UPSSSC PET — Syllabus & Exam Pattern
Free preparation for UPSSSC PET — the official exam pattern and topic-wise syllabus are below. Start preparing from home.
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UPSSSC PET (Preliminary Eligibility Test) is conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission, Lucknow. PET is the mandatory GATEWAY exam: to apply for ANY UPSSSC Group 'C' direct-recruitment post (lekhpal, junior assistant, VDO and more), you need a valid PET score — each Mains shortlists purely on normalized PET merit (zero/negative scorers are excluded). PET itself selects nobody; it produces a score card. Eligibility: 10th (High School) pass or equivalent by the application's last date; age 18-40 (as on 01 July of the exam year; relaxations per rules). Structure: single objective paper — 100 MCQs, 100 marks, 2 hours, NEGATIVE MARKING 1/4 (0.25) per wrong answer; 15 subject areas (subjects 1-10 carry 5 marks each, subjects 11-15 carry 10 each); academic subjects are NCERT Secondary/Senior-Secondary level; multi-shift scores are normalized. SCORE VALIDITY: 3 YEARS from the result-upload date — per UP Govt order No. 316/47-ka-3-2025 dated 28-04-2025 cited in the PET-2025 notification (this replaced the earlier 1-year rule). If you hold multiple valid scores, the highest normalized score is used. Fee (PET-2025): UR/OBC ₹185, SC/ST ₹95, PwD ₹25 (all including ₹25 processing). PET-2025 — the latest cycle — was held 06-07 September 2025 in two shifts daily across 48 districts. CONFIRMED against UPSSSC Advertisement No. 01-Exam/2025 (PET-2025) dated 02-05-2025, read from upsssc.gov.in, cross-checked with four live 2026 Mains advertisements that shortlist on PET-2025 scores.
Syllabus (topic-wise)
- NOTE: Official syllabus is Annexure-1 of Advt No. 01-Exam/2025 (published in Hindi; faithful translation below). 100 Q/100 marks; first 10 subjects 5 marks each, last 5 subjects 10 marks each. Re-verify when the next PET advertisement appears on upsssc.gov.in.
- Indian History (5): Indus Valley, Vedic culture, Buddha and Mahavir, Maurya (Ashoka), Gupta (Samudragupta, Chandragupta II), Harshavardhan, Rajput period, Sultanate, Mughals, Marathas, rise of British rule, 1857, socio-economic impact of British Raj.
- Indian National Movement (5): early phase, Swadeshi and Civil Disobedience (Gandhi and other leaders), revolutionary movement and extremist nationalism, Government of India Act 1935, Quit India, Azad Hind Fauj and Netaji.
- Geography (5): physical geography of India and the world — rivers, groundwater, mountains and glaciers, deserts, forests, minerals (India-focused); political geography; climate and weather; time zones; demographic change and migration.
- Indian Economy (5): 1947-1991 (planning, mixed economy, Green and White Revolutions, Operation Flood, bank nationalisation), 1991 reforms, post-2014 reforms (agricultural, structural, labour, GST).
- Indian Constitution & Public Administration (5): salient features, Directive Principles, Fundamental Rights and Duties, parliamentary and federal system, Centre-State relations, judiciary, district administration, local bodies and Panchayati Raj.
- General Science (5): elementary Physics, Chemistry, Biology.
- Elementary Arithmetic (5): whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percentage, simple equations, squares and roots, exponents, average.
- General Hindi (5): sandhi, antonyms, synonyms, one-word substitution, gender, samshrut-bhinnarthak words, idioms and proverbs, common errors, authors and works.
- General English (5): grammar; unseen-passage questions.
- Logic & Reasoning (5): order and ranking, blood relations, odd one out, calendar and clock, cause-effect, coding-decoding, deductive reasoning.
- Current Affairs (10): Indian and global.
- General Awareness (10): neighbours, capitals and currencies, states and UTs, Parliament and state legislatures, national and international days, world organisations, tourist places, art and culture, sports, research organisations, books and authors, awards, climate change and environment.
- Hindi unseen-passage analysis (10): 2 passages × 5 questions.
- Graph interpretation (10): 2 graphs × 5 questions.
- Table interpretation (10): 2 tables × 5 questions.
- Strategy from the official structure: the last 5 areas (current affairs, GK, Hindi passages, graphs, tables) are HALF the paper (50/100) — daily newspaper + data-reading practice pays more than any single academic subject.
Official source: https://upsssc.gov.in (Advt No. 01-Exam/2025, PET-2025 notification dated 02-05-2025 section: Notifications/Advertisements)
⚠️ Always confirm against that year's official notification — the exam pattern and syllabus can change. This page is free guidance only.