Tripura Public Service Commission Syllabus, Exam Pattern

Tripura Civil Service / Tripura Police Service: three stages

1. Preliminary Examination: objective, a screening test only. Its marks do not carry into the final merit.
2. Main Examination: descriptive, covering general studies papers, a language paper and an essay, with optional or specialist papers where prescribed.
3. Personality Test: interview before the Commission.

The final merit is built from the Main examination and the Personality Test.

TCS/TPS Preliminary

One General Studies paper: 200 multiple-choice questions, 200 marks, two and a half hours, at graduate level. The Commission's preliminary scheme splits the marks like this:

Only those declared qualified go on to the TCS and TPS Main.

Other TPSC recruitments

Most posts (Junior Engineer, Medical Officer, Lecturer, Inspector and the rest) are filled by a single objective written examination combining the post's technical or subject knowledge with general studies, sometimes followed by an interview, a skill test or a viva.

TPSC sets the marks scheme for each advertisement separately and has revised the civil service scheme between cycles, so take the section-wise marks from your own advertisement and the Commission's Syllabus and Schemes page.

TCS/TPS Preliminary

From the Commission's preliminary scheme; the marks per head are under Exam Pattern.

• English Composition: synonyms, antonyms, phrases and idioms, prepositions and articles, comprehension, ordering of words and of sentences, spotting errors.
• General Knowledge and Current Events of local, national and international importance.
• History of Modern India and Indian National Movement, 1857 to 1947: the social, economic and political sides of the period, the nineteenth-century resurgence, the growth of nationalism and independence.
• Geography of India: physical, social and economic, including Indian agriculture and natural resources.
• Geography, History and Culture of Tripura: the state's natural resources, especially soil, forest, water and power; its history from 1857 to 1949; its tribes, languages, customs, festivals and historical sites. National general-studies books don't cover this part.
• Indian Polity and Economy: the political system and the Constitution, Panchayati Raj, community development, and economic development during the Plan periods.
• General Science and Environment: everyday science and environment, with general awareness of information and communication technology, at the level of an educated person who hasn't studied science.
• General Mental Ability: logical perception, understanding and drawing conclusions.
• Numerical Ability: at the level of the Compulsory Mathematics paper of the Tripura Board's Madhyamik examination.

Language paper

English, and Bengali or Kokborok as prescribed: grammar, comprehension, precis and composition.

Essay

On topics of general, social, economic and state importance.

Aptitude and reasoning

Where the paper includes it: analogy, series, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, puzzles, syllogism, data interpretation and elementary arithmetic.

Subject and technical papers

For post-specific recruitments, the discipline advertised (civil, electrical or mechanical engineering, medicine, a teaching subject, law, agriculture and so on) at the level of the qualification that makes you eligible.

This exam page also carries TPSC's other recruitments. Their subject papers follow their own advertisements, and the Commission posts a syllabus per advertisement on its Syllabus and Schemes page, for example Lecturer, DIET (Advt. No. 15/2025) and Director of Prosecution (Advt. No. 20/2025).

Educational qualification

A bachelor's degree from a recognised university for the civil service examination. Other posts carry their own qualification: an engineering degree or diploma, a medical degree, a post-graduate degree with NET for lecturer posts, and so on, stated in each advertisement.

Age

Broadly 21 to around 40 years for the civil service examination, with 5 years' relaxation for SC, ST, PwD candidates and government servants under Tripura government rules, which differ from central norms. Other posts set their own bands.

Language requirement

Several TPSC recruitments require knowledge of Bengali or Kokborok, and some require it to a stated standard. Check the advertisement: it is an eligibility condition.

Domicile and reservation

Tripura's own reservation categories apply, with Scheduled Tribes a large share. The advertisement states the position for candidates from outside the state.

Civil Service / Police Service

1. Preliminary: screening only.
2. Main: descriptive.
3. Personality Test.

Merit from the Main and the Personality Test together.

Other posts

1. Written examination: usually a single objective paper.
2. Interview, viva or skill test where prescribed.
3. Document verification.

There's no single TPSC pay scale. Each post carries the pay of the department that reported the vacancy, under the Tripura state pay matrix, and the advertisement for that post states it.

Apply through TPSC's Online Recruitment Application (ORA) system on tpsc.tripura.gov.in, within the window the advertisement sets. Fee, documents and closing date differ between advertisements.

