UKPSC Lower PCS Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

Preliminary, Main, interview. Deputy Jailor and Excise Inspector add a physical standards test after the interview. The scheme is in the Commission's Examination Scheme and Syllabus.

Preliminary (screening), objective

Preliminary marks aren't added to the Main for merit. It only screens the field when applications far outnumber vacancies.

Negative marking: four options, a quarter of the question's marks off for each wrong answer. Marking two options counts as wrong even if one is right. Blanks cost nothing. No calculators.

Main, written and descriptive

You need at least 35% in General Hindi. Four strong papers and 34 in Hindi means you're out. The Main is handwritten: 48 answers in ten hours, to word limits the Commission publishes.

Interview

75 marks, for a final total of 675. That's a little over eleven per cent, so the four Main papers decide almost everything.

Three Commission documents: the Preliminary syllabus, the scheme with the Main syllabus, and the Main marks distribution with the word limit for every question. Uttarakhand is roughly half of everything scored.

Preliminary Part 1: General Studies, 100 marks

Preliminary Part 2: General Aptitude, 50 marks

General Intelligence, verbal and non-verbal: analogies, similarities and differences, space visualisation, problem solving, judgement, decision making, visual memory, observation, relationship concepts, arithmetical reasoning, classification, number series, symbols and arithmetical computation.

Main Paper I: General Hindi, 100 marks

Six questions in two hours, with a 35 per cent floor.

Main Paper II: Essay, 100 marks

One essay of about 700 words from each section.

Main Paper III: General Study I, 200 marks

The state heads go deep: the Kunindas and Yaudheyas; the Katyuri, Parmar and Chand dynasties; the Gorkha invasion and slave trade; colonial land and forest administration; the Coolie Begar, Dola-Palki and Gadi-Sadak protests; Gandhi's visits of 1915 and 1929; Tehri Riyasat and its Dhandhak; the Prajamandal movement; naula and gharat; jagar, Pandav Lila and the Nanda Raj Jat Yatra; Garhwali and Kumauni literature; the Uttarakhand Right to Service Act 2011; the Public Services Tribunal; the anti-alcohol movement, illegal mining, human-animal conflict and cloudbursts.

Main Paper IV: General Study II, 200 marks

Statistics means central tendency, dispersion, and analysing data through graphs and diagrams.

Word limits

Each 34-mark topic has a 14-mark question of 180 words in two 7-mark parts of 90 and a 20-mark question of 250 words in two 10-mark parts of 125, so 360 and 500 words. A General Study paper comes to twenty questions and about 2,500 words in three hours.

All from advertisement A-3/E-2/DR/LSS/2024-25.

Two gates before the degree

1. High School and Intermediate passed in Uttarakhand. A government notification of 28 June 2019 (164/XXX-2/19-01(17)/2012) limits Group 'C' direct recruitment to those who passed both from recognised institutions in Uttarakhand. Exceptions: armed and paramilitary forces personnel; regular state government staff; central government or PSU staff posted in Uttarakhand whose service can't be transferred out; and permanent residents living outside the state for work or study, in each case with their spouse and children. Schooling elsewhere otherwise rules you out, however good the degree.

2. Registered with an Uttarakhand employment exchange by the closing date, under Rule 4 of the Essential Qualification and Desirable Qualification Rules 2010. State employees needn't register; employees elsewhere can register with a no-objection certificate; ex-servicemen registered with a District Sainik Welfare and Rehabilitation Office in Uttarakhand count as registered.

Age

21 to 42 on 1 July 2024 for the 2024 cycle: born between 2 July 1982 and 1 July 2003.

Qualification by post

On 4 March 2025 the High Court held that a B.Tech in Agricultural Engineering does not qualify for the two cane posts (Writ Petitions 2287/2023 and 41/2024).

Preference, used only as a tie-breaker: two years in the Territorial Army or an NCC 'B' certificate for every post; NCC 'C' also for Deputy Jailor, Supply Inspector, Marketing Inspector and Labour Enforcement Officer; NSS 'C' for Supply Inspector; a law degree for Khandsari Inspector.

Physical standards: Deputy Jailor and Excise Inspector

Bring the original SC, ST or hill-area certificate to claim a relaxation, or the general standard applies.

Reservation

For Uttarakhand SC, ST, OBC and EWS, and horizontally for ex-servicemen, freedom fighters' dependants, persons with disability, Uttarakhand women, orphans in homes run in the state, medal-winning or Olympic, World Cup, World Championship, Asian, Commonwealth or international university sportspersons, and identified Uttarakhand movement agitators and dependants.

• Non-domiciles get no reservation at all and apply as unreserved.
• Claim more than one sub-category and you get only the most beneficial one.
• A claim left out of the online form can't be added later (High Court Special Appeal 79/2010; Supreme Court SLP (Civil) (S) 19532/2010).
• Disability reservation needs 40 per cent or more, in a category identified for the post. A disabled candidate may also apply for an unreserved post (order 232/XXX(2)/2018-30(05)-2014 of 26 September 2018).
• The 10 per cent agitator reservation (notification of 18 August 2024, 244/XXXVI(3)/2024/48(1)/2023) is subject to PIL 152/2024, Bhuwan Singh and others versus State of Uttarakhand, pending at Nainital.

