RPSC APO Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

Preliminary (screening only)

One objective paper, two hours, a third of a mark off for each wrong answer. Pre marks are not counted in the final merit.

The OMR sheet has five circles; fill circle 5 if you are skipping a question. A question with no circle filled loses a third of its marks, and filling none on more than 10 per cent of questions disqualifies you. 178 candidates were disqualified that way in the 2026 Pre.

Mains (written, decides selection)

You must sit both papers and score at least 40 per cent in each (35 for SC and ST). The law paper tests practical knowledge of criminal law and procedure, including framing charges. Paper II is at senior secondary level.

Both syllabi were reissued on 19 June 2026 and cover the old and new criminal codes side by side.

Preliminary law (syllabus)

• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the IPC: general exceptions, offences against the body, property, women and children, public tranquillity
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the CrPC: courts, arrest, process, security, maintenance, public order, police investigation
• Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 and the Evidence Act: relevancy of facts, oral evidence
• SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Arms Act, Juvenile Justice Act, Rajasthan Excise Act, POCSO, Probation of Offenders Act, and Rajasthan's two unfair-means acts of 1992 and 2022

Hindi covers antonyms, prefixes, one-word substitution, sandhi, administrative terms and correction of words and sentences. English covers tenses, voice, determiners, prepositions, modals and one-word substitution.

Mains law (syllabus)

The same acts, chapter by chapter and in more depth: punishments, abetment and conspiracy, offences against the state and public justice, false evidence, documents, criminal intimidation and defamation, cruelty under section 498-A, and the BNSS chapters on jurisdiction, complaints, charges and trials.

• Qualification: a professional law degree, or an integrated law course, from a university established by law in India. Final-year students may apply if they qualify before the exam.
• Working knowledge of Hindi in Devanagari and of Rajasthani dialects and social customs.
• Age: 21 to under 40 on 1 January 2027. The posts were last advertised in 2024 with age counted on 1 January 2025, so anyone overage on 1 January 2027 gets one extra year.
• Relaxation: 5 years for Rajasthan's SC, ST, OBC, MBC and EWS men and for general women, 10 years for reserved-category women, no limit for widows and divorced women, 5 more years for persons with disabilities.

Reservation applies only to Rajasthan's own residents.

1. Preliminary: shortlists for the Mains. About fifteen times the vacancies, category-wise, are called, plus everyone tied at the cut-off.
2. Mains: two written papers. Final merit is the Mains total, subject to the 40 per cent minimum in each paper.
3. Document check: candidates on the provisional list fill a detailed application form online, and the Home Department verifies documents before RPSC issues the final list.

There is no interview.

Pay Matrix Level 11 (grade pay ₹4,200). During probation the pay is a fixed monthly amount set by the state, not the Level 11 scale.

Online through SSO Rajasthan's recruitment portal. The 2026 window ran from 8 June to 7 July 2026, with an edit and withdrawal window in mid-July.

No separate exam fee: you pay Rajasthan's one-time registration fee once (₹600 general, ₹400 for Rajasthan's reserved categories and persons with disabilities). If you are registered and then absent from two exams in a financial year, the registration is blocked until you pay ₹750. A paid correction after the last date costs ₹500.

RPSC posts a press note with your exam district about a week before the paper, then the admit card on its site and on SSO. For the 2026 Pre the note came on 25 August. Expect the Mains admit card in mid-December 2026. Take an original photo ID; the admit card photo is checked against your Aadhaar.

The Pre result of 1 October 2026 declared 5,555 non-scheduled area and 225 scheduled area candidates provisionally qualified for the Mains. Individual marks are on the Commission's results page. After the Mains, RPSC first publishes a provisional list for eligibility checking, then the main and reserve lists once the department has verified documents.

2026 Preliminary, non-scheduled area (out of 100)

Scheduled area: general 47.14, SC 24.58, ST 0.34. Some women's sub-category lines went below zero because of negative marking.

2024 Mains

The final result of 1 January 2026 has one cut-off, 163.50 for general non-scheduled candidates, and N.A. everywhere else, which the Commission explains as no candidate available with the minimum qualifying marks. The result is subject to special leave petitions in the Supreme Court.

• The Mains decides everything, and in 2024 almost nobody cleared 40 per cent in both papers. Practise writing answers under time, not just reading the acts.
• Do not ignore Paper II. Fifty marks each of Hindi and English is a separate gate; failing it ends your attempt whatever your law score.
• Learn the new codes against the old ones. The syllabus asks for both, section by section.
• In the Pre, fill circle 5 for every question you skip.

• RPSC recruitment advertisements
• Advertisement 03/2026-27
• Pre syllabus and Mains syllabus, 19 June 2026
• Results, 2026 cycle and results, 2024 cycle
• Question papers, 2024 exam
• SSO Rajasthan

How many APO posts are there in 2026?

371: 355 non-scheduled area, 15 scheduled area and one Sahariya post.

When is the APO Mains 2026?

27 December 2026.

Do Pre marks count?

No. The Pre only shortlists for the Mains.

What is the qualification?

A professional or integrated law degree, plus working knowledge of Hindi and Rajasthani customs.

Is there an interview?

No. Selection is on the Mains marks.

Why were so few selected in 2024?

Only four candidates reached the minimum of 40 per cent in each Mains paper for the 181 posts.