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Uttar Pradesh · Government Exams
The Preliminary Eligibility Test is the gate to every Group C post the Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission fills — lekhpal, junior assistant, forest guard, excise constable, pharmacist, junior engineer and the rest. Under the state’s two-tier system of November 2020, only a candidate who sat the PET and holds a score card may apply for a mains, and the commission shortlists fifteen candidates per post from the PET score for each mains it holds. One paper of 100 questions in two hours, on OMR, with a quarter mark off per wrong answer and the score normalised across shifts.
The test is now annual with a three-year score. PET 2025, notified on 2 May 2025 and held on 6 and 7 September 2025 in four shifts at 1,479 centres, feeds the twenty-one mains the commission advertised in 2026 — the lekhpal round of 7,994 posts among them. PET 2026, advertised on 1 August 2026, took applications from 3 August to 7 September after a week’s extension and is examined on 23, 24 and 25 October 2026 in two shifts a day. A candidate with more than one valid score applies on the highest.
UPSSSC PET · 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 16-Exam/2026, 1 August 2026; applications 3 August to 7 September; exam 23, 24 and 25 October 2026, 10 to 12 and 3 to 5
Applications and corrections closed; admit cards to follow; PET 2025 scores in use for the 2026 mains
Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission
100 questions, 100 marks, two hours, OMR; a quarter off per wrong answer; normalised across shifts
Notification
Checked 11 September 2026. PET 2026 is between application and examination. Advertised on 1 August 2026 as 16-Exam/2026, it took applications from 3 August with a closing date of 1 September, extended to 7 September by the corrigendum of 1 September, and corrections to 8 September; the schedule notice of 9 September fixes the test for 23, 24 and 25 October 2026 in two shifts a day, 10 to 12 and 3 to 5. Admit cards and exam districts had not been announced. PET 2025 — held on 6 and 7 September 2025 in 48 districts at 1,479 centres, provisional key 9 September, revised keys 18 November, result in early December — is the score the 2026 mains use. No PET was held in 2024; the mains of 2024-25 drew on PET 2023, whose result of 29 January 2024 cancelled 31 candidates for booklet-number errors and held 75 for unfair means.
| Cycle | Advertisement | Applications | Examination | Result and validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PET 2026 | 16-Exam/2026, 1 August 2026 | 3 August to 7 September 2026, extended from 1 September | 23, 24 and 25 October 2026, two shifts a day | Three years from upload |
| PET 2025 | 01-Exam/2025, 2 May 2025 | 14 May to 17 June 2025 | 6 and 7 September 2025, four shifts, 1,479 centres in 48 districts | Early December 2025; three years |
| PET 2024 | None held | — | — | The 2024-25 mains used PET 2023 |
| PET 2023 | 07-Exam/2023, 1 August 2023 | 1 to 30 August 2023 | 28 and 29 October 2023, two shifts a day | 29 January 2024; one year |
| Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Unreserved and OBC | ₹160 + ₹25 = ₹185 |
| SC and ST | ₹70 + ₹25 = ₹95 |
| PwD | ₹25 |
| Women, freedom fighters’ dependants, ex-servicemen, sportspersons | By original category |
Overview
The PET was created by the government order of 20 November 2020: every Group C post advertised after that date is filled through a preliminary test and a mains, and the commission shortlists fifteen candidates per post, category by category, from the preliminary’s normalised score, including everyone tied at the cut-off to two decimal places. A candidate with a zero or negative score is not shortlisted. The order of 28 April 2025 made the test annual and its score valid for three years, replacing the one-year validity under which PET 2023’s scores, published on 29 January 2024, expired in January 2025.
The scheme has not changed since the order of 19 February 2021. Fifteen heads make up the 100 marks: Indian history, the national movement, geography, the Indian economy, the Constitution and public administration, general science, elementary arithmetic, general Hindi, general English and logic and reasoning at five marks each; current affairs and general awareness at ten each; and three analytical heads of ten each — two unseen Hindi passages, two graphs and two tables, five questions on each. The first nine heads are set at NCERT secondary and senior-secondary level. A quarter mark is deducted for each wrong answer, and where the test runs in more than one shift the scores are normalised under the commission’s notice of 22 May 2019.
The commission’s notice of 14 July 2026 made a free one-time registration mandatory before any PET or mains application — new, or completed with a PET 2025 registration number — with an OTP-verified mobile and email, a photograph under six months old and a signature with the name in Hindi. Under the modification notice of 31 July, corrections must be made before registering for the next PET; a registration linked to PET 2025 cannot change name, date of birth or mobile, and a fresh one cannot change the mobile. Aadhaar authentication is used at later stages.
Eligibility
| Requirement | Rule |
|---|---|
| Qualification | High school or equivalent, held by the closing date. |
| Age | 18 to 40 on 1 July 2026 — and reckoned afresh under the department’s rules for each mains. |
| Relaxation | SC, ST and OBC as the government notifies; skilled sportspersons five years; ex-servicemen three years with conditions; PwD fifteen years; state government employees five years. |
| Registration | One-time registration first; a PET 2025 registration number completes it. |
| Score use | Only a candidate with a positive numerical score is shortlisted; where more than one score is valid, the highest is used. |
The PET sets no domicile condition; reservation in the mains follows each department’s rules and the state’s residence requirements, and the commission applies the Uttar Pradesh Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024 to the test.
