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Andhra Pradesh · Government Exams
APPSC Group 2 is the recruitment that fills the state’s executive and ministerial middle: Deputy Tahsildars, Prohibition and Excise Sub-Inspectors, Assistant Section Officers in the Secretariat, Sub-Registrars, Assistant Registrars of Cooperative Societies, auditors, accountants and — in the 2023 cycle — Junior Assistants across forty-one departments. It is the largest APPSC recruitment by vacancy count and by field.
It is objective throughout, but it is not one examination. A screening test shortlists and is discarded; a two-paper mains builds the merit list; and a practical computer proficiency test stands between the merit list and appointment. Half of the mains is Andhra Pradesh — the social and cultural history of the state, its economy — and one-third of a mark is deducted for every wrong answer at both written stages.
APPSC Group 2 · checked 19 September 2026
The dates, vacancies and rules below are read on the conducting body’s own site and rewritten as each notice appears. The guide beneath carries the full pattern, syllabus, cut-offs and free mock tests.
Checked 19 September 2026
The 2023 cycle reached provisional selection in January 2026; no new notification as at 11 September 2026
Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission
A bachelor’s degree; law, commerce and computer qualifications for specific post codes
Objective screening test → two objective mains papers → qualifying computer proficiency test
Notification
Checked 11 September 2026. The current Group 2 cycle is Notification No. 11/2023 of 7 December 2023. Its provisional selection of 891 candidates was published on 28 January 2026 after certificate verification, the computer proficiency test and medical boards, and remains subject to pending writ petitions. No new Group 2 notification had been issued at the date checked, though the state’s 2026 job calendar names 15 October 2026 as the notification date for a Group 2 round of 673 posts.
| Stage | When |
|---|---|
| Notification issued | 7 December 2023, with the detailed notification on 20 December |
| Applications | 21 December 2023 to 10 January 2024 |
| Screening test | 25 February 2024; qualified list published 10 April 2024 |
| Main examination | Announced for 28 July 2024, rescheduled to 5 January 2025, then to 23 February 2025, when it was held |
| Mains results | 4 April 2025, with further result notifications in July and September 2025 |
| Verification, proficiency test and medical boards | Through 2025 |
| Provisional selection | 28 January 2026 — 891 candidates |
The selection notification states that the list is subject to the outcome of writ petitions pending before the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, and marks certain candidates’ posts and zones as subject to variation depending on two named petitions. The subject matter of the petitions is not stated in any commission document. A place on the provisional list is not an appointment.
The state’s job calendar for 2026, issued by government order on 22 August 2026, sets 15 October 2026 as the notification date for a third phase that includes 673 Group 2 posts — the calendar lists Deputy Tahsildars, Deputy MPDOs, Senior Accountants, Assistant Section Officers, Junior Accountants, GST Officers, Excise Sub-Inspectors and others. The calendar was read from a copy rather than from the government orders portal, and a calendar date is not a notification. Figures circulating for a September date or a different vacancy count do not match the calendar.
APPSC recruitment notifications Group 2 Notification No. 11/2023 — landing page APPSC selection lists
Overview
The 2023 notification split its 897 vacancies into an executive list — Deputy Tahsildar, Excise Sub-Inspector, Sub-Registrar, Municipal Commissioner Grade-III, Assistant Labour Officer, Assistant Registrar — and a non-executive list of Secretariat Assistant Section Officers, auditors, accountants and Junior Assistants. The same two mains papers rank every candidate; the post-code preferences submitted at verification, the zone and the reservation roster decide who gets which post.
The examination has three properties worth understanding. Its mains is half Andhra Pradesh — a 75-mark section on the social and cultural history of the state and a section on its economy — which no national state-PSC material prepares for. It penalises every wrong answer by a third of a mark, at the screening and at the mains, so guessing is a decision rather than a reflex. And it does not end with the written result: the computer proficiency test is practical, timed and qualifying, and no candidate is appointed without passing it.
