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The State Services examination is the Maharashtra Public Service Commission’s recruitment to the state’s Group A and B civil posts — deputy superintendents of police, block development officers, assistant directors of finance and accounts, tahsildars, section officers and the rest. Since 2025 it has been built like the Union examination: an objective preliminary that screens and does not count, a main examination of nine descriptive papers, and an interview. The preliminary is now a combined examination for several gazetted services, and the mains that follows is the State Services Main.
The 2026 cycle is at the mains. The combined preliminary of 31 May 2026, notified on 24 December 2025 for 87 posts and revised on 17 June 2026 to 265 across three services, sent its result on 22 June; the State Services Main for 238 posts, notified on 25 August, took applications to 10 September and is examined from 3 October to 1 November 2026 at six centres. The 2025 cycle, the first on the descriptive pattern, published its mains result on 25 August 2026 with 438 candidates through and interviewed them from 7 to 12 September.
MPSC Rajyaseva · 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
Advt 132/2025 prelims, 31 May; result 22 June; State Services Main Advt 018/2026, 238 posts, 3 October to 1 November 2026
Mains applications closed 10 September 2026, fee to 13 September; no window open
Maharashtra Public Service Commission
Two papers of 200 — general studies counted, CSAT qualifying at 33 per cent; 0.25 off per wrong answer
Notification
Checked 11 September 2026. No window is open. The 2026 mains notification of 25 August 2026, with a corrigendum of 2 September on final-year candidates, took applications from 27 August at 2 pm to 10 September at 11.59 pm, with the fee payable to 13 September; the papers run from 3 October to 1 November. The 2025 cycle — prelims Advt 012/2025, postponed from 28 September to 9 November 2025 for floods, result 27 February 2026; mains Advt 001/2026 in April and May 2026, result 25 August 2026 with 438 candidates qualified — was at interview from 7 to 12 September 2026 at Navi Mumbai. The 2024 cycle, the last on the objective pattern, is reported to have published its provisional selection list on 5 January 2026.
| Event | Detail |
|---|---|
| Preliminary advertisement | Advt 132/2025, 24 December 2025 — 87 posts; applications to 20 January 2026 |
| Preliminary examination | 31 May 2026 |
| Corrigendum on posts | 17 June 2026 — 265 posts: State Service 238, veterinary 7, civil engineering 4 |
| Preliminary result | 22 June 2026 |
| Mains notification | Advt 018/2026, 25 August 2026 — 238 State Service posts; corrigendum 2 September |
| Mains applications | 27 August 2 pm to 10 September 2026 11.59 pm; fee to 13 September |
| Mains papers | 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 17, 18, 31 October and 1 November 2026, 11.00 to 2.00 |
| Date | Paper |
|---|---|
| 3 October | Paper 1 — language, Marathi |
| 4 October | Paper 2 — language, English |
| 5 October | Paper 3 — essay |
| 10 October | Paper 4 — general studies 1 |
| 11 October | Paper 5 — general studies 2 |
| 17 October | Paper 6 — general studies 3 |
| 18 October | Paper 7 — general studies 4 |
| 31 October | Paper 8 — optional subject 1 |
| 1 November | Paper 9 — optional subject 2 |
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Preliminary — Advt 012/2025 | 9 November 2025, postponed from 28 September for floods |
| Preliminary result | 27 February 2026 |
| State Services Main — Advt 001/2026 | April and May 2026 |
| Mains result — 438 qualified | 25 August 2026 |
| Interviews at Navi Mumbai | 7 to 12 September 2026 |
| Mains cut-off, unreserved | 942 general, 959 women, of the 1,750 counted |
Overview
The 2026 posts show the range. The corrigendum of 17 June 2026 lists 8 deputy superintendents of police and assistant commissioners, 13 deputy chief executive officers and block development officers of the upper grade, 32 assistant directors of the finance and accounts service, 30 assistant block development officers and the other cadres that make up the 238 State Service posts, alongside 7 livestock development officers of the veterinary service and 4 posts of the civil engineering service that share the same preliminary. Physical standards apply to the police, excise and prisons posts — 165 cm and an 84 cm chest with 5 cm expansion for men in the police service, 157 cm for women.
