UPSC APFC Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

The paper is "APFC - General Studies" (booklet code BNYR-B-GNS in 2023). It isn't the Enforcement Officer / Accounts Officer paper, which is a General Ability Test, though both posts shared one advertisement number. Same structure, different questions.

Two answers marked counts as wrong. Getting your roll number and booklet series right on the OMR is your job; a mistake can get the sheet rejected. You can take the booklet home.

Final marks

Interview minimum

You can clear the written paper comfortably and still miss out at the board.

At 2.5 marks a question with a 0.833 penalty, three wrong answers cancel one right one. The 178.33 unreserved cut-off is about 72 clean answers out of 120.

UPSC lists the subjects in the advertisement rather than giving a topic list, but it also publishes the paper itself. Read the topics below against the 2023 APFC General Studies paper.

Part A: English

Vocabulary (synonyms and antonyms in context), sentence rearrangement, error spotting, sentence improvement, cloze passages and comprehension.

Part B: General Studies

• Industrial relations and labour laws: the EPF and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952 and its three schemes, the ESI Act, the Payment of Wages, Minimum Wages, Payment of Bonus and Payment of Gratuity Acts, the Industrial Disputes Act, and the four Labour Codes. This is what sets the paper apart.
• General accounting: principles, books of account, financial statements and how to read them.
• Social security in India: provident fund, pension and insurance; the Employees' Pension Scheme, EDLI, Atal Pension Yojana; coverage and the informal sector.
• Indian polity, economy and current events, with labour, employment and social security news weighted heavily.
• Computer applications, quantitative aptitude and general science: office software, arithmetic, percentages, ratio, averages, data interpretation, science and technology.

Nationality: Indian citizen, or one of the other categories UPSC lists for central Group A posts, with a certificate of eligibility where needed.

Education: a bachelor's degree in any subject from a recognised university, held on the closing date.

Age: set in each advertisement and reckoned on the closing date. It's higher than for Enforcement Officer / Accounts Officer. Check the figure and the relaxations for SC, ST, OBC, PwBD and ex-servicemen in the notification.

Disability: posts are reserved. In 2023, 8 of the 159 were for PH candidates, with separate cut-offs for visually impaired, hearing impaired, orthopaedically handicapped and multiple or mental illness categories.

Certificates must be in UPSC's own formats, downloadable from Forms for Certificates. There's no physical standard and no experience requirement.

1. Recruitment Test: 120 questions, 300 marks, two hours, OMR, one-third penalty.
2. Personality Test: 100 marks, before a UPSC board in New Delhi.

Final merit is on 400, weighted 75:25, with an interview minimum for each category.

2023 in UPSC's figures

By category, those who appeared were General 1,48,660, OBC 1,02,757, SC 59,281, EWS 29,136 and ST 19,719.

UPSC recommended 41 General, 48 OBC, 25 SC, 13 ST and 23 EWS against vacancies of 68, 38, 25, 12 and 16. The gap is RAUV: reserved candidates who make the unreserved standard take unreserved posts but are counted in their own category. In 2023 that was 13 OBC, 1 SC, 1 ST and 7 EWS. So for OBC and EWS candidates, the unreserved mark is the realistic target.

There's no re-checking of OMR sheets. You can object to a question only in the window after the provisional answer key.

APFC is Group A; Enforcement Officer / Accounts Officer is Group B. That means a higher pay level, a higher age limit and a harder cut-off: 178.33 of 300 for APFC in 2023 against 138.33 for EO/AO, on almost the same number of candidates.

An APFC runs or helps run a regional or sub-regional EPFO office: enforcement against employers, assessing dues, settling claims, and running the provident fund, pension and insurance schemes. Expect an all-India posting liability.

Apply online on UPSC's Online Recruitment Application portal, upsconline.nic.in.

Check the vacancy number, not just the advertisement number. In 2023 APFC and EO/AO shared advertisement 51/2023 but had different vacancy numbers (23025102725 for APFC, 23025101725 for EO/AO), separate papers and separate merit lists.

Have ready: an e-mail and mobile you'll keep for the whole cycle; your degree and marksheets; category certificates in UPSC's formats from Forms for Certificates; and a photo and signature in the portal's sizes.

The fee is set in each advertisement, with the usual exemptions for SC, ST, PwBD and women.

UPSC runs the recruitment; the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation employs you, under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

EPFO works through zonal, regional and district offices in every state, with its head office in New Delhi. It runs three schemes under the EPF and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952: provident fund, the Employees' Pension Scheme and the Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme.

UPSC also recruits Enforcement Officer / Accounts Officer (Group B), Personal Assistant and Junior Translation Officer for EPFO. Check the vacancy number on any notice.

