test for 21 posts that need a degree — among them Sub Inspector of Police, Armed Police Sub Inspector, Excise Inspector, Assistant Jailor, University Assistant, Special Branch Assistant, Assistant at the Kerala Administrative Tribunal, and clerical posts in state companies such as KSFE, KSEB and KSRTC. About 1.85 lakh candidates were allotted to each stage. Secretariat Assistant, part of the 2025 test, was not in the 2026 one.
| Confirmation period | 27.02.2026 to 18.03.2026 |
| Stage I | 02.05.2026, 1.30 to 3.05 pm |
| Stage II | 16.05.2026, 1.30 to 3.05 pm |
| Stage III | 06.06.2026, 1.30 to 3.05 pm |
| Main exams announced so far | University Assistant 14.10.2026 · Special Branch Assistant 28.10.2026 · Assistant Jailor 11.11.2026 · Excise Inspector 17.11.2026 |
- Candidates who missed Stage I or II for reasons Kerala PSC listed — among them illness, Assembly election duty, a university exam on the same day, pregnancy, their own wedding or a death in the family — could apply to sit Stage III instead.
- The Excise Inspector main exam was moved from 28.09.2026 to 17.11.2026.
- In 2025 the prelims was held in two stages, on 24.05.2025 and 28.06.2025.
- Question papers and answer keys are published on Kerala PSC’s website after each stage.
Sources
- Kerala PSC — detailed syllabus and mark distribution, Degree Level Common Preliminary Examination 2026 (PDF)
- Kerala PSC — examination programme, May 2026, listing the 21 posts (PDF)
- Kerala PSC — notification 454/2025, University Assistant (PDF)
- Kerala PSC — notification 448–450/2025, Sub Inspector of Police (PDF)
- Kerala PSC — notification 576/2024, on how the 2025 posts were ranked (PDF)
- Kerala PSC — standardisation report, Degree Level Common Preliminary Examinations 2025 (PDF)
- Kerala PSC — question papers and answer keys
Practise for this exam
40 of our 43 mock tests follow Kerala PSC’s official 100-question blueprint section by section — 50 General Knowledge, 20 Arithmetic and Reasoning, 20 English and 10 Malayalam — and the other 3 are extra General Knowledge tests. Every product has free tests you can try with no account and no payment.