The notification states that selection is on the merit of the main examination. The screening test shortlists in a ratio the commission fixes, with relaxed standards permitted for reserved categories, and its marks are then discarded. Prepare for the mains from the first week — the screening syllabus is a subset of it, and a candidate who prepares "for the screening" prepares for it twice.
Eligibility
| Requirement | What the notification set |
|---|---|
| Qualification | A bachelor’s degree of a recognised university for most posts, held as on the notification date of 7 December 2023. |
| Degree-specific posts | Assistant Section Officer (Law) required a law degree; ASO (Finance) a degree with economics, commerce or mathematics; Senior Accountant posts a degree in commerce, economics or mathematics, with the head-office post also requiring a technical board computer certificate or a computer-stream degree; Assistant Development Officer accepted a technical board diploma in textile or handloom technology. Sub-Registrar gave preference to a law degree. |
| Age | 18 to 42 years for most posts; Sub-Registrar 20 to 42; Prohibition and Excise Sub-Inspector 18 to 30. |
| Age relaxation | SC, ST, BC and EWS candidates 5 years, with SC and ST candidates for carried-forward vacancies 10; persons with benchmark disability 10 years; ex-servicemen and NCC instructors 3 years plus service; state government employees up to 5 years; widowed, divorced or judicially separated women not remarried, up to 48 for SC and ST and 43 for others in Junior Assistant posts. |
| Physical standards | Prohibition and Excise Sub-Inspector only, verified by medical board at the selection stage. |
| Application processing fee | ₹250, payable by every applicant. |
| Examination fee | ₹80, from which SC, ST, BC, disabled and ex-servicemen candidates, white-card household families and unemployed youth on declaration were exempt. |
Selection process
Each stage in order, and what it actually tests.
| Stage | Format | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Screening test | Objective, OMR — screening only | One paper of 150 questions and 150 marks in 150 minutes: general studies and mental ability in five parts of 30 — Indian history, geography, Indian society, current affairs and mental ability. One-third negative marking. Shortlists for the mains and is then discarded. |
| Main examination | Objective, OMR or computer-based at the commission’s discretion | Two papers of 150 questions, 150 marks and 150 minutes. Paper I: the social and cultural history of Andhra Pradesh for 75 and a general overview of the Indian Constitution for 75. Paper II: the Indian and Andhra Pradesh economy, and science and technology. One-third negative marking. The 300 marks build the merit list. |
| Certificate verification and computer proficiency test | Documents, then a practical test | Candidates shortlisted on mains merit produce originals for verification, submit post-code and zone preferences, and sit a 60-minute, 100-mark test of proficiency in office automation — qualifying at 40 for OC, 35 for BC and 30 for SC, ST and disabled candidates. Physical standards are verified by medical board for the Excise Sub-Inspector post. |
| Provisional selection | Merit and preference | Selection on mains merit among candidates who have qualified the proficiency test, allotted to post and zone by preference under the reservation roster. |
Exam pattern
| Stage | Paper | Content | Questions | Marks | Counts? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screening test | General Studies and Mental Ability | Indian history 30; geography 30; Indian society 30; current affairs 30; mental ability 30 | 150 | 150 | No — shortlists only |
| Main examination | Paper I | Section A: social and cultural history of Andhra Pradesh, 75. Section B: general overview of the Indian Constitution, 75 | 150 | 150 | Yes |
| Main examination | Paper II | Indian and Andhra Pradesh economy; science and technology | 150 | 150 | Yes |
| Computer proficiency test | Proficiency in office automation | Practical, 60 minutes | — | 100 | No — qualifying at 40, 35 or 30 by category |
Both the screening and the mains tables in the notification carry the same clause: as per G.O.Ms.No.235 of the Finance Department dated 6 December 2016, each wrong answer will be penalised with one-third of the marks prescribed for the question. On a one-mark question that is 0.33 lost per wrong answer, at the screening and at the mains alike.
APPSC revises paper structure, marks, syllabus detail and eligibility between recruitment cycles, and has done so more than once in recent years. Everything here describes the shape the recruitment has held; the notification for the cycle you are sitting is the document that decides it. Read it end to end before you plan around any figure.
