Important Exams

WBCS Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2020

WBCS Syllabus 2020 is discussed below. West Bengal Public Service Commission will be conducting the West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) Exam. Candidates who have applied for the West Bengal Civil Service Exam can check out the WBCS Syllabus on this page. Find all the details here and download the WBCS Syllabus. Get to know of the upcoming events, as well as the official notifications related to WBCS Syllabus. Check all the details related to the WBCS Syllabus on this page to help you prepare well for the WBCS Exam.

WBCS Syllabus 2020

West Bengal Public Service Commission is the body that is responsible for conducting the WBCS Exam. WBCS Exam is conducted in three stages namely Preliminary, Mains and Interview. In this article, you will get to know the WBCS Syllabus and the WBCS Exam Pattern of the Prelims and Mains Exam.

  1. The WBCS Prelims consists of one paper only i.e., General Studies. There is no Aptitude Test, unlike various other state Public Service Commission Exams.

  2. The WBCS Mains Exam has six compulsory papers and one optional subject consisting of two papers.

  3. Optional Subjects are meant to be taken by candidates opting for Group A and Group B services.

  4. Out of 6 compulsory papers, 4 papers are of MCQ Type:

    1. General Studies I

    2. General Studies II

    3. The Constitution of India and Indian Economy including role and functions of Reserve Bank of India

    4. Arithmetic and Test of Reasoning

  5. The Mains Exam (Conventional/ Essay) is allowed to be taken only in Bengali/ English language.

  6. There is a deduction of 10% of the total marks secured by the candidate if he/she discloses his/her identity by writing his/her roll number/name.

wpsc-syllabus

Candidates may check the table below to know about WBCS Exam Pattern:

Exam Pattern 2020

Candidates appearing for WBCS exam must be aware of the syllabus for all the stages. The complete syllabus of WBCS has been provided in the tables below to help the candidates with a comprehensive list of the same. WBCS syllabus will aid candidates in knowing all topics required for the exam which in turn will guide them to prepare better for WBCS.

Candidates may check the table below to know about WBCS Exam Pattern:

WBCS Exam Pattern
Tier Name of the exam Type of the exam Number of question papers Marks
I Preliminary Exam Objective General Studies 200
II Mains Objective+Conventional Eight;
  • Paper-I (Conventional Type)
  • Paper-II (Conventional)
  • Paper-III (Objective)
  • Paper-IV (Objective)
  • Paper-V (Objective)
  • Paper-VI ()
  • Paper-VII & VIII (Optionals)
 200 (each) for Paper I to VI 400 for Paper VII and VIII
III Personality Test Interview – 200

WBCS Syllabus: Prelims Exam Pattern

Candidates can check the WBCS Prelims Exam Pattern from the table provided below. The WBCS Prelims Exam Pattern consists of English Composition, General Science, Current events of National & International Importance, History of India, etc. The exam duration for the WBCS prelims exam is 2 hours.

Subject Name Marks Questions Duration 
English Composition 25 25 2 Hours
General Science 25 25
Current events of National & International Importance 25 25
History of India 25 25
Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal 25 25
Indian Polity and Economy 25 25
Indian National Movement 25 25
General Mental Ability 25 25
Total 200 200 2 Hours
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WBCS Syllabus for Prelims Exam

The WBPCS Prelims Exam takes place at various centers in the districts of West Bengal. Darjeeling as a center is allowed to be chosen only by the Scheduled Tribes of the Darjeeling district and by candidates from three hill-divisions: Darjeeling Sadar, Mirik and Kurseong.

The WBCS Prelims Syllabus comprises of eight subjects/ topics. There are 200 (MCQ). Each topic is assigned 25 marks. The duration of the exam is 2.5 hours. The Prelims is only a screening test, and its marks are not considered for final selection. The commission has clearly stated in its notification that the Prelims Exam tests the level of knowledge as that of a graduate of any faculty from any recognized university.

The eight topics given in WBCS Prelims Syllabus are:

  1. English Composition

    1. Synonyms and Antonyms

    2. Idioms and Phrases

    3. Vocabulary Test

    4. Phrasal Verbs

    5. Homophones

    6. Fill in the qualifying words

  2. General Science

    1. General appreciation

    2. Understanding of science

    3. Matters of everyday observation

    4. Experience as expected from an educated person not having made special studies of scientific disciplines

  3. Current Events of National and International Importance

    1. Significant events affecting India and its relations with the world

  4. History of India

    1. Ancient

    2. Medieval

    3. Modern

  5. Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal

    1. Physical Geography

    2. Social Geography

    3. Economic Geography

  6. Indian Polity and Economy

    1. Indian Constitution

    2. Panchayati Raj

    3. Constitutional Bodies, etc.

  7. Indian National Movement

    1. Nature and character of Nineteenth-Century Resurgence

    2. Growth of Nationalism

    3. Attainment of Independence

  8. General Mental Ability

    1. Logical Reasoning

    2. Common Aptitude

WBCS Mains Exam Pattern

Papers Marks
Group ‘A’ Group ‘B’ Group ‘C’ Group ‘D’
Language Paper (Bengali/Hindi/Urdu/Nepali/Santali) 200 200 200 200
English Paper 200 200 200 200
General Studies – Paper I 200 200 200 200
General Studies-Paper II 200 200 200 200
Constitution of India and Indian Economy 200 200 200 200
Arithmetic and Test of Reasoning 200 200 200 200
Optional Subject – (One subject: Two papers of 200 marks each) 400 400 NA NA
Personality Test 200 200 150 100
Total Marks 1800 1800 1350 1300
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WBCS Syllabus for Mains Exam

