Haryana Civil Services Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

The scheme is statutory: rule 11(1) of the Haryana Civil Service (Executive Branch) Rules, 2008, as substituted by the Amendment Rules, 2025 of 29 December 2025.

Preliminary (screening only)

• Objective, in English and Hindi.
• Paper-II is qualifying at 33 per cent. The result goes on Paper-I alone, and Prelims marks don't count towards final selection.
• Twelve (12) times the vacancies, including bracketed candidates, go through to the Mains.
• One fourth (0.25) off for a wrong answer. Two answers count as wrong.

The fifth circle

Each question has five options, A to E. Mark A to D to answer. If you aren't answering, darken E. Leave all five blank and you lose 0.25, the same as a wrong answer. Leave more than 10 per cent of questions with no circle darkened and you're disqualified.

Main Written Examination

Conventional essay papers, three hours each, graduate standard, no optional. All 600 count, language papers included. Write each GS paper wholly in English or wholly in Hindi, never mixed. You write in your own hand; only visually or locomotor-disabled candidates whose writing is severely affected may have a scribe, with HPSC's prior permission.

To be called for interview you need 45 per cent in the aggregate and 33 per cent each in English and Hindi. HPSC may lower the 45 to 35 only if there aren't enough PwBD candidates. Credit goes to orderly, exact, economical writing, not superficial knowledge.

Personality Test

75 marks. Three times the posts are called, in Mains merit order. It's meant as a directed conversation about suitability for public service, judging alertness, judgment, range of interest, leadership and integrity, not a re-test of knowledge. Ex-servicemen sit every paper too.

The syllabus is a Government notification, not part of the advertisement: Notification No. 42/1/2018-5SII of 7 January 2026, replacing that of 9 February 2021. The Government may revise it in consultation with HPSC.

Preliminary Paper-I: General Studies

1. General Science: everyday science, as a well educated non-specialist would know it.
2. Current events of national and international importance.
3. History of India and the Indian National Movement: broad social, economic and political understanding; the nineteenth century resurgence, nationalism and Independence.
4. Indian and World Geography, mainly India's physical, social and economic geography, agriculture and natural resources.
5. Indian Culture, Polity and Economy: the political system, Constitution, Panchayati Raj, social systems and economic development.
6. General Mental Ability: reasoning and analysis.
7. Haryana: economy and people; social, economic and cultural institutions and language.

Preliminary Paper-II: Civil Services Aptitude Test

Comprehension; interpersonal and communication skills; logical reasoning and analytical ability; decision making and problem solving; general mental ability; basic numeracy and data interpretation at Class X level.

Mains

• English: precis, comprehension, essay (choice of topics), usage and vocabulary, grammar and composition.
• Hindi: translation from English, letter or precis, explanation of prose and poetry, composition, and an essay.
• GS-I: Indian culture; modern Indian history from the mid-eighteenth century; the freedom struggle; post-independence consolidation; world history from the eighteenth century; Indian society, women, population, urbanisation, globalisation, communalism and secularism; world physical geography, resources, industry location and geophysical phenomena.
• GS-II: the Constitution; federalism and comparison with other countries; Parliament, legislatures, executive and judiciary; the Representation of People's Act and constitutional and statutory bodies; government policies, welfare schemes, NGOs and SHGs; governance, e-governance and the role of civil services; international relations.
• GS-III: the economy, planning, inclusive growth and budgeting; agriculture, MSP, the PDS, food processing and land reforms; industry and infrastructure; science and technology and IPR; environment and disaster management; internal security and cyber security basics.
• GS-IV, Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude: ethics and human interface, attitude, foundational civil service values, emotional intelligence, moral thinkers, ethics in public administration, probity and RTI, and case studies.

GS I, II and III each close with Related issues of Haryana. GS-IV doesn't, and there's no separate state paper.

