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Karnataka · Government Exams
The Gazetted Probationers examination is the Karnataka Public Service Commission’s recruitment to the state’s Group A and B services — assistant commissioners, commercial tax officers, tahsildars, treasury and cooperative officers, section officers — under the Karnataka Recruitment of Gazetted Probationers rules of 1997 as amended through 2022. It is the state’s civil services examination, and it is built like the Union one: an objective preliminary that screens and does not count, a descriptive main examination of seven papers, and a personality test.
The 2026-27 notification of 31 July 2026 offers 319 posts, 117 in Group A and 202 in Group B, with 22 reserved to the Kalyana Karnataka local cadre. Applications closed on 7 September after a week’s extension for certificate and payment failures, and the preliminary examination is on 15 November 2026. The merit is 1,275 marks — 1,250 of mains and 25 of personality test — with prelims serving only to admit fifteen candidates per post.
KPSC KAS · 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
319 — Group A 117, Group B 202; 297 residual cadre, 22 Kalyana Karnataka
Applications closed 7 September 2026; prelims 15 November 2026; mains 12 to 18 February 2027, tentative
Karnataka Public Service Commission
Two papers of 100 questions and 200 marks; 0.25 off per wrong answer; screening at one to fifteen
Notification
Checked 11 September 2026. The 2026-27 notification of 31 July 2026 took applications from 1 August with a closing date of 31 August, extended by corrigendum of 31 August to 7 September 2026 — citing failures of the caste and income certificate servers and of fee payment in rural areas, and stating no other change. The window is closed. The commission’s timetable puts the preliminary on 15 November 2026 and its result on 15 December; the mains notification on 21 or 22 December with applications to 11 January 2027; the mains on 12, 14, 16 and 18 February 2027 with the result on 27 April; the personality tests from 10 to 31 May; and the provisional select list on 5 June 2027. All dates are tentative.
| Post | Residual cadre | Kalyana Karnataka | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assistant Commissioner, junior scale — Group A | 36 | 3 | 39 |
| Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes — Group A | 50 | — | 50 |
| Executive Officer, rural development — Group A | 13 | 2 | 15 |
| Assistant Director Grade 1, social welfare — Group A | 11 | — | 11 |
| Assistant Director, treasury — Group A | 2 | — | 2 |
| Commercial Tax Officer | 74 | — | 74 |
| Tahsildar Grade 2 | 18 | 7 | 25 |
| Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies | 19 | 2 | 21 |
| Chief Officer Grade 1, urban development | 18 | 2 | 20 |
| Assistant Treasury Officer | 12 | — | 12 |
| Assistant Director, agricultural marketing | 10 | 2 | 12 |
| Assistant Director Grade 2, social welfare | 11 | — | 11 |
| Assistant Superintendent, prisons | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Excise Deputy Superintendent | 5 | — | 5 |
| Section Officer — secretariat 5, commission 4 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| Assistant Director, food and civil supplies | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Employment Officer | 3 | — | 3 |
| All posts | 297 | 22 | 319 |
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Preliminary | 27 August 2024 |
| Commission’s note on the translation objections | 29 August 2024 |
| Re-examination of the preliminary fixed by corrigendum | 1 October 2024, for 29 December 2024 |
| Revised key of the re-examination | 30 January 2025 |
| Mains notification | 13 February 2025 |
| Mains, postponed from March | 3, 5, 7 and 9 May 2025 |
| High Court order on the candidates who wrote under interim orders | 6 March 2026 — results to be declared |
| One-to-three personality-test list of 1,152 | 2 March 2026 |
| Personality tests and verification | 6 May to 10 June 2026 |
| Select list | Not published at 11 September 2026 |
Overview
The post list is what makes the examination worth its year. In 2026-27 Group A carries 39 assistant commissioners in the junior scale, 50 assistant commissioners of commercial taxes, 15 executive officers of the rural development department, 11 assistant directors in social welfare and 2 in the treasury. Group B carries 74 commercial tax officers, 25 tahsildars of Grade 2, 21 assistant registrars of cooperative societies, 20 chief officers of urban local bodies, 12 assistant treasury officers, 12 assistant directors of agricultural marketing, 11 assistant directors of social welfare, 9 section officers of the secretariat and the commission, and smaller numbers in prisons, excise, food and civil supplies and employment. Physical standards apply only to the prisons, excise and police-type posts.
