Overview
What Bihar Teaching Recruitment is, and who it suits
The fourth round’s posts are the education department’s alone: 3,847 in classes 1 to 5 — 3,065 general, 757 Urdu and 25 Bangla at a basic pay of ₹25,000; 8,563 in classes 6 to 8 across mathematics and science, social science, Hindi, English, Sanskrit and Urdu at ₹28,000; 3,877 in classes 9 and 10 across nine subjects at ₹31,000; and 16,101 in classes 11 and 12 across twenty-two subjects at ₹32,000, chemistry alone taking 3,695 and physics 1,758. Vacancies for further subjects — the regional languages, fine arts, dance, agriculture and the special teachers — are to be notified on supplementary requisition, and special school teachers have their own round of 7,279 posts whose results are held pending a Supreme Court order. Forty per cent of the posts are reserved for candidates who passed matric or intermediate from institutions in Bihar.
The first three rounds shared one scheme: a single objective paper of 150 questions and 150 marks in two and a half hours — a qualifying language part of 30 questions in English and Hindi, Urdu or Bangla at 30 per cent, then general studies of 120 for classes 1 to 5, or general studies of 40 and the subject for 80 at the higher levels — with no negative marking, category minimums of 40, 36.5, 34 and 32 per cent, no interview and no re-evaluation. The first round dropped a Bihar-domicile requirement by corrigendum in June 2023 and its negative marking in August; the third round’s paper of 15 March 2024 was cancelled on 20 March on the economic offences unit’s report that it had leaked before the examination, and re-held from 19 to 22 July 2024, with results in November and December.
What the fourth round changes
- A preliminary that screens — 150 marks of general studies in two hours — science, current events, the history and geography of India and Bihar with its rivers, polity and economy, the national movement with Bihar’s role, mental ability — with a shortlist of two and a half to ten times the vacancies.
- Negative marking at both stages — one-third of a mark per wrong answer, and five options with E as “not attempting”; a question with none of the five marked is also penalised one-third.
- The mains as before, with the penalty — one paper per level of 150 questions — the qualifying language part of 30, then general studies 120 or general studies 40 and the subject 80 — with merit on the counted parts; the advertisement prints two and a half hours in its table and two in a bullet.
- A fee of ₹100 a level — under the state’s resolution of August 2025, plus ₹200 for biometrics without Aadhaar; the special teacher round of 2025 charged ₹750 and ₹200.
STET and the eligibility tests
The board’s STET 2026, advertised on 13 August, registers from 17 August to 31 August — reported extended to 15 September — at ₹960 for one paper and ₹1,440 for both, or ₹760 and ₹1,140 for SC, ST and PwD; a computer-based test of 150 marks in 150 minutes — 100 of the subject and 50 of teaching aptitude — with no negative marking, normalised across shifts, passed at 50 per cent for the general category, 45.5 for BC, 42.5 for EBC and 40 for SC, ST, PwD and women, with a certificate valid for life under the department’s order of June 2021. Age is 21 to 37, 40 or 42 on 1 August 2026, with no relaxation for trained candidates since tests were held in 2023, 2024 and 2025. For classes 1 to 8 the fourth round asks for CTET or BTET Paper I or II at 60 per cent, or 55 and 50 by category; no BTET cycle was found on the board’s site.