Meeting the qualification doesn't entitle you to be called at any stage, and every admission is provisional.

1. Preliminary. 150 objective questions, two hours, at centres across Uttarakhand. Candidates pass in a ratio to vacancies fixed by rule, then the marks are set aside. In 2024 the Commission drew two lists: 1,617 for the seven graduate posts and 154 for the two cane posts.
2. Answer key and objections. Seven days to object, at ₹ 50 per question, non-refundable. Subject experts decide before the result.
3. Main. Four papers over two days, in Haldwani and Haridwar only. Pay the separate Main fee by the deadline or your candidature is cancelled. Documents are checked before the Main.
4. Online post preference, only for those who clear the Main. Send a printout to the Commission. It can't be changed once submitted, and it decides which post you can get.
5. Document verification and interview (75 marks), under the Commission's Result Formation Process Regulations 2022 and Scrutiny Guidelines 2022. In 2024, 379 were called for the seven posts and 34 for the cane posts; three candidatures were cancelled after scrutiny in September 2026. A qualification counts from the date the marksheet was issued, so put that date in the form's Result Declaration Date column.
6. Physical standards test for those who listed Deputy Jailor or Excise Inspector: height and chest for men, height and weight for women. In 2024 it ran at the 40th Battalion PAC, Haridwar, 7 to 15 September 2026, reporting 10:00 am (notice).

Minimum qualifying marks

Appendix 7 of the advertisement. Below the floor you're not considered, wherever you rank.

Final merit is Main plus interview, out of 675, with posts allotted by rank against your preference. A discrepancy found even after recommendation cancels the selection, and the result is subject to seven writ petitions at Nainital, listed on the Main result.

All nine posts are Group 'C', non-gazetted, on the contributory pension (NPS), paid on the Uttarakhand matrix, which follows the Seventh Pay Commission.

Top to bottom of the list is about ₹ 15,700 of basic pay a month, which matters when you fill the preference form. These are basic pay figures; DA, HRA and TA are added at state rates, and the Commission doesn't publish gross figures. Probation and service terms come from each department's rules, not the advertisement.

Online only, on the Commission's website. The 2024 window ran 13 December 2024 to 4 January 2025, with corrections until 20 January 2025. New cycles appear on Recruitment Notifications.

Fee

Pay by net banking, card or UPI only. Underpaying or paying late cancels the application. The fee follows your category and isn't refunded, so a fresh application means paying again. Separate Main and interview fees come later, set at the time.

Filling the form

• Claim every category and sub-category you hold. Omissions can't be fixed later.
• Put the marksheet issue date in the Result Declaration Date column.
• Use your own mobile and email; nothing comes by post.
• EWS certificates must be valid to the closing date; OBC certificates last three years from issue.
• Government employees must tell their employer and produce a no-objection certificate when asked.

The Commission conducts the exam and recommends names; the departments appoint.

Vacancies are from the 2024 advertisement and may go up or down. By department: Food and Civil Supplies 42, Sugarcane 11.

The Personnel Department indents for the exam as a whole. The Uttarakhand Public Service Commission, a constitutional body under Article 315, is at psc.uk.gov.in. It moved there from ukpsc.gov.in; the old domain still loads, but current advertisements, results and keys are only on the new one.

Preliminary: nineteen cities in Uttarakhand

No centre outside Uttarakhand. The list can change with applicant numbers, the Commission's allotment is final, and centres can't be changed once fixed.

The Main is in Haldwani and Haridwar only; budget for travel from the interior. The physical test is at the 40th Battalion PAC, Haridwar.

In the hall

• No phone, camera, pager, scanner pen, Bluetooth or any electronic device. Being caught with one can bar you from all future Commission exams.
• A thumb impression goes on the answer book: left thumb for men, right for women.
• Hand the answer book to the invigilator before you leave.
• Cheating falls under the Uttarakhand Competitive Examinations (Measures for Prevention and Prohibition of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act 2023, notified 27 April 2023.

The 2024 cycle

Twenty-one months from advertisement to the last physical test, with the final result still to come. Plan in years.

2026

The Commission's 2026-27 calendar (letter 115/2026-27 of 1 September 2026) proposes the Lower Preliminary on Sunday 27 December 2026 and the Upper Preliminary on 29 November 2026. Dates may change. The Upper 2026 advertisement came out on 9 September 2026; the Lower one hadn't by 12 September 2026, so vacancies, fee and closing date aren't known yet. Watch Recruitment Notifications.

Admit cards for every stage are downloaded from the Commission's website using your registration number and date of birth. None are posted; a notice appears in state dailies and on the site.