Selection process
Each stage in order, and what it actually tests.
| Stage | Format | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Registration and application | One-time registration, then the PET form | PET 2026: applications and fee from 3 August to 1 September 2026, extended to 7 September by the corrigendum of 1 September, with corrections from 10 August to 8 September. ₹185 for unreserved and OBC candidates, ₹95 for SC and ST, ₹25 for PwD — each including a ₹25 processing fee. |
| The test | 100 questions, two hours, OMR, in shifts over three days | PET 2026 on 23, 24 and 25 October 2026, 10 to 12 and 3 to 5. Fifteen heads of five to ten marks; a quarter off per wrong answer; scores normalised across the six shifts. Exam-district advance information and admit cards from the commission’s portal. |
| Keys and score | Provisional key, objections, revised key, score card | PET 2025: provisional key 9 September 2025, objection link 11 September, shift-wise revised keys 18 November, and the result in early December. The score card carries the normalised score to two decimals, valid three years. |
| The mains | Fifteen per post on the PET score | Each mains has its own advertisement, ₹25 application and shortlist; the shortlisted pay the mains fee and sit a 100-mark paper, with a typing test for clerical posts. No interview under the 2017 rules. |
Exam pattern
| Head | Marks | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Indian history | 5 | NCERT secondary and senior secondary |
| Indian national movement | 5 | As above |
| Geography | 5 | As above |
| Indian economy | 5 | As above |
| Indian Constitution and public administration | 5 | As above |
| General science | 5 | As above |
| Elementary arithmetic | 5 | As above |
| General Hindi | 5 | As above |
| General English | 5 | As above |
| Logic and reasoning | 5 | — |
| Current affairs | 10 | — |
| General awareness | 10 | — |
| Two unseen Hindi passages | 10 | Five questions each |
| Two graphs | 10 | Five questions each |
| Two tables | 10 | Five questions each |
The advertisement states that a quarter mark is deducted for every wrong answer. Where the test is held in more than one shift or on more than one day, the scores are normalised for comparative evaluation under the commission’s notice of 22 May 2019, and it is the normalised score, to two decimals, that the mains advertisements shortlist on — the percentile printed on PET 2023 score cards has given way to the normalised score. The cut for a mains is whatever score admits fifteen candidates per post in each category, ties included.
Sources
Checked 11 September 2026 against the PET 2025 advertisement on the commission’s site, the PET 2026 advertisement read from a mirror of the commission’s PDF after its de-listing, the 2026 schedule notice and extension corrigendum, the PET 2025 schedule and revised-key notices, the 2023 advertisement and result notice on the commission’s NIC document server, the one-time registration notices of July 2026, and the lekhpal and junior assistant mains advertisements for the shortlisting rules and cut-offs. Candidate counts were not found in official documents; the PET 2025 result date is reported variously as 5 and 9 December 2025 and the notice was not found.
PET 2025 advertisement — 01-Exam/2025 PET 2026 advertisement — 16-Exam/2026, mirror of the commission’s PDF PET 2026 — examination schedule PET 2025 — examination schedule PET 2025 — revised keys, 18 November 2025 PET 2023 — advertisement PET 2023 — result notice, 29 January 2024 One-time registration notice, 14 July 2026 UPSSSC — examination calendar 2026
Exam resources
Six resource pages, each kept in step with the latest official notification.
Questions
On 23, 24 and 25 October 2026, in two shifts a day — 10 to 12 and 3 to 5 — by the commission’s schedule notice of 9 September 2026. Applications under advertisement 16-Exam/2026 ran from 3 August to 7 September after an extension, with corrections to 8 September. Admit cards and exam districts follow.
One OMR paper of 100 questions and 100 marks in two hours, across fifteen heads — Indian history, the national movement, geography, the economy, the Constitution and administration, general science, arithmetic, Hindi, English and reasoning at five marks each; current affairs and general awareness at ten each; and two Hindi passages, two graphs and two tables at ten each. A quarter mark is deducted per wrong answer, and scores are normalised across shifts.
Three years from the date the result is uploaded, under the government order of 28 April 2025 that also made the test annual. Before that the score was valid for one year — PET 2023’s scores of January 2024 expired in January 2025. Where a candidate holds more than one valid score, the highest is used.
There is no pass mark. For each mains the commission shortlists fifteen candidates per post in each category on the normalised PET score, including everyone tied at the cut-off to two decimals. The lekhpal mains of 2026 cut at 55.12 for the unreserved, SC, OBC and EWS categories and 47.50 for ST, with 3,66,712 shortlisted for 7,994 posts. A zero or negative score is never shortlisted.
Anyone who has passed high school or an equivalent by the closing date and is 18 to 40 on 1 July of the year — 1 July 2026 for PET 2026 — with the usual relaxations for SC, ST and OBC candidates, sportspersons, ex-servicemen, PwD and state employees. One-time registration on the commission’s portal is required first. Age is reckoned again under each department’s rules at the mains.
₹185 for unreserved and OBC candidates, ₹95 for SC and ST, and ₹25 for PwD — each including a ₹25 processing fee. Women, freedom fighters’ dependants, ex-servicemen and sportspersons pay by their original category. Each mains that follows costs ₹25 to apply for, with the mains examination fee charged only to the shortlisted.
Every Group C post the commission advertises — under the two-tier order of 20 November 2020, only PET candidates with a score card may apply for a mains. The 2026 mains on PET 2025 numbered twenty-one: lekhpal, pharmacist, assistant statistical officer, lower subordinate services, excise constable, forest guard, cane supervisor, auditor and assistant accountant, livestock extension officer, veterinary pharmacist, junior engineer agriculture and computer operator among them.
No. The commission held PET 2023 on 28 and 29 October 2023 and PET 2025 on 6 and 7 September 2025; the mains advertised in 2024 and early 2025, such as the junior assistant round of 2,702 posts, drew on PET 2023. From 2025 the test is annual.
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