The 2023-24 cycle explains why this one is watched. Its preliminary of 27 August 2024 drew objections to the Kannada translation of the papers; the commission said its own translators had done the work and sent the objections to subject experts, then re-held the preliminary on 29 December 2024. The mains, postponed from March, were held in May 2025; three hundred candidates wrote them under interim court orders and the High Court in March 2026 directed their results to be declared with everyone else’s; the one-to-three personality-test list of 1,152 was published on 2 March 2026 and the tests ran from 6 May to 10 June 2026. No select list for that cycle had been published at the date checked.
Unlike the commission’s Group B and C rounds, which are notified separately for the residual and Hyderabad-Karnataka cadres, the Gazetted Probationers notification carries both in one document with a split column per post. A local-cadre candidate uploads the eligibility certificate in the prescribed form from the assistant commissioner of the sub-division and marks the option in the online form; the certificate must be obtained before the closing date.
Eligibility
| Requirement | Rule |
|---|---|
| Qualification | A bachelor’s or master’s degree from a university established by law, or equivalent. A candidate whose final result is awaited may sit the preliminary and must prove the pass with the mains application. |
| Age | 21 minimum. 35, 38 and 40 under the rules for the general category, the 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B categories, and SC, ST and Category I — raised to 40, 43 and 45 by the one-time five-year relaxation ordered on 29 January 2026, which applies to notifications issued up to 31 December 2027. |
| Further relaxation | Ex-servicemen, service plus three years; PwD, ten years; widows with certificate, ten years. |
| Attempts | Five for the general category; seven for Category I, 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B; no limit for SC and ST. Appearing in the preliminary counts. |
| Physical standards | For prisons, excise and police-type posts only — 168 cm and 86 cm chest with 5 cm expansion for men, 157 cm for women, in the prisons table. |
| Certificates | Obtained before the closing date and uploaded; caste-and-income certificates for the 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B categories valid five years; 4 per cent for PwD and 1 per cent for transgender candidates. |
| Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| General | ₹600 |
| 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B | ₹300 |
| Ex-servicemen | ₹50 |
| SC, ST, Category I, PwD | Exempt |
There is no separate compulsory Kannada language test in this examination, as there is in the commission’s Group B and C recruitments. The Kannada requirement is the qualifying Kannada paper of the mains, at SSLC first-language standard, with 35 per cent to pass — and the same standard and threshold apply to the English paper.
Selection process
Each stage in order, and what it actually tests.
| Stage | Format | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Preliminary examination | Objective, two papers of 200 marks, one day | Paper I: general studies of national and international scope, 40 questions, and the humanities, 60. Paper II: general studies of the state, 40; general science and technology, environment and ecology, 30; general mental ability, 30. Two marks a question, two hours a paper, Kannada and English, 0.25 off per wrong answer and nothing off for a blank. Fifteen candidates per post go through. |
| Main examination | Descriptive, seven papers over four days | Kannada and English of 150 marks each, qualifying at 35 per cent, two hours; then the essay and general studies papers 1 to 4 of 250 marks and three hours each, answerable wholly in Kannada or wholly in English. Written total 1,250. A separate mains application follows the prelims result. |
| Personality test | 25 marks; one to three from mains | Candidates at one to three of the vacancies are called with their original documents. The 2023-24 tests took five weeks for 1,158 candidates. |
| Select list | One to one on 1,275 | The provisional select list is published with the written and personality-test marks, service allotment following preference and rank in reservation order. The 2026-27 timetable puts it at 5 June 2027. |
Exam pattern
| Paper | Sections | Questions | Marks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper I | General studies, national and international, 40 questions for 80; humanities, 60 for 120 | 100 | 200 | 2 hours |
| Paper II | General studies of the state, 40 for 80; general science and technology, environment and ecology, 30 for 60; general mental ability, 30 for 60 | 100 | 200 | 2 hours |
The rules as amended in 2013: for each question answered wrongly, one-fourth of the marks assigned — 0.25, or half a mark on a two-mark question — is deducted; a question given more than one answer is treated as wrong even if one answer is correct; a question left blank carries no penalty. The 2024 preliminary Paper I prints the instruction on its front page. Mental ability is set at SSLC level, the rest at degree level; fifteen candidates per post are admitted to the mains, maintaining the ratio in each reserved category.
