WB Police SI Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Eligibility

Preliminary Examination (screening)

90 minutes, OMR multiple choice, set in English and Bengali. Two marks a question, and a quarter of that (0.5) off for a wrong answer. The Board sets cut-offs by category and post, based on vacancies. These marks aren't counted for the final merit list.

PMT and PET

For those who clear the preliminary. You must pass the PMT to sit the PET, and both to sit the final exam. No marks. Standards are under Eligibility.

Final Combined Competitive Examination (200 marks, conventional type)

• All three papers on one day, at centres the Board picks.
• Paper I is set in English, Bengali and Nepali. Answer in any one, but all answers in the same language.
• The Board may set qualifying marks in any paper and in the aggregate.

Personality Test

30 marks, for a limited number called on merit from the final exam. Minimum 8. Score below that and you're out, whatever your written marks.

The preliminary is OMR multiple choice; the final exam is written out. Practising only MCQs prepares you for the screen, not for the rank.

Two language choices, not to be confused: Paper III is a language subject (Bengali, Hindi, Urdu or Nepali). Paper I can be answered in English, Bengali or Nepali, all in one language.

The detailed syllabus for the final exam is set out in the Board's 15-page Information to Applicants, published with the advertisement.

Age

20 to 30 years on 1 January 2024 for this cycle.

So a serving SC or ST officer can go up to 40.

Education and language

A bachelor's degree in any discipline from a recognised university. (Constable needs only Madhyamik.)

You must speak, read and write Bengali, unless you're a permanent resident of the hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, where the West Bengal Official Language Act, 1961 (West Ben. Act XXIV of 1961) applies instead.

EWS candidates need an income and asset certificate in the set format, valid for 2023-2024 or later (financial year 2022-2023 or later). Anyone claiming the Gorkha, Garhwali or Rajbanshi physical relaxation needs a community certificate; transgender candidates need their identity certificate.

Physical Measurement Test

Women are listed for the Unarmed Branch only; transgender candidates for both.

Physical Efficiency Test

The 2026 OBC change

The revised tables merge OBC-A and OBC-B into one OBC category. The total number of posts didn't change; the freed OBC posts went mostly to Unreserved.

In the Board's words, the posts are filled "on the basis of qualifying the Preliminary Examination which will act as screening examination followed by the Physical Measurement Test (PMT), Physical Efficiency Test (PET), Final Combined Competitive Examination and Personality Test." The Board runs all five stages.

The merit list

Preliminary marks and the physical tests don't count. Below 8 in the Personality Test, you're not considered.

Tie-break

1. Higher marks in the Final Combined Competitive Examination.
2. Higher marks in Paper I, General Studies and Arithmetic.
3. The older candidate.
4. Same date of birth: the Board decides.

The Board's notice for this cycle doesn't state the pay scale. It's set by the West Bengal Government's pay rules; check the advertisement for the next cycle on the WBPRB site.

The two branches differ at recruitment only in physical standards. For men outside the relaxed class, the Unarmed Branch needs 167 cm, a 79 cm chest and 56 kg; the Armed Branch needs 173 cm, 86 cm and 60 kg. The written exams, merit rule and the men's run are the same. (The constable exam, by contrast, is one OMR paper of 85 marks plus a 15-mark interview.)

Read the Information to Applicants before you apply; breaking its instructions can cancel your form.

In the editing window you can fix anything except your permanent State, mobile number and e-mail, using your application serial number (or mobile) and date of birth, with an OTP. After that, nothing but category can be changed. To change category later, petition the Board in person or by e-mail with the subject, application serial number and recruitment drive, within the time the Information to Applicants allows. This cycle the Board reopened category twice: on 29 October 2025 and on 12 August 2026 after the OBC list was revised.

From the final exam onward, admit card downloads need your Aadhaar number and Aadhaar-linked mobile, and that mobile becomes your registered number for all SMS.

The Board warns against touts promising selection, and says canvassing cancels your candidature.

WBPRB, Araksha Bhawan (5th floor), 6th Cross Road, Block DJ, Sector II, Salt Lake City, Kolkata 700091. Phone 033 23214200 or 033 23214373; e-mail wbprb10@gmail.com.

It recruits for the West Bengal Police and the separate Kolkata Police, and for one non-police department. This season it was running:

Make sure you're reading the right one. Admit cards also appear on the West Bengal Police site. The OBC change came from the Backward Classes Welfare Department, following the Calcutta High Court.

The preliminary is held at centres across West Bengal, named on the e-admit card. The PMT, PET and the final exam are at venues the Board selects, and all three final papers are written on one day (four hours in total). This cycle the Board corrected a preliminary venue name on 10 October 2025, after admit cards went out, so recheck yours near the date.

