ISRO Assistant Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

Written test

One objective paper of 150 minutes, with compensatory time for candidates with benchmark disabilities.

Four equal parts. The Junior Personal Assistant paper in the same advertisement puts 100 of its 200 questions on English instead.

+1 for a right answer, −0.25 for a wrong one. You need 50 per cent (unreserved) or 40 per cent (reserved, against reserved vacancies) in each of Parts A, B, C and D, not just overall.

Skill test: Computer Literacy Test

75 minutes on a computer. Assistants don't take the stenography test that JPA candidates do.

Pass mark: 60 per cent unreserved, 50 per cent reserved. That's higher than the written test bar. Scoring 95 gains nothing over 60, because the skill test only decides whether your written score counts.

From Annexure-II of the advertisement, on the advertisement page.

Part A: General English, 50 questions

The advertisement asks for understanding of the language and the ability to write correctly and precisely, with correct use of words, idioms and phrases. Expect grammar, vocabulary, idioms and phrases, error spotting, sentence improvement and comprehension.

Part B: Quantitative Aptitude, 50 questions

That goes well past the arithmetic most clerical papers ask, at roughly one question per topic.

Part C: General Intelligence and Reasoning ability, 50 questions

Missing number, repeated series, analogy, Venn diagram, logical arrangement of words, coding and decoding, seating arrangement, ranking arrangement, dice, cube and cuboid, calendar, number series, coded equation, clock, directions, counting figures, problems based on alphabets, sequence, and mirror and water images.

Part D: General Knowledge, 50 questions

Awareness of the environment and its application to society, current affairs of national and international importance, and questions on history, culture, geography, science, polity and economy.

Computer Literacy Test (Annexure-IV), 75 minutes, 100 marks

Qualification

If you took four years over a three-year degree, you don't qualify.

The CGPA rule

• If your university gives both CGPA and percentage, one of them must meet the norm.
• If it gives only CGPA, that CGPA must be 6.32 or more. Converting CGPA to a percentage isn't allowed, whatever formula your university publishes. The same applies the other way round.
• For dual or integrated degrees: the graduation figure counts where it's shown separately; otherwise the common figure for the course; otherwise the cumulative figure on the final or consolidated marksheet.

So a CGPA of 6.1 that your university converts to 62 per cent doesn't qualify.

Age

The higher limits apply only where posts are reserved for that category. Further relaxation is available to serving Central Government employees, ex-servicemen, persons with disabilities, meritorious sportspersons, and widows, divorced women and judicially separated women not remarried. "Central" was added by Corrigendum No. 2 of 17 August 2026, the day after applications closed.

Vacancies, before and after the corrigendum

Many are backlog vacancies: four ST backlog posts at Ahmedabad, eight SC and three ST at Sriharikota, and PwBD backlog posts at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mahendragiri and Thiruvananthapuram.

PwBD

Vacancies are earmarked by disability category A to E. If no candidate of the identified category is available, other PwBD categories are considered. The disability certificate (self-attested, prescribed format, showing the percentage, from a Medical Board of at least three members) is produced at the skill test.

Other conditions

• Indian nationals only.
• You can apply for different posts in different zones (say Assistant at Ahmedabad and UDC at Bengaluru), but not the same post in two zones. Both applications must name the same test centres.
• Serving government, PSU or autonomous body employees need a No Objection Certificate in original at the skill test.
• Vacancies are provisional; ISRO may change them or not fill the posts at all. The posts are temporary but likely to continue.

1. Written test: 200 questions, 150 minutes, with a qualifying mark in each part.
2. Shortlisting for the skill test at 1:5 at most to category-wise vacancies, with a minimum of 10 candidates. Reserved vacancies get distinct and additional candidates at 1:5, so a reserved candidate on the unreserved list doesn't take a reserved place. With 135 posts that's roughly 675 called.
3. Computer Literacy Test, qualifying. If too few pass to fill the select and wait lists, more are called at 1:5 to cover the shortfall.
4. Final selection on written test marks alone, from those who passed the skill test. No interview.

Ties go to the higher mark in General Intelligence and Reasoning (Part C), then the older candidate. (For JPA the first tie-breaker is English.)

At the skill test, bring every original document backing your application, the NOC in original if you're a serving employee, and the disability certificate if relevant. Without the NOC, or if anything you entered online turns out false, you can't sit the test and get no travel allowance. A false claim found later ends the candidature or the job.

Travel allowance: none for the written test. For the skill test, second class return train fare by the shortest route from the city in your application form, which can't be changed afterwards.

On top: Dearness, House Rent and Transport Allowance; medical facilities for you and dependants; subsidised canteen; limited quarters instead of HRA; Leave Travel Concession; Group Insurance; House Building Advance. Pension is the New Pension Scheme.

You can be posted to and transferred between any ISRO or Department of Space Centre or Unit at any time, and the posts are temporary but likely to continue.

Apply online only. On the ISRO Careers page, open the advertisement heading, click Click here to apply online and scroll to the link. Your registration number appears on screen when you submit, followed by email and SMS. Write it down.

Fee

• Women, SC, ST, PwBD and ex-servicemen get the whole Rs 500 back.
• Everyone else gets Rs 400 back.
• No refund if you don't sit the written test.

Pay only through Bharatkosh; the link appears when you submit. The fee deadline is the application deadline. Refunds go to the bank account in your form, so enter the bank, branch, account holder, account number and IFSC carefully. If you submit duplicates, only the one with fee paid in time counts.