The commission changed the mains from objective to descriptive with effect from the 2025 cycle, after announcing the change in 2022 and deferring it once. Under the scheme in the 2026 mains notification, the two language papers of 300 marks are qualifying at 25 per cent; the essay, the four general studies papers and the two optional papers of 250 each make 1,750; the interview is 275; and the merit is 2,025. Each general studies paper carries twenty compulsory questions, ten at 150 words and ten at 250, answered wholly in Marathi or wholly in English as chosen at application. A notice of June 2026 is reported to remove the optional papers from the 2027 cycle; that notice was not read and the 2026 scheme stands as notified.
The preliminary is advertised as the Maharashtra Civil Services Gazetted Combined Preliminary Examination — Advt 132/2025 for the 2026 cycle — and screens for the State Service, the police service and, in 2026, the veterinary and civil engineering services. The State Services Main is notified separately, as Advt 018/2026, and the mains for the other services separately again. It is not combined with the commission’s Group B non-gazetted or Group C examinations, which have their own preliminaries.
Eligibility
| Requirement | Rule |
|---|---|
| Citizenship and language | Indian citizen; knowledge of Marathi required. |
| Qualification | A degree of a statutory university, or an equivalent the government recognises; the finance and accounts cadres need a commerce degree with 55 per cent, a chartered or cost accountancy final, a commerce postgraduate degree or an MBA in finance; the industries officer an engineering or science degree. |
| Final-year candidates | May sit the preliminary; must have passed the degree by the closing date for the mains application. |
| Age | 18 or 19 minimum by cadre; 38 for the unreserved; 43 for backward classes, EWS, orphans, sportspersons and ex-servicemen; 45 for PwD. |
| Physical standards | Deputy superintendent of police and assistant commissioner: men 165 cm and 84 cm chest with 5 cm expansion, women 157 cm. Excise superintendent and deputy superintendent: men 165 cm and 79 cm with 5 cm, women 155 cm. |
| Attempts | No limit stated in the notification. |
| Stage | Unreserved | Backward classes, EWS, orphans, PwD |
|---|---|---|
| Mains, 2026 | ₹544 | ₹344 |
| Preliminary | The commission’s 2026 preliminary advertisements for its other combined examinations charge ₹394 | ₹294 |
Selection process
Each stage in order, and what it actually tests.
| Stage | Format | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Combined preliminary examination | Objective, two papers of 200, one day | Paper I, general studies, 100 questions for 200 marks, counted; Paper II, the civil services aptitude test, 200 marks, qualifying at 33 per cent. Two hours each, Marathi and English, a quarter of the question’s marks off per wrong answer. The 2026 paper was on 31 May with the result on 22 June. |
| State Services Main Examination | Descriptive, nine papers over nine days | Marathi and English, 300 each, qualifying at 25 per cent; essay, 250; general studies 1 to 4, 250 each; optional subject papers 1 and 2, 250 each. Three hours a paper, 11.00 to 2.00. The 2026 mains runs from 3 October to 1 November at Amravati, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai and Pune. |
| Interview | 275 marks; about three per post | At the commission’s office in Navi Mumbai, with original documents. The 2025 cycle’s 438 candidates were interviewed from 7 to 12 September 2026. |
| Merit and allotment | 2,025; preferences locked at application | A general merit list of mains plus interview, then the provisional selection list by cadre preference and reservation, then the final merit and recommendation lists after objections and verification. |
Exam pattern
| Paper | Marks | Time | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper I — general studies | 200, 100 questions | 2 hours | Counted for the cut-off |
| Paper II — civil services aptitude test | 200 | 2 hours | Qualifying at 33 per cent |
| Negative marking | — | — | A quarter of the question’s marks per wrong answer; more than one answer marked is wrong |
| Result | — | — | Cut-off on Paper I by category; 2026 unreserved 98 of 200; marks not carried forward |
| Paper | Marks | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 — Marathi | 300 | Qualifying at 25 per cent; not counted |
| Paper 2 — English | 300 | Qualifying at 25 per cent; not counted. Essay 100, comprehension 75, précis 75, usage and vocabulary 50; answered in English |
| Paper 3 — essay | 250 | Two sections of four topics, one from each; in Marathi or English as opted |
| Papers 4 to 7 — general studies 1 to 4 | 250 each | Twenty compulsory questions, printed in both languages; questions 1 to 10 in 150 words, 11 to 20 in 250; answered wholly in one language |
| Papers 8 and 9 — optional subject | 250 each | In the medium fixed for the subject |
| Written total counted | 1,750 | Papers 3 to 9 |
| Interview | 275 | About three per post |
| Total | 2,025 | Merit list of mains plus interview |
The commission draws the interview cut-off on the total of papers 3 to 9 at roughly three candidates per post, category by category. Under its minimum-percentile rule a candidate must also stand at or above the 35th percentile of the written marks if unreserved, the 30th if from a backward class or an orphan, and the 20th if PwD or a sportsperson. A candidate qualified on a reserved category’s cut-off is considered only for that category. Word limits are enforced with deductions, blank pages must be struck through, and sub-questions answered out of sequence are not assessed.
