Supreme Court Personal Assistant Syllabus, Exam Pattern

Typing comes first. Pass it and you sit the shorthand, written and computer tests. Pass all three and you're called to interview.

Reserved categories get no relaxation in typing or shorthand.

Typing

Ten minutes at a minimum of 40 words per minute, with mistakes allowed up to 3 per cent of the words. Court Master candidates get only 2 per cent.

Shorthand

Dictation at 100 words per minute for 7 minutes, about 700 words, then 45 minutes to transcribe. Marks follow a fixed scale:

There's no band below 50, and 50 is the pass mark. So 5 per cent errors, roughly 35 in 700 words, scrapes through. At 5.1 per cent, or 36 errors, you don't get 49. You get zero.

Written and computer tests

The written paper has 100 multiple choice questions: 50 General English, 25 General Aptitude (logical reasoning, no arithmetic) and 25 General Knowledge. The advertisement doesn't mention negative marking. The Computer Knowledge Test is a separate 10 marks in the same sitting, and falling below 5 ends your candidature whatever your written score.

The Court Master paper is different: 50 English, 15 Aptitude, 25 on law and 10 General Knowledge.

Interview

Thirty marks, fifteen to qualify. In 2025 marks ran from 15 to 28, and nobody interviewed failed.

The Court publishes no topic list for the stenographer posts, only the make-up of the written paper. It does publish one for its programmer posts. These are the areas each part draws on.

Computer Knowledge Test, 10 marks

The Registry's computer syllabus for other posts covers the usual ground: computer fundamentals, hardware and software, operating systems, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, internet and email, basic security.

Shorthand and typing

No syllabus, just the skill: English shorthand at 100 wpm for seven minutes, transcribed within the error limit, and typing at 40 wpm. The dictation for a court post uses legal and procedural vocabulary, names of courts and offices, and formal constructions.

How the three posts differ

Age relaxation

The usual government relaxations apply for SC, ST, OBC, physically challenged and ex-servicemen candidates and dependants of freedom fighters. Registry staff have no upper age limit. People working in other government departments get no relaxation.

Reservation

The Registry follows central government reservation rules for the matching pay levels, subject to any changes the Chief Justice of India makes. Reservation for dependants of freedom fighters follows the Chief Justice's orders. The Registry also publishes a model 200 point roster for direct recruitment.

Vacancies

43 last cycle, described as tentative and liable to go up or down.

Admission at every stage is provisional. If you turn out not to meet a condition at any point, before or after the tests, your candidature is cancelled without notice.

1. Typing Speed Test, taken by everyone.
2. Shorthand, Written and Computer Knowledge Tests, for those who pass typing.
3. Interview, for those who pass all three.
4. Panel: everyone who qualifies the interview goes on a separate merit list for each post.

Every stage has its own pass mark (see the exam pattern), and falling below any one ends it, whatever you scored elsewhere.

Documents are checked at the interview

There's no separate verification stage. Identity and documents are checked on the day of the interview, so bring every original you relied on.

From panel to job

Empanelment is subject to document verification, a medical, a character certificate and police verification. Being on the panel gives you no right to appointment. The 2025 panel runs for one year from 16 September 2025, or until it's used up. With 126 names against 43 vacancies, roughly the first third get appointed as vacancies arise and the rest wait.

Physically challenged candidates

They get the same concessions the SSC or UPSC allow in their written tests, including scribe and extra time rules.

Level 7 runs from Rs 44,900 to Rs 1,42,400. The advertisement gives only the level and starting basic. Allowances follow central government rules for that level in Delhi.

It's one office in one city, so there are no transfers across states. Senior Personal Assistant is one level up at Rs 47,600 and needs 110 wpm shorthand.

Apply online only, through the link on sci.gov.in. Postal applications aren't accepted.

Pay online through the UCO Bank gateway, plus bank charges. The fee isn't refunded and is charged per post, so applying for PA and Senior PA means two forms and two fees.

Rules that sink an application

• A General or OBC candidate who pays the Rs 250 fee is not considered at all.
• Once submitted, the form can't be withdrawn or changed. There's no correction window.
• If you submit twice for the same post, only the last one counts.
• No change of category is allowed afterwards.
• Forms that don't follow the instructions are rejected outright.

Steps

1. Fill a separate form for each post.
2. Upload a recent photo and signature.
3. Pay online.
4. Print the form for your own records. Don't send it anywhere.
5. Keep the application number. You'll need it for every admit card.

Last cycle's window ran from 4 December to 25 December 2024, 23:55.

The Supreme Court of India recruits for itself, through the Recruitment Cell of its Registry. Notices are signed by the Registrar (Recruitment) and published on sci.gov.in/recruitments. A Personal Assistant works for the Court, not a ministry.

Court Master (Shorthand) is the stenographer who sits in court and records proceedings, which is why it needs a law degree and five years' experience.

The Registry also recruits Junior Court Assistants, Junior Court Attendants (cooking knowing), Senior Court Assistant-cum-Senior Programmers and Junior Court Assistant-cum-Junior Programmers, plus an Assistant Editor for the Supreme Court Reports, an Assistant Director for the Supreme Court Museum, technical Branch Officers and, each year, Law Clerk-cum-Research Associates on contract. Several senior posts are filled on deputation rather than by exam.