| Paper | Marks | Time | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kannada — qualifying | 150 | 2 hours | 35 per cent, 52.5 marks, at SSLC first-language standard; not counted |
| English — qualifying | 150 | 2 hours | As Kannada |
| Paper 1 — essay | 250 | 3 hours | Wholly in Kannada or wholly in English |
| Paper 2 — general studies 1 | 250 | 3 hours | Three sections |
| Paper 3 — general studies 2 | 250 | 3 hours | Three sections |
| Paper 4 — general studies 3 | 250 | 3 hours | Three sections |
| Paper 5 — general studies 4 | 250 | 3 hours | Three sections |
| Written total | 1,250 | — | — |
| Personality test | 25 | — | Reduced from 50 in 2022; one to three called |
| Total | 1,275 | — | Reduced from 1,300 in 2022 |
Sources
Checked 11 September 2026 against the 2026-27 notification, corrigendum, timetable and press note, the five-year relaxation order, the mains scheme and rules documents on the commission’s syllabus page, the 2024 re-examination papers and corrigenda, and the 2023-24 eligibility list and personality-test press notes. The notification’s English text supplied the scheme and the negative-marking clause verbatim. The reason for the 2024 re-examination is stated only obliquely in the commission’s own note; press accounts of the number of translation errors are not relied on.
Notification 2026-27, 31 July 2026 Corrigendum of 31 August 2026 Press note of 13 August 2026 on the age relaxation Government order of 29 January 2026 — five-year relaxation Mains scheme and 2022 amendment Rules of 24 November 2014 KPSC — Gazetted Probationers rules page Corrigendum fixing the 2024 re-examination Commission’s note on the translation objections, 29 August 2024 Mains corrigendum of 27 March 2025 2023-24 personality-test eligibility list, 2 March 2026 Press note on the personality tests, 5 May 2026
Exam resources
Six resource pages, each kept in step with the latest official notification.
Questions
On 15 November 2026, tentatively, with the result on 15 December. The 2026-27 notification of 31 July 2026 closed for applications on 7 September after a week’s extension. The mains are scheduled for 12, 14, 16 and 18 February 2027, the personality tests for May 2027 and the provisional select list for 5 June 2027 — all tentative.
319 — 117 in Group A, including 39 assistant commissioners and 50 assistant commissioners of commercial taxes, and 202 in Group B, including 74 commercial tax officers, 25 tahsildars and 21 assistant registrars of cooperative societies. 297 are residual cadre and 22 Kalyana Karnataka local cadre.
A preliminary of two objective papers of 100 questions and 200 marks each, with 0.25 of the question’s marks deducted per wrong answer and no penalty for a blank, admitting fifteen candidates per post; a main examination of seven descriptive papers — Kannada and English of 150 marks qualifying at 35 per cent, and an essay and four general studies papers of 250 marks each for 1,250; and a personality test of 25 marks. The merit is 1,275; prelims marks are discarded.
Yes. Under the 2013 amendment, one-fourth of the marks assigned to a question — 0.25, which is half a mark on a two-mark question — is deducted for each wrong answer. A question given more than one answer is treated as wrong. A question left blank carries no penalty.
Five for the general category, seven for Category I and the 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B categories, and no limit for SC and ST candidates. Appearing in the preliminary examination counts as an attempt.
Twenty-one minimum. The rules set 35 for the general category, 38 for 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B, and 40 for SC, ST and Category I; a one-time five-year relaxation ordered on 29 January 2026 raised these to 40, 43 and 45 for notifications issued up to 31 December 2027. Ex-servicemen get service plus three years, PwD candidates and widows ten years. Age is reckoned on the closing date for applications.
₹600 for the general category, ₹300 for the 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B categories, ₹50 for ex-servicemen, and no fee for SC, ST, Category I and PwD candidates. Paid online through the KPSC portal; not refundable.
The preliminary of 27 August 2024 drew objections to the Kannada translation of the papers. The commission said its own translators had done the work and referred the objections to subject experts, then fixed a re-examination by corrigendum of 1 October 2024, held on 29 December 2024. The mains followed in May 2025, the personality tests in May and June 2026, and no select list for that cycle had been published at 11 September 2026.
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