Bring the admit card printout and, from the final exam on, your original Aadhaar. Your photo and digital attendance are taken at the venue; skip it and you're rejected. Phones, Bluetooth devices, scanners, digital or smart watches, calculators and high heels are banned.

Eighteen months passed between applications closing and the preliminary. New cycles are announced on the WBPRB site under Recruitments and Tentative Dates.

Admit cards are on the WBPRB and West Bengal Police websites, one per stage. Preliminary cards came out on 28 September 2025 (notice of 24 September), with an OTP to your registered mobile and e-mail. For the final exam, the notice of 6 February 2026 promised cards by 11 February 2026, and the OTP went to your Aadhaar-linked mobile, which then became your registered number. No OTP goes anywhere else.

Read the "Important Documents to be kept ready" notice (9 February 2026) as soon as it's out.

Results go up on the cycle's page on the WBPRB site and under its Written Results and Final Results links: the preliminary result (shortlist for PMT and PET, published 7 November 2025 this cycle), the physical test results, the final exam result (shortlist for the Personality Test), then the final merit list.

The preliminary result tells you nothing about rank: everyone who clears it starts the final with 230 marks to play for. The Board prints that results are "subject to variation, depending upon the final outcome of the legal proceedings."

Three separate bars:

• Preliminary cut-off: set by the Board for each category and post, based on vacancies. It only decides who reaches the PMT.
• Final exam qualifying marks: the Board may fix them in any paper and in the aggregate, at its discretion.
• Personality Test: 8 out of 30, fixed. Miss it and you're out.

Cut-off figures, when the Board releases them, appear with the results on the WBPRB site under Written Results and Final Results.

1. Clear the preliminary, then forget it. It doesn't count towards rank.
2. Practise writing answers out, against the clock. The final is conventional type: three papers in one day, 2 hours, 1 hour and 1 hour.
3. Don't guess blind in the preliminary. Four wrong answers cancel a right one. With 100 questions in 90 minutes, the penalty, not time, is the constraint.
4. Put Paper I first. It's 100 of the 200 marks and the second tie-breaker.
5. Pick your Paper I language in advance. All answers have to be in one.
6. Don't skip the language papers. English and Paper III are half the final exam and neither is in the preliminary.
7. Prepare for the Personality Test. Below 8 of 30 ends everything.
8. Check the right row of the physical table, for your branch and class.
9. Train for 800 metres in 3 minutes (men) or 400 metres (women and transgender candidates). That's a middle-distance test, shorter and faster than the constables' 1,600 metres.

No sample papers or previous year papers are available for this exam as of now. The Board does publish the preliminary answer key and final answer key on the cycle's page (16 and 30 October 2025 this time), so you can score your screening paper. There's no key for the written final.

The closest official guide is the 15-page Information to Applicants, which sets out the scheme and the final exam syllabus. New cycles appear on the WBPRB site.

• West Bengal Police Recruitment Board: Recruitments (each cycle's notices in date order), Completed Recruitment Drives, Tentative Dates, Candidate's Corner, RTI, FAQs, Admit Cards, Written Results and Final Results
• Information to Applicants, SI 2024 (5 March 2024): scheme, physical standards, merit rule, syllabus
• Notice No. WBPRB/NOTICE-2024/14 (SI_WBP_24): eligibility, application and editing windows
• Final Combined Competitive Examination notice (6 February 2026)
• West Bengal Police, which also carries admit cards

The Board's site also links Kolkata Police, the Directorate of Civil Defence, the Swami Vivekananda State Police Academy, the Excise Directorate and the West Bengal Forest Department.

Who conducts West Bengal Police SI recruitment?

The West Bengal Police Recruitment Board, Salt Lake, Kolkata.

Does the preliminary count towards my rank?

No. It's a screening test.

What decides my rank?

The Final Combined Competitive Examination (200) plus the Personality Test (30): 230 marks.

Is there negative marking?

In the preliminary, 0.5 per wrong answer. The final is written, so no.

What is the age limit?

20 to 30 on 1 January 2024, with 5 years' relaxation for SC and ST and 3 for OBC and transgender candidates.

Do I have to know Bengali?

Yes, unless you're a permanent resident of the Darjeeling or Kalimpong hill sub-divisions.

Can women apply for the Armed Branch?

The physical table lists women for the Unarmed Branch only. Transgender candidates are listed for both.

What happened to OBC-A and OBC-B?

They were merged into one OBC category after the State List was revised on 18 May 2026.

Is this recruitment final?

Not yet. Results are subject to court proceedings.