Bring the admit card and photo ID (Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN or similar). For the physical test, bring the original SC, ST or hill-area certificate plus a self-attested copy if you claimed a relaxation.

Notice can be short. In 2024 the physical test notice came out on 31 August 2026 for a test from 7 September, with admit cards the same day and roll numbers in eight daily batches. Download problems go to the helpline email in the advertisement.

Results are PDFs of roll numbers on the Results page. No scorecard login, nothing by post.

2024 so far

About 15 per vacancy past the Preliminary and 3.6 per vacancy past the Main. You can appear on both lists if eligible for both.

Every result rests on what you claimed in the form, checked later. The Preliminary result is subject to PIL 152/2024 on the agitator reservation, and the Main result to six more petitions at Nainital. On 10 September 2026 the Commission cancelled three candidatures for not answering an ineligibility notice in time.

The Commission publishes Preliminary cut-offs by category and sub-category to four decimal places on result day. 2024 figures, from notice 91/05/L.S.(P)-24/G-2/2025-26 of 29 July 2025, out of 150:

Seven combined posts

Two cane posts

OBC closed above unreserved, and EWS matched it exactly. The cane list was 30 marks lower on the same paper, and its two figures are 0.0002 apart.

The decimals come from dropped questions: the marks of all 54,375 candidates show 9 of 150 dropped, so the paper was scored on 141 and scaled to 150. The top score was 125.5278 (121 right, 12 wrong: 118 net marks on 141). 1,041 candidates reached the unreserved cut-off, against 1,617 admitted to the Main on the seven-post list.

Main and final cut-offs come only with the final result after interviews. None has been published for 2024.

1. Read the marks distribution before the syllabus. It gives marks per topic and words per answer.
2. Treat Uttarakhand as the core subject. It's about half of everything scored, and it's what separates you from candidates who prepared only national material.
3. Put extra effort into the land system: Thokdari, van panchayats, soyam and benap land, Nazul, nayabad, tenure changes, the revenue police. It's narrow, few books cover it well, and it's the Nayab Tehsildar's daily work.
4. Do the statistics head. Thirty-four marks for central tendency, dispersion and graphs, with no current-affairs risk.
5. Write to the word limit from day one. About nine minutes per answer in a General Study paper.
6. Don't leave General Hindi to the last week. It's the only paper that can end your attempt alone.
7. Guess only after eliminating. The 2024 marks sheet shows 43 right and 98 wrong scoring 19.6754, and 49 right and 92 wrong scoring 27.6542.
8. Benchmark against the real field. Candidates within half a mark of the 101.5922 cut-off had a median of 101 right and 21 wrong.
9. Settle your post preference early. It's final, and two posts need the physical standard.
10. Check both eligibility gates (Uttarakhand schooling and employment exchange) before spending a year.

The Commission's site menu has an Old Question Papers page, but it was returning an error when checked in October 2026, and no Lower PCS papers are linked from the results pages.

What it does publish each cycle, on the Results page, is the final Preliminary answer key (the 11 May 2025 paper, published 29 July 2025) and every candidate's marks. The key is a question-and-option list, so you need the question booklet you took out of the hall to use it.

• psc.uk.gov.in, Uttarakhand Public Service Commission
• Recruitment Notifications and Results
• Advertisement A-3/E-2/DR/LSS/2024-25 (76 pages)
• Scheme and Main syllabus, Preliminary syllabus, Main marks and word limits
• 2024 Preliminary: result, cut-off, candidate marks, final key
• Main written result 2024 and notification
• Physical standards test notice
• Examination calendar 2026-27

What is UKPSC Lower PCS?

Uttarakhand's Combined State Civil / Lower Subordinate Services Examination, for nine Group 'C' posts including Nayab Tehsildar, Deputy Jailor, Supply Inspector and Excise Inspector.

How is it different from Upper PCS?

Upper fills gazetted posts; Lower fills the Group 'C' tier. Separate advertisement, papers and pay.

Do Preliminary marks count?

No. Merit is Main plus interview, out of 675.

Is there negative marking?

In the Preliminary, a quarter mark per wrong answer. Blanks cost nothing.

Can I apply if I did my schooling outside Uttarakhand?

Generally no. High School and Intermediate must be from Uttarakhand, with narrow exceptions for forces and government staff posted there and permanent residents living outside.

Do I need to register with an employment exchange?

Yes, in Uttarakhand, by the closing date, unless you're already in state service.

What is the age limit?

21 to 42, with relaxations for Uttarakhand reserved categories.

Does B.Tech Agricultural Engineering qualify for the cane posts?

No. The High Court ruled on 4 March 2025 that it doesn't.

What was the 2024 cut-off?

Preliminary unreserved 101.5922 out of 150; 71.8052 on the cane list. Main cut-offs come with the final result.

Can I change my post preference?

No, never once submitted.

When is the next exam?

The Preliminary is proposed for 27 December 2026. The advertisement wasn't out as at 12 September 2026.