Study plan
The 2023 mains was announced for July 2024, moved to January 2025 and held in February 2025. Build a routine that survives a moving date — the candidates who did well in this cycle were the ones still preparing when the date finally held.
Sources
Checked 11 September 2026. Vacancies, eligibility, fees, the scheme of examination, the negative-marking clause and the proficiency test are taken from Notification No. 11/2023 and its detailed notification; the chronology and the litigation caveat from the commission’s selection notification of January 2026. The commission’s old question papers archive holds one Group 2 paper — the 2016 screening test — and the 2023 screening and mains papers are published on the keys page as final keys in question-paper format.
APPSC recruitment notifications Notification No. 11/2023 with scheme and syllabus Detailed notification, 20 December 2023 Group 2 syllabus, April 2023 Provisional selection notification, 28 January 2026 APPSC old question papers archive APPSC final answer keys — 2023 screening and mains papers
Exam resources
Six resource pages, each kept in step with the latest official notification.
Questions
No. As at 11 September 2026 the most recent notification was No. 11/2023, whose provisional selection of 891 candidates was published in January 2026. The state’s 2026 job calendar names 15 October 2026 as the notification date for a Group 2 round of 673 posts, but a calendar date is not a notification — the commission’s own list is the only source that is.
A screening test of 150 questions for 150 marks in 150 minutes — general studies and mental ability in five parts — which shortlists and is then discarded. Then a mains of two objective papers of 150 questions and 150 marks each: Paper I is the social and cultural history of Andhra Pradesh for 75 and the Indian Constitution for 75; Paper II is the Indian and Andhra Pradesh economy and science and technology. Selection is on the 300 mains marks, followed by a qualifying computer proficiency test. There is no interview.
Yes, at both stages. The notification quotes G.O.Ms.No.235 of December 2016 in both the screening and the mains tables: each wrong answer is penalised with one-third of the marks prescribed for the question.
No. The 2023 scheme carries none, and the selection clause reads merit in the main examination. What follows the mains is certificate verification, a qualifying computer proficiency test, and medical boards for the Excise Sub-Inspector post.
A practical, 60-minute test of proficiency in office automation for 100 marks, under G.O.Ms.No.26 of February 2023 — multiple-choice questions on computer fundamentals, then tasks in word processing with typing speed, spreadsheets and presentations. It is qualifying at 40 for OC, 35 for BC and 30 for SC, ST and disabled candidates, and no candidate is eligible for appointment without passing it.
In the 2023 cycle, reckoned as on 1 July 2023: 18 to 42 for most posts, 20 to 42 for Sub-Registrar and 18 to 30 for Prohibition and Excise Sub-Inspector. Relaxation of five years applies to SC, ST, BC and EWS candidates and ten to candidates with benchmark disability, with further provisions for ex-servicemen, state employees and widowed or separated women in Junior Assistant posts.
An application processing fee of ₹250, payable by everyone, and an examination fee of ₹80, from which SC, ST, BC, disabled and ex-servicemen candidates, white-card household families of Andhra Pradesh and unemployed youth on declaration were exempt.
A quarter of the mains on its own — Section A of Paper I is 75 marks on the social and cultural history of the state — plus the state economy in Paper II and the state’s geography in the screening. Well over a third of the examination, and the part no national state-PSC material prepares for.
The old question papers archive holds the 2016 screening test and no mains paper. The 2023 screening paper and both 2023 mains papers are published on the keys page as final keys in question-paper format — the questions with the correct options marked — which serve as the official practice papers for the current scheme.
In the 2023 cycle, fifty-nine post codes across two lists. Executive: Municipal Commissioner Grade-III, Sub-Registrar, Deputy Tahsildar, Assistant Labour Officer, Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Extension Officer, Prohibition and Excise Sub-Inspector and Assistant Development Officer. Non-executive: Assistant Section Officers in four Secretariat departments, senior and junior auditors and accountants, and Junior Assistants in forty-one departments. The exact list and vacancies are set by the notification.
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