Qualification

Under Rule 12(2)(b) of the 2008 Rules: a Bachelor of Arts, Science or Commerce, or an equivalent degree of a recognised university, held by the closing date. HPSC's announcement of 23 February 2026 treats it as a graduation degree, and candidates who had converted a CGPA to a percentage needn't reapply. Degrees from institutions the UGC lists as fake, or that Haryana doesn't recognise, don't count.

No certificate issued after the closing date is accepted at any stage, and marks improved after it aren't considered.

Age on 01.01.2026

Relaxations (Government instructions of 25.03.2022, as amended by the corrigendum of 05.02.2026):

DSC, OSC, BC-A, BC-B and ESM relaxations apply only where a post is reserved for that category. Nobody except ex-servicemen can go above 52. Age proof is the Matriculation certificate only.

Haryana's categories

The category you enter can't be changed later. Under point 17(xiv)(i), as amended by the corrigendum, EWS candidates need a certificate under Haryana instructions No. 22/12/2019-1GS-III of 25.02.2019 and 14.01.2026, from csharyana.gov.in.

DSP physical standards (Haryana Police Service Rules, 2002)

Men must show 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) of chest expansion. Only uploaded documents are considered, and a mismatch at scrutiny can cancel your candidature.

1. Apply (register, fill the form with your preference of services, pay, upload the signed form).
2. Preliminary: screening, 12 times the vacancies on Paper-I.
3. Main Written Examination: 600 marks.
4. Personality Test: 75 marks, at 3 times the posts.
5. Final merit out of 675, matched against your preference of services.

Preference of services

• You can apply for all or any of the services, and you're considered only for those you list.
• No change in the preference of services once exercised is allowed at any stage.
• Reserved-category candidates can list services with no post reserved for them, and be considered on merit against General posts. HPSC's own example: DFSC has no DSC, OSC, BC-A or BC-B post, but those candidates can still prefer it.

Ties

Higher Main written marks win. If those are equal too, the older candidate.

Provisional throughout

An e-Admit Card doesn't mean you're eligible. A false claim found at any stage means rejection and possible debarment. HPSC's decisions are final, no withdrawal is allowed after you apply, and passing gives no right to appointment until the Government is satisfied you're suitable.

HCS (Executive Branch) is Group-A and the rest are Group-B. The advertisement gives no pay scales; pay follows each department's service rules.

ESM and PwBD are horizontal, carved out of the vertical numbers, not added to them. The revenue and food supply cadres are 11 posts in all. Post numbers may vary to any extent, with changes notified on hpsc.gov.in.

Apply online only at hpsc.gov.in, in four stages:

1. Register with your mobile number or Aadhaar (use the mobile if your Aadhaar data is out of date).
2. Fill the form, including your preference of services.
3. Pay the fee.
4. Print, sign and upload the signed form. Skip this and the application is rejected automatically.

Every concession is for Haryana residents, so an outside candidate pays ₹1000. Pay online by net banking or card. The fee is never refunded.

Nothing can be changed after submission, and there's no correction window. The 23 February announcement added CGPA entry and a provision for transgender candidates.

Help: 1800-1800-431, SR4-hpsc@hry.gov.in, working days 10.00 to 16.00 hrs. Your Aadhaar or Virtual ID is used for biometric attendance at the exam.

The governing law: the Haryana Civil Service (Executive Branch) Rules, 2008 (rule 11(1) for the exam, 12(2)(b) for qualification); the Amendment Rules, 2025, published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 216-2025/Ext. under Article 309; the Haryana Civil Services (Ex. Br.) and Allied Services and other Services Common or Combined Examination Act, 2002, which lets one exam fill ten cadres; syllabus Gazette Extraordinary No. 4-2026/Ext.; and the Haryana Police Service Rules, 2002 for DSP. The Government may also skip the exam in a given year, recording its reasons.

HPSC also runs many single-post recruitments (Assistant Engineers, Assistant District Attorneys, PGTs, Assistant Professors and others), often with a Screening Test and Subject Knowledge Test instead. Check the advertisement number before relying on any rule.

HPSC doesn't name the exam cities in the advertisement. Your centre and reporting time come on the e-Admit Card.