Tests are held at 23 centres in 16 states: Ahmedabad, Ambala, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Delhi, Ernakulam, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Mysuru, Nagpur, Patna, Prayagraj, Pune, Udaipur and Visakhapatnam.

You pick three. If too few people register at your first choice, you're moved to the next one, so pick three you can actually reach.

The allotted city is announced in a separate notice before each admit card. In 2025 there was one for the typing test and another for the written test. The Registry conducts the interview itself, on a schedule it publishes separately.

How the 2024-25 cycle ran

When we checked on 12 September 2026, the panel was about to expire and no new advertisement had appeared.

The Court's own calendar

The Registry's model yearly calendar (17 October 2024) sets the month for each step:

The 2024-25 cycle kept to it for the advertisement and typing test, then ran months late. Watch for the advertisement in December. Don't plan the rest of the year on the calendar.

Each stage has its own admit card, downloaded from a link on sci.gov.in using your application number. Nothing comes by post. The test city is announced in a separate notice first.

In 2025 the cards were for the typing test on 21 January, the written and shorthand tests on 1 May, and the interviews from 21 August 2025.

An admit card doesn't confirm you're eligible. Documents are only checked at the interview, so bring the originals then.

The Registry publishes a consolidated result with every candidate's marks by name and roll number: written (out of 100), computer knowledge (10), shorthand (100), typing (10), and Qualified or Not Qualified. For the 2025 Personal Assistant cycle it ran to 57 pages.

After the written test the Registry takes objections to the answer key and then publishes a revised one. In 2025 objections opened on 7 May and the revised key came out on 24 June. The interview result gives marks out of 30, and the panel is a merit list.

There's no aggregate cut-off. Each stage has a fixed pass mark (see the exam pattern), and in 2025 the Registry didn't raise any of them. The qualified list has people sitting exactly on each line: lowest written score 50, lowest shorthand 50, lowest typing 6.67.

Where the 2025 field fell, from the 1,768 rows in the consolidated result with readable marks:

The interview doesn't cut either. It's worth 30 marks against 220 for the other four tests, and all 126 interviewed passed. Meet every minimum and on 2025 evidence you're on the panel.

1. Spend most of your time on shorthand. In 2025 about one candidate in seven failed the written paper and seven in ten failed shorthand.
2. Practise the full seven minutes at 100 wpm every day, including when you're tired. Speed that holds for two minutes and fades by five is what produces a zero.
3. Aim well under 35 errors. Score your practice on the Court's own scale so you feel each 10 mark step and the drop to zero after 5 per cent.
4. Transcribe cold. Read back outlines you took an hour earlier, inside 45 minutes. Most errors are made in transcription.
5. Dictate from judgments and orders, not newspapers, so court vocabulary and Latin phrases come out right.
6. Don't neglect typing. It's first, and if you fail it you never sit the shorthand. 40 wpm is easy; keeping errors under 3 per cent is the work.
7. For the written paper, put the hours into English, which is half of it. Skip arithmetic entirely. For GK, polity and the judiciary are a sensible bet.
8. Take the 10 mark computer test seriously. Below 5 and you're out.
9. Build speed before December. The advertisement comes in late December and typing in January, which leaves no time to start shorthand from scratch.

The Supreme Court publishes no question papers or model papers for these posts.

After each written test it publishes the answer key for objections, and later the consolidated result with every candidate's marks, both free on sci.gov.in/recruitments. The Advertisement No. F.6/2024-SC (RC) has the full scheme and the shorthand marking scale.

• Supreme Court of India
• Recruitments, where every notice is published
• Advertisement No. F.6/2024-SC (RC), 3 December 2024
• Consolidated result of all four tests, Personal Assistant, 13 August 2025
• Interview result, Personal Assistant, 17 September 2025
• Provisional panel, Personal Assistant
• Model yearly calendar for direct recruitment, 17 October 2024
• Model 200 point roster of reservation

Who conducts the Supreme Court Personal Assistant recruitment?

The Supreme Court itself, through its Registry's Recruitment Cell. No commission or agency is involved.

What qualification do I need?

A degree in any subject, English shorthand at 100 wpm and typing at 40 wpm. No experience.

What is the age limit?

18 to 30, with the usual relaxations. Registry staff have no upper limit. Staff of other government departments get no relaxation.

What does it pay?

Level 7, starting basic Rs 44,900.

Is there negative marking?

The advertisement doesn't mention any.

Which stage knocks most people out?

Shorthand. In 2025, 1,244 of 1,768 candidates scored zero in it.

Does reservation relax the skill tests?

No. Lower pass marks apply only to the written test, computer test and interview.

What happens if I pay the wrong fee?

If you're General or OBC and pay the Rs 250 reserved fee, your application isn't considered.

Can I correct my application?

No. A submitted application can't be withdrawn or changed.

Does being on the panel mean a job?

No. It gives no right to appointment, and the panel lasts a year or until it's used up.

When does the next cycle open?

The Court's calendar puts the advertisement in the third or fourth week of December, with typing on a Sunday in late January. Watch sci.gov.in under Recruitments.