Candidates will be selected for WBCS Mains exam on the basis of their performance in Prelims. The Mains exam will contain six compulsory papers and one optional subject comprising two papers. Each of these papers will consist of 200 marks. Candidates will be allotted 3 hours time to complete each paper.

Papers Subjects Topics
Paper 1 Bengali/ Hindi/ Urdu/ Nepali/ Santali
  1. Letter writing (within 150 words)
  2. Drafting of Report (within 200 words)
  3. Precis Writing
  4. Composition
  5. Translation from English to Bengali/ Hindi/ Urdu/ Nepali/ Santali
Paper 2 English
  1. Letter writing (within 150 words)
  2. Drafting of Report (within 200 words)
  3. Precis Writing
  4. Composition
  5. Translation from Bengali/ Hindi/ Urdu/ Nepali/ Santali to English
Paper 3 General Studies - I
  1. Indian History with an emphasis on National Movement
  2. Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal
Paper 4 General Studies-II
  1. Science and Scientific & Technological advancement
  2. Environment
  3. General Knowledge
  4. Current Affairs
Paper 5 The Constitution of India and Indian Economy
  1. Role of Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  2. Functions of RBI
Paper 6 Arithmetic Similar to Mathematics paper at the Madhyamik Examination of the Board of Secondary Education, West Bengal.
Test of Reasoning Analytical Reasoning: Data Sufficiency Logical Reasoning:
  1. Logical Deduction
  2. Forcefulness of the Arguments
  3. Implication of sentences
  4. Inferring from diagrams
Series:
  1. Letter series
  2. Number series
  3. Inferring from Data
  4. Analogy tests
  5. Symbol Interpretation
  6. Mathematical puzzles
  7. Odd man out
  8. Perception test
  9. Non-verbal reasoning
  10. Selecting correct sequence
Paper 7 Optional Papers In accordance with the subject selected
Paper 8 In accordance with the subject opted by candidates

WBCS Syllabus: Optional Subject for Mains Exam

The Mains exam will consist of eight papers of which candidates will have to choose from a list of 37 subjects for the last two papers. Candidates will be able to select one optional subject as both the optional papers will constitute questions from the subject opted by candidates. The list of all the optional subjects has been provided below.

WBCS Syllabus: List of Optional Subject For Manis

The Mains exam will consist of eight papers of which candidates will have to choose from a list of 37 subjects for the last two papers. Candidates will be able to select one optional subject as both the optional papers will constitute questions from the subject opted by candidates. The list of all the optional subjects has been provided below.

Subject Code
Bengali 1
Hindi 2
Sanskrit 3
English 4
Pali 5
Arabic 6
Persian 7
French 8
Urdu 9
Santali 10
Comparative Literature 11
Agriculture 12
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science 13
Anthropology 14
Botany 15
Chemistry 16
Civil Engineering 17
Commerce and Accountancy 18
Computer Science 19
Economics 20
Electrical Engineering 21
Geography 22
Geology 23
History 24
Law 25
Mathematics 26
Management 27
Mechanical Engineering 28
Medical Science 29
Philosophy 30
Physiology 31
Physics 32
Political Science 33
Psychology 34
Sociology 35
Statistics 36
Zoology 37

WBCS Interview

Candidates who qualify the WBCS Mains Exam are called for the ‘Interview’ Round. Candidates are interviewed by a Board appointed by the WBCS. The mains fields checked by the interviewer given below.

  1. The candidate will be interviewed by a board who will have a record of the candidate's career and interests filled by the candidate in the Application Form.

  2. The objective of the interview is to test the personal suitability of the candidate for the career in the state services by a board of competent and unbiased observers.

  3. Apart from their academic study, candidates must be aware of the latest current affairs happening both within and outside their state.

  4. The purpose of the interview is to explore the mental and analytical ability of the candidate.

WBCS Syllabus FAQs

Q1. What is the difference in preparation for WBCS and U.P.S.C. ?

Ans. There is no CSAT (Paper II) in WBCS  State services.

Q2. Is knowledge of Bengali needed?

Ans. No, Knowledge of any of the given languages is Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Nepali and Santali .

Q3. Do we have optional subjects ?

Ans. Yes, There is one optional subject to be taken in mains examination.

Q4. Do we have subjective mains papers ?

Ans. Yes, There are conventional papers also in mains examination.

Q5. Is there Interview in WBCS?

Ans. Yes, There is interview also.