Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPCS) Pattern

• 03 Aug 2021

Last Updated: May 2024

Introduction

Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC), Indore organizes various subordinate services including various posts related to state special administration.

• Most of the candidates preparing for the Civil Services Examination (Especially Hindi medium) appear in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination as well as in the most prestigious 'Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination' conducted by this commission.
• Despite the difference in the nature and procedure of questions of UPSC, The study of the syllabus of the preliminary and mains examination has a meaningful role in this examination.
• Studying the syllabus of Preliminary and Mains Examination of the UPSC plays a significant role in this examination, so students preparing for the Civil Services Examination are successful in this examination as well.

Examinations Conducted by the Commission

• The state-based government, semi-government, judicial, state forest service and other subordinate services in Madhya Pradesh are mainly organized by the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC), Indore.
• The most popular exams conducted by the commission are 'Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination' and 'Madhya Pradesh State Forest Service Examination'.
  
  • In the year 2017, the format of the application was changed so that candidates can now fill the common online application form for both these examinations, provided they are eligible to appear in the State Forest Service Examination as well.
• The general educational qualification for 'Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination' is to pass graduation with any subject, whereas for 'Madhya Pradesh State Forest Service Examination' it is generally mandatory to pass graduation examination with science as a subject.
  
  • Candidates studying in the final year of graduation are also eligible (subject to certain conditions) to fill the application form.
• 'Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination' is also often known as 'MPPCS'.

Nature of Exam

• This competitive examination conducted by the commission generally consists of three levels sequentially-
  
  1. Preliminary Examination – Objective Nature
  2. Main Exam - Descriptive Nature
  3. Interview - Oral
• In the year 2024, the MPPSC Significant changes were made in the nature and syllabus of the Preliminary Examination and Mains Examination, Which will be applicable from the state service exam year 2024.

Exam Process

• Process of Preliminary Exam
  
  • First of all, the release related to these examinations is issued by the commission, after that the process of filling the online application form starts. Detailed information related to the process of filling the form ‘How to apply online’ under 'Notification'? is given in the title.
  • A detailed description of various aspects related to the examination is given in the release. Therefore, it is beneficial to study it before filling the form.
  • After the completion of the form filling process, the preliminary examination is usually conducted after 1 to 2 months.
  • This preliminary examination is conducted on the same day at different centers of the state as decided by the commission.
  • The nature of this preliminary examination conducted by the commission is objective (Multiple Choice) in which one has to choose the correct option out of four possible options (a, b, c and d) given for each question.
  • The selected options related to the question are filled in an OMR sheet given by the commission. It is to be filled with black ball point pen.
  • There is no provision of any kind of negative marking for wrong answers in this examination conducted by MPPSC.
  • If the candidate gives more than one answer to a question, then that answer will be treated as wrong.
  • The question paper is given in two languages (Hindi and English), candidates can answer the questions in any of these two languages depending on their ease.
  • The nature of this preliminary examination was changed by the commission in the year 2012, according to which the question paper of 'General Aptitude Test'. It was adopted instead of the optional subject (objective) asked in the second paper.
  • At present, in this preliminary examination of the Commission, two compulsory papers ('General Studies' and 'General Aptitude Test', respectively) are asked, the examination of which is completed on the same day in two different shifts in two hours duration.
    
    • The question paper of 'General Aptitude Test' is also known as 'CSAT' (Civil Service Aptitude Test).
  • The first paper of 'General Studies' has the total number of questions is 100 and the maximum marks are 200.
  • The second paper of 'General Aptitude Test' has a total number of questions is 100 and the maximum marks are 200.
  • From the year 2017 onwards for 'Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination' and 'Madhya Pradesh State Forest Service Examination', the same (Common) Preliminary Examination is conducted while the Mains Examination will be conducted separately as before.
  • This Preliminary Examination for 'Madhya Pradesh State Service Examination' is of 200 marks and the marks obtained in the question paper of 'General Aptitude Test' is not added to the cut-off determination, whereas for 'Madhya Pradesh State Forest Service Examination' this exam is of total 400 marks as the marks obtained in the question paper of 'General Aptitude Test' are added to the cut-off determination.
  • From the year 2015, the Commission has made a question paper of 'General Aptitude Test' of qualified nature. That is, only the candidates who obtain the qualifying marks prescribed by the Commission in this paper and the cut-off level prescribed in the General Studies paper will be declared successful for the Mains examination.
  • Generally 75-80% marks are required to pass the preliminary exam, but sometimes this percentage can be less depending on the difficulty level of the questions.
  • The preliminary exam is qualifying in nature. The marks obtained in this are not added with the marks of the Mains exam or interview.