Biometric attendance uses your Aadhaar number or Virtual ID, so keep your Aadhaar data current.

Don't carry a mobile phone (even switched off), pager, pen drive, smart watch, camera, Bluetooth device or anything that could communicate. That, and other misconduct such as obtaining the paper, influencing examiners, obscene or irrelevant writing in the scripts, or disrupting the hall, can mean criminal prosecution, disqualification, debarment by HPSC and the Government, and disciplinary action for serving employees, after you've been given a chance to respond.

The schedule is tentative; changes go up on hpsc.gov.in, along with admit cards, answer keys, results and interview schedules.

The e-Admit Card is issued well before the exam, from your application details, for download on hpsc.gov.in. Nothing is posted. It doesn't mean you've been found eligible, and it carries the category you entered, which can't be changed.

If you can't download it, contact HPSC straight away (helpline 1800-1800-431).

Answer keys and the objection window are posted on HPSC's Answer Keys page, not in the advertisement.

With 102 posts, roughly 1,224 reach the Mains and about 306 the interview. For this cycle HPSC published the Prelims result on 04.05.2026 (with continuations) and the Mains result on 17.09.2026, on its Results page. HPSC also publishes the marks of everyone interviewed, roll number by roll number.

HPSC publishes no cut-off marks in advance and won't answer requests for Prelims marks or category-wise cut-offs. The fixed bars are 33 per cent in Prelims Paper-II, and 45 per cent aggregate (270 of 600) with 33 per cent each in English and Hindi in the Mains. The Prelims, interview and final lines float with the field.

After each stage HPSC publishes the Marks of the Screening Test and the Marks of all Interviewed Candidates, alongside results on its Results page.

1. Learn the five-option rule first. Darken E for every question you skip, and keep the last minutes to sweep the sheet. Eleven blank rows in a hundred and you're out.
2. Clear Paper-II and give your time to GS.
3. Guess when you can narrow it down. A blank costs the same as a wrong answer.
4. Decide your service preferences before you open the form, and don't narrow the list too far if you're in a reserved category.
5. Treat English and Hindi as marks. They're 200 of the 600 that count, and the most drillable papers.
6. Practise writing by hand, at length, against the clock. Six three-hour papers over three days.
7. Cover Haryana for the Prelims and the GS papers, without building everything around it.
8. Have every certificate before the closing date, and check whether you're DSC or OSC, BC-A or BC-B.
9. Work through HPSC's past HCS papers, Prelims and Mains.

HPSC publishes past HCS papers on its Previous Year's Question Papers page, including the 2023 Preliminary (General Studies and CSAT) and the 2023 Mains papers. The syllabus is in the Gazette notification of 7 January 2026, and answer keys go up on the Answer Keys page after each Prelims.

• Haryana Public Service Commission: apply, admit cards, results
• Advertisement No. 22 of 2026 (31 pages)
• Corrigendum, 05.02.2026
• Announcement, 23.02.2026
• Scheme: Amendment Rules, 2025
• Syllabus notification, 7 January 2026
• Previous Year's Question Papers, Answer Keys, Results
• Advertisements and corrigenda

How many posts are there?

102 under Advertisement No. 22 of 2026, across ten cadres. The biggest are ETO (27), HCS (Ex. Br.) (24) and AETO (22).

Do the Preliminary marks count?

No. Prelims only shortlists, on Paper-I, if you get 33 per cent in Paper-II.

What happens if I leave a question completely blank?

You lose 0.25. Darken E instead. More than 10 per cent blank means disqualification.

Is there an optional subject?

No.

Do the language paper marks count?

Yes, in full, but you need 33 per cent in each.

What is the age limit?

18 to 42 on 01.01.2026, or 18 to 27 for DSP. No one but ex-servicemen can exceed 52 with relaxations.

What is the fee?

₹1000; ₹250 for Haryana's reserved categories and women of Haryana; nil for Haryana PwBD.

Can I change my service preferences later?

No, never.