The test is pen and paper, at centres across the country named on your e-admit card. In 2023 roughly 3.6 lakh candidates sat each of the two EPFO papers in a single sitting, so there's no normalisation: the published marks are the marks scored.

The interview is at UPSC's office, Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi. The schedule is published under Recruitment Tests. Bring your e-admit card and the original photo ID you gave in the application.

As at 8 September 2026 no APFC recruitment is open. The most recent is advertisement 51/2023 (Special), vacancy number 23025102725, for 159 posts. There's no date for the next, and it won't appear in UPSC's exam calendar. Watch upsconline.nic.in, Recruitment Tests on upsc.gov.in, and EPFO Recruitments.

The 2023 cycle

Thirteen months from paper to final documents. The vacancy split was 68 UR, 16 EWS, 38 OBC, 25 SC and 12 ST.

UPSC issues an e-admit card, downloaded from Recruitment Tests on upsc.gov.in; nothing is posted. Changes of date or venue appear under Recruitment Tests, Notice. Carry the original photo ID you gave in your application; a photocopy won't do. The interview call comes separately, often a long time later.

Under Recruitment Tests on upsc.gov.in, in order: the provisional answer key and objection window; the written result; the final result; the cut-off marks with marks of the qualified (27 August 2024 for APFC); and Marks Information for everyone else.

In 2023 the closing documents came in August 2024 for APFC and March 2025 for EO/AO. There's no re-evaluation.

UPSC publishes the cut-offs in full. From the cut-off document for 159 posts, 27 August 2024 (absolute marks, single sitting, no normalisation):

Highest marks out of 400: General 304.18 (about 76%), OBC 279.50, EWS 272.50, SC 262.50, ST 258.33. The unreserved written cut-off was under 60%.

OBC matched unreserved on the written paper. ST's final cut-off ended above SC's despite a lower written one; small categories swing. These are one cycle's figures; newer ones go in the cut-off archive.

1. Sit the real paper first. UPSC has published the complete 2023 APFC General Studies paper. Do it in two hours on paper.
2. Score it against the published cut-off (178.33 of 300 unreserved) to see how far off you are.
3. Read the labour laws themselves, not summaries: the EPF Act 1952 and schemes, ESI, wage and gratuity Acts, the Industrial Disputes Act and the Labour Codes. The interview will go there too.
4. Guess less. Three wrong answers cancel a right one.
5. Don't neglect Part A. English is the most reliably scoreable part.
6. Read EPFO and Labour Ministry material on epfo.gov.in and labour.gov.in. It covers the labour law, social security, current affairs and the interview.
7. Prepare for the board. Half marks is the unreserved minimum.
8. OBC candidates: aim at the unreserved mark. In 2023 they were the same.
9. Practise OMR filling, roll number and booklet series included.
10. Expect it to take over a year, and keep your e-mail and phone live.

UPSC publishes the complete booklet. For this post it's the 2023 APFC General Studies paper (booklet BNYR-B-GNS, July 2023): the cover instructions and all 120 questions as you'll see them. Older papers are in the question paper archive.

Provisional and final answer keys are under Recruitment Tests, so you can score it with the one-third penalty and compare with the cut-off for your category. There's no need to buy a reconstruction.

• upsc.gov.in: UPSC
• upsconline.nic.in: Online Recruitment Application, where you apply
• Recruitment Tests: papers, cut-offs, answer keys, e-admit cards, notices and interview schedules
• question paper archive and cut-off archive
• Forms for Certificates: UPSC's certificate formats
• epfo.gov.in: the employer (epfindia.gov.in now redirects here)
• labour.gov.in: Ministry of Labour and Employment

Is it 200 marks or 300?

300. The booklet and the cut-off document both say so. An earlier EPFO paper (EO/AO, 2020) was 120 questions for 100 marks, so totals change between cycles.

How much is the interview worth?

A quarter: 100 of 400.

Is there negative marking?

Yes, one third of the question's marks (0.833).

Is it the same paper as Enforcement Officer?

No. APFC sits General Studies; EO/AO sits a General Ability Test.

What was the cut-off?

In 2023: 178.33 of 300 written for unreserved and OBC, and 257.50 of 400 final for unreserved.

Does UPSC publish past papers?

Yes, the complete booklet, along with cut-offs, answer keys and a marks lookup.

What qualification do I need?

A bachelor's degree in any subject.

What is the age limit and salary?

Both are set in each advertisement. APFC is Group A, with a higher age limit than EO/AO.

Is a recruitment open now?

No, as at 8 September 2026.