NOTE: The number of shortlisted candidates for the main examination will be a maximum of 20 times the total number of vacant posts, category wise. Candidates obtaining equal marks category wise will also be declared qualified for the main examination. Only those candidates who have been declared qualified in the Preliminary Examination under the relevant advertisement by the Commission will be eligible for admission to the Main Examination. To be eligible for the main examination, it will be mandatory for unreserved category candidates to obtain minimum 40% marks in each question paper of the preliminary examination. Similarly, it will be mandatory for the candidates of unreserved female category to obtain minimum 40% marks in each question paper of the preliminary examination. The minimum qualifying marks for candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Other Backward Class, Economically Weaker Section and Disabled category will be 30%.

Mains Exam Process

There will be a total of 06 descriptive question papers in the State Service Main Examination as follows. All question papers are mandatory:

Interview: 185 Marks

Total : 1685 Marks

1. General Studies - In both sections 'A' and 'B' of the first question paper, second question paper and third question paper, answers can be written by the candidates only in Hindi or English language. The classification of total marks in each section 'A' and section 'B' of the above three question papers will be as follows-

2. In both sections 'A' and 'B' of the fourth question paper, answers can be written only in Hindi or English language. The classification of total marks in each section 'A' and section 'B' of the question paper will be as follows: -

3. The fifth paper will be in General Hindi and Grammar only in Hindi medium. The total marks will be 200. The details of marks of questions are mentioned in the syllabus. The time to attempt the exam will be 2 hours.

4. The sixth question paper (Hindi essay and draft writing) will be in Hindi medium only. Details of questions will be as follows:-

A question may also have sub-questions as per requirement. In case there is more space for answers in the question answer booklet, candidates should follow the word limit as per the format of the question.

Note: It is mandatory for unreserved category candidates to obtain minimum qualifying marks of 40 percent in each question paper of State Service Main Examination (including both Section 'A' and 'B'). Similarly, it is mandatory for unreserved female category candidates to obtain minimum qualifying marks of 40 percent. Apart from the above, candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Class, Economically Weaker Section and Disabled category will have to compulsorily obtain minimum qualifying marks of 30 percent.

• Three times the selected candidates from the State Service Main Examination will be eligible for the interview.

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Essay Writing Strategy

• Generally 60-65% marks are required to be scored in this stage of the examination. However, due to change in curriculum, this percentage may be slightly higher or lower.
• The essay in the MPPSC Main exam has to be written in Hindi Language (Devanagari Script).
• The marks obtained in these papers will be added to the merit list as before.
• Credit will be given to the organized, subtle and powerful expression in the least number of words in all the subjects of the examination.

Interview Process

• The candidates selected in the main examination usually have to appear for an interview before the commission after one month.
• The personality of the candidates is tested during the interview. In this oral questions are asked by the members of the commission at the prescribed place in the commission for which the candidate has to answer orally. This process lasts for more than one day depending on the number of candidates.
• In the year 2024, a total of 185 marks were fixed for the interview in this exam of MPPSC (Earlier it was of 175 marks).
• Merit list is prepared on the basis of aggregate of marks obtained in the mains examination and interview.
• The list of finally selected candidates is released usually one week after the completion of the entire interview.
• It is mandatory to obtain 40 percent marks in each of the above mentioned papers. The minimum qualifying marks for SC/ST, OBC and disabled category candidates will be 30 percent.

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