Sources
Checked 11 September 2026 on the commission’s own site against the State Services Main notification Advt 018/2026 of 25 August 2026 and its corrigendum of 2 September, the corrigendum of 17 June 2026 revising the posts under Advt 132/2025, the 2025 mains interview schedule of 25 August 2026, and the commission’s question-paper structure document for the descriptive mains. The commission’s site renders its documents from an application rather than static links, so the links below go to its section pages. The preliminary scheme is as the commission’s scheme documents state it; the 2026 preliminary fee figure is from the commission’s other combined preliminary advertisements of 2026.
Exam resources
Six resource pages, each kept in step with the latest official notification.
Questions
From 3 October to 1 November 2026 — the languages on 3 and 4 October, the essay on 5, general studies on 10, 11, 17 and 18, and the optional papers on 31 October and 1 November, each from 11.00 to 2.00, at Amravati, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai and Pune. Applications under Advt 018/2026 closed on 10 September 2026 with the fee to 13 September.
238 State Service posts in the mains notification of 25 August 2026, including 8 deputy superintendents of police, 13 deputy chief executive officers and block development officers, 32 assistant directors of finance and accounts and 30 assistant block development officers. The combined preliminary advertisement of 24 December 2025 offered 87 posts, revised on 17 June 2026 to 265 across the State Service, the veterinary service and the civil engineering service.
A combined preliminary of two objective papers of 200 — general studies counted, the aptitude test qualifying at 33 per cent, a quarter mark off per wrong answer — then the State Services Main of nine descriptive papers: Marathi and English of 300 qualifying at 25 per cent, and an essay, four general studies papers and two optional papers of 250 each for 1,750, all three hours. An interview of 275 follows for about three candidates per post, and the merit is 2,025.
Yes, from the 2025 cycle. Each general studies paper has twenty compulsory questions printed in Marathi and English — ten answered in 150 words and ten in 250 — answered wholly in one language chosen at the preliminary application. The essay paper offers two sections of four topics with one essay from each. The English paper is answered in English. The 2025 mains of April and May 2026 was the first on this pattern; its result of 25 August 2026 qualified 438 candidates.
Eighteen or nineteen minimum by cadre, and on 1 April 2026: 38 for the unreserved, 43 for backward classes, EWS, orphans, sportspersons and ex-servicemen, and 45 for PwD candidates, per the mains notification. The industries officer (technical) cadre reckons age on 20 January 2026. No limit on attempts is stated.
₹544 for unreserved candidates and ₹344 for backward classes, EWS, orphans and PwD at the 2026 mains, online only and not refundable. The commission’s 2026 combined preliminary advertisements for its other examinations charge ₹394 and ₹294.
Yes. A quarter of the marks assigned to a question is deducted for each wrong answer in both preliminary papers, and a question with more than one answer marked is treated as wrong. The descriptive mains has no negative marking, though marks are deducted for answers longer or shorter than the word limit.
For the 2026 combined preliminary, 98 of 200 on the general studies paper for the unreserved category. For the 2025 mains, on the 1,750 counted, 942 for unreserved general candidates and 959 for unreserved women, with 438 candidates called to the interviews of 7 to 12 September 2026.
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