Graduates in any discipline from a recognized University are eligible to apply for West Bengal Civil Service Examination. The exam comprises of Preliminary Exam, Main Exam and Personality test. Preliminary Exam carries objective type questions whereas there will be descriptive questions in main paper.

Pattern of West Bengal Civil Service Examination

West Bengal Civil Service Examination is conducted in two stages such as

• Preliminary Examination
• Main Examination
• Personality Test

Preliminary Examination will contain one question booklet having 200 questions. There will be multiple choice questions in this section. Each question carries one mark. Questions will be graduate level. There will be questions from the following topics.

• Current events of National & International Importance
• Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal
• General Science
• Indian National Movement
• Indian Polity and Economy
• English Composition
• History of India
• General Mental Ability

There will be questions from each section for 25 marks. Candidates will be given a maximum of two and half hours to answer all questions.

Those who have qualified the preliminary exam will be called for Mains Examination. There will be descriptive type question in this exam. The exam comprises of five compulsory papers and two optional subjects. Each paper contains questions for 100 marks. The list of compulsory papers is mentioned below.

Paper 1

Essay / Precis writing in Bengali/ Urdu/ Hindi / Nepali and translation and composition from English Language to Bengali/ Urdu/ Hindi / Nepali

Paper 2

Essay writing in English and Translation from languages like Bengali/Hindi/ Urdu/Nepali into English Language

Paper 3

Essay questions on Current events of National & International Importance and General Awareness

Paper 4

Five Year Plans and Constitution of India

Paper 5

Arithmetic Test and Test of Reasoning

In addition to these, there will be descriptive questions from any of the two optional subjects given by the examination board. Candidates have the option to select any two subjects according to their choice. They can visit the official website of West Bengal Civil Service to collect detailed information about the list of optional subjects. Candidates are required to answer the questions except Language papers in Mains exam either in English or Bengali/ Nepali Language. Candidates will be given a maximum of 3 hours to answer each paper.

Those who have cleared the Mains exam will be short listed as per their rankings for Personality Test. There will be oral examination on candidates’ area of interest, personal qualities and leadership quality, moral and intellectual integrity. Maximum marks allotted for personality test is 200.