Every recruitment is known by a number and year, such as Advt. No. 21/2025, and corrigenda, exam programmes, cut-offs and results are all posted against that number, not the post name. Note yours when you apply.

Qualification, age and experience are set per post. Age relaxations follow Tripura state rules, not central ones.

TPSC recruits on requisition for the Government of Tripura's departments, which are the employers. Recent advertisements came from the Agriculture, Health, Public Works, Food and Civil Supplies, Education and Revenue departments, among others, for posts such as Agriculture Officer, Food Safety Officer, Medical Officer, Junior Engineer, Assistant Professor and combined miscellaneous posts.

It also runs departmental examinations for serving state, IAS, TCS, IPS and TPS officers, listed separately on its site.

Written exams, interviews and personality tests are held within Tripura, mainly in Agartala. The Programmes of Exams and Interviews section on tpsc.tripura.gov.in gives the date, time and venue for each advertisement number, and is re-issued whenever a programme is rescheduled, which happens fairly often.

No fixed calendar. TPSC advertises continuously and post by post, often with several advertisements open at once, each with its own schedule. Advertisements, syllabi, admit cards and results appear on the Commission's notifications page.

On 8 September 2026 its Advertisement (Direct Recruitment) page listed no active direct recruitment. Advertisements 18, 21, 23 and 26 of 2025 were still working through their written, cut-off and interview stages.

Download the e-Admit Card from tpsc.tripura.gov.in using your advertisement number and application details. Nothing comes by post. Interview and personality test admission certificates are issued separately, with the interview programme.

Carry with you

• The printed e-Admit Card.
• An original photo ID.
• At interview, originals of every certificate claimed: qualification, category and, if claimed, the Tripura permanent residence certificate.

After each written exam TPSC posts a summary and the cut-off marks against the advertisement number, in its Cut off Marks section. Results go up per advertisement, with final answer keys where the paper was objective.

For posts with an interview or personality test, the Commission first publishes provisional and final eligibility or API calculation lists, so you can check its arithmetic on your claim before the interview.

TPSC publishes the cut-off for each advertisement, with a written-exam summary, on its Cut off Marks page.

A cut-off belongs to one advertisement, one post and one category. Since TPSC advertises post by post rather than yearly, there's no annual series to compare.

1. Give Tripura general studies real time. History from the Manikya rulers, the merger, districts, tribes, Kokborok, state schemes and current affairs.
2. Check whether your post needs Bengali or Kokborok. It is a real eligibility condition in several TPSC recruitments.
3. For the civil service, write. The Main is descriptive and the Preliminary contributes nothing to merit, so answer-writing practice matters more than another round of objective tests.
4. For single-post recruitments, your subject is the exam. General studies is usually the smaller half.
5. Work through the Commission's own past papers in its Old Question Paper archive, for both direct recruitment and departmental exams.
6. Watch the notifications page. TPSC advertises many small recruitments through the year with short windows.

TPSC publishes its own past papers, for direct recruitment and departmental exams, in its Old Question Paper archive. The syllabus and scheme for each post are in Syllabus and Schemes, and final answer keys go up per advertisement after the objection window.

Tripura Public Service Commission: tpsc.tripura.gov.in

Notifications and advertisements: TPSC notifications

Cut-off marks: Cut off Marks

Past papers: Old Question Paper archive

Syllabus and schemes: Syllabus and Schemes

Government of Tripura: tripura.gov.in

What does TPSC recruit for?

The Tripura Civil Service and Tripura Police Service through a combined competitive examination, and a wide range of other state government posts (Junior Engineer, Medical Officer, Lecturer, Inspector and many more) through individual advertisements.

Do Preliminary marks count in the civil service examination?

No. The Preliminary is a screening test; merit comes from the Main examination and the Personality Test.

Is the Main examination descriptive?

Yes, for the civil service examination. Most other TPSC recruitments use a single objective written paper instead.

How much Tripura-specific knowledge is asked?

A good deal: history, geography, tribes, languages, culture, economy, administration and state schemes.

Do I need Bengali or Kokborok?

Several TPSC recruitments require knowledge of one of them, sometimes to a stated standard. Check your advertisement.

What is the age limit?

Broadly 21 to around 40 for the civil service examination, with 5 years' relaxation for SC, ST, PwD candidates and government servants under Tripura state rules.

Does TPSC publish past papers and cut-offs?

Yes. See its Old Question Paper archive and Cut off Marks pages.