Uploads

Unclear images get the application rejected. Don't post any documents; originals are checked at the skill test. Queries go only to rmt-icrb@isro.gov.in, and anything already answered in the advertisement or the FAQ gets no reply.

The recruiter is the ISRO Centralised Recruitment Board (ICRB), Bengaluru, under the Department of Space. It recruits for the whole organisation in one advertisement. ISRO Centres such as ISTRAC, URSC, LPSC, SAC, NRSC, SDSC SHAR, HSFC, NESAC and PRL also advertise their own posts on the ISRO Careers page; those are separate recruitments.

The zones (Sriharikota, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Mahendragiri, Hassan and New Delhi) cover the Department's units in each region; see the vacancy table under overview. The New Delhi post is for the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun, and three of the autonomous-body posts are for the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki. The Department of Space Branch Secretariat in New Delhi also draws from this advertisement.

You compete for your zone's vacancies, but you can be transferred to any Centre or Unit later.

The written test runs in 38 cities: Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh or Mohali, Chennai, Dehradun, Delhi, Ernakulam, Gorakhpur, Gurugram, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jammu, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Kavaratti, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Mumbai, Mysore, Nagpur, Patna, Port Blair, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Shillong, Tiruchirapalli, Thiruvananthapuram, Varanasi, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

Your city isn't guaranteed. ICRB can change venues, and in 2026 it said that because of the huge response and a shortage of nodes, a few candidates were given a venue in a different city in a nearby state.

If you applied for two posts, both use the same centres. The skill test is called separately.

Three weeks to apply and thirty six days to the paper, so prepare before the advertisement. A state government employee who applied on 15 August lost the age relaxation two days later. No result date is given.

ICRB recruits irregularly: the previous papers ISRO released are from 2023, and there's no calendar. Watch the ISRO Careers page.

Call letters and hall tickets come only by email and SMS, never by post. For 2026 ISRO also put an admit card download link on the ISRO Careers page before the 21 September test. Check spam folders; ISRO isn't responsible if you miss it.

You need the registration number from your application. The venue may not be the city you picked (see exam centres). The skill test call letter comes separately, and PwBD candidates using a scribe need the annexures ISRO published on 10 September 2026.

The result is an empanelment: a select list against the vacancies and a wait list behind it, ranked on written marks among those who passed the computer test. No date is given. It appears on the ISRO Careers page against this advertisement and by email.

ISRO keeps the right to change the number of vacancies, change the qualifying criteria for administrative reasons, or not fill the posts at all without giving a reason.

ISRO publishes the qualifying marks (under selection process) but no cut-off marks for this recruitment.

The real line is the 1:5 shortlist, set separately for each zone and category, so Sriharikota's 32 posts and Hassan's 1 are separate contests. Any notices appear on the ISRO Careers page.

• Start with the Assistant 2023 question paper. It shows the level and balance of the four parts better than any description.
• Don't drop a part. The 50 per cent bar applies to each of the four separately.
• Take Part B seriously. It runs into trigonometry, coordinate geometry, polynomials and series. Aim to do one standard problem from every named topic rather than many from a few.
• Drill Part C. It's the tie-breaker, and its eighteen named question types each have a method.
• Answer only what you can narrow down. A quarter mark comes off each wrong answer.
• Time yourself: 200 questions in 150 minutes is 45 seconds each. Score each part separately.
• Practise the computer test on a computer, against the clock. It needs 60 per cent and names specific tasks: mail merge, tracked changes, sorting, filtering, validation, subtotals, charts, gradient fills, shortcut keys.
• Check the CGPA rule and course duration before applying, and keep reading the corrigenda after you apply.

ISRO publishes previous papers for this post. The Assistant 2023 question paper came out with this advertisement on 11 August 2026, along with the Junior Personal Assistant 2023 paper, which is useful for English. Older papers across ISRO recruitments are on its old question papers page.

• ISRO Careers page
• Advertisement No. ISRO:ICRB:01(A-JPA):2026, advertisement page: advertisement, corrigenda, FAQ, papers, admit card link
• Corrigendum of 11 August 2026: revised vacancies
• Corrigendum No. 2 of 17 August 2026: age relaxation
• Assistant 2023 question paper
• FAQ
• old question papers page

Queries: rmt-icrb@isro.gov.in only.

Who conducts the ISRO Assistant recruitment?

The ISRO Centralised Recruitment Board, Bengaluru.

How many vacancies were there?

135 Assistant posts after the 11 August 2026 corrigendum (113 as first advertised), plus 17 at autonomous institutions.

What qualification is needed?

A degree in any discipline with 60 per cent or CGPA 6.32, finished within the normal course duration, and computer skills.

Can I convert my CGPA to a percentage?

No. If only a CGPA is given, it must be 6.32 or more.

What is the age limit?

28 as on 16 August 2026; 31 for OBC and 33 for SC and ST where posts are reserved.

What does it pay?

Level 4, from Rs 25,500 basic a month, plus allowances. New Pension Scheme.

Is there negative marking?

Yes, a quarter mark per wrong answer.

Is there an interview?

No.

Does the computer test count towards my rank?

No. It's pass or fail; rank comes from the written test.

Why do I pay Rs 500?

It's a processing fee. You get Rs 400 or Rs 500 back if you sit the written test.

Is travel reimbursed?

Not for the written test. For the skill test, second class train fare from the city in your form.

Are previous year papers available?

Yes, the 2023 Assistant paper, on isro.gov.in.

Is this a permanent job?

The posts are described as temporary but likely to continue.