As of 10 October 2026 there is no 2026 Grama/Ward Sachivalayam notification, and in 2019 the gap between the notification (26 July) and the test (around 1 September) was five weeks. So the useful plan has two halves: a foundation you build now, at your own pace, and a 45-day sprint you run when the notification arrives. This page lays out both, built from the last official scheme on the exam pattern page rather than general advice. Study advice here is ours; arithmetic is labelled.
1. Know where the marks are
| Post family | Part A (General Studies and Mental Ability) | Part B | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| General posts (Panchayat Secretary, Ward Administrative Secretary and similar) | 75 marks, 50% | History, Economy, Geography, Polity (AP focus): 75 marks, 50% | Notification 01/2019 |
| Technical posts (VRO, Digital Assistant, Engineering Assistant, ANM and similar) | 50 marks, 33% | Subject paper: 100 marks, 67% | VRO Grade-II notification, 2020 |
Two consequences. First, Part A is the one thing every candidate can prepare today, whatever post the notification brings. Second, one plan cannot serve both families: a general-post candidate splits time evenly, a technical-post candidate gives two-thirds to the subject.
2. Time per question and when to guess
- Time: 150 questions in 150 minutes is 60 seconds a question. In the technical posts Part A (50 minutes) and Part B (100 minutes) have their own clocks, so the pace is the same. An arithmetic question that takes two minutes has to be paid for by a memory question answered in thirty seconds.
- Guessing: +1 right, −0.25 wrong (reported for 2019; stated in the 2020 VRO notification). A blind guess among four options averages +0.0625, about zero; eliminate one option and the expected gain turns positive (arithmetic). The rule to test in mocks: attempt if you can strike out at least one option, leave it only when you know nothing. Re-read the penalty line in the new notification before the first mock after it.
3. Part A first: section by section
Part A in Notification 01/2019 had eight heads. Our order of attack, with the notes to use:
| Head | Daily routine (ours) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General mental ability and reasoning | 10 questions a day: series, coding, directions, blood relations, seating | Reasoning and arithmetic shortcuts |
| Quantitative aptitude with data interpretation | 10 questions a day; one DI set every other day | Same notes; data interpretation and mental ability |
| Comprehension in Telugu and English | One short passage a day, alternating languages; read the questions first | – |
| General English | Grammar and vocabulary, 15 minutes a day | – |
| Basic computer knowledge | One topic a week: hardware, software, MS Office, internet, file types, shortcuts | Computer awareness |
| Current affairs (regional, national, international) | 20 minutes a day; AP first; weekly revision of notes | Daily Dangal |
| General science and S&T/IT developments | Everyday applications of physics, chemistry, biology; recent S&T from the news | Same computer and S&T notes |
| Sustainable development and environment | Read as its own unit: pollution, climate, biodiversity, sanitation, renewable energy | – |
Three of these heads are easy marks that candidates lose by neglect: computer basics (the job itself runs on the secretariat's computers), environment (a separate head, not a footnote to science) and comprehension (two passages, both languages, pure practice).
4. Part B by post
General posts
The 2019 Part B had eight heads, and they track the Panchayat Secretary's job chart in G.O.Ms.No.149. Study in this order (ours):
- Local government and governance. Parts IX and IXA of the Constitution, the Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules, the AP Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (Gram Sabha, Gram Panchayat, Mandal Parishad, Zilla Parishad), the AP Municipalities Act, 1965 and Municipal Corporations Act, 1994, the State Election Commission, the 2019 secretariat G.O.s and the GSWS Act, 2023 with its 2025 and 2026 amendments (Swarna Gramam and Swarna Wardu). Our Panchayati Raj notes carry article and section numbers; the Panchayat Secretary's and Digital Assistant's job charts are summarised in the Sachivalayam secretary guide.
- AP history and culture. Satavahanas to the Qutb Shahis; the national movement in Andhra; the Andhra movement, 1953 and 1956.
- AP geography. Physiography, rivers, soils, forests, minerals, ports, districts: AP geography notes.
- Bifurcation and the Reorganisation Act, 2014. Explainer.
- Economy and planning with AP emphasis. Basics, banking, budget; AP agriculture, irrigation, industry.
- Schemes, SHGs and women's empowerment. AP government schemes notes; SHG federations and bank linkage.
- Society, social justice and rights. Reservation, SC/ST/women's/children's rights, and the Acts named in the job charts.
The Reading Room Grama/Ward Sachivalayam complete guide follows this syllabus head by head and is the single book to keep open beside the notification.
Technical posts
Part B is your subject. The only official Part B we hold is the VRO Grade-II Drawing and Survey paper (2020): lettering and IS practice, geometric construction and projection, scales, plan and elevation, conventional signs, building elements, chain surveying and area, compass, levelling, earthwork and contours; worked examples are in the VRO and VRA guide. For Digital Assistant, Engineering Assistant, Survey Assistant, ANM, the agriculture and veterinary assistants and Energy Assistant we do not hold an official syllabus; prepare from your diploma or degree syllabus until the notification prints the heads, and keep the daily Part A arithmetic and reasoning set going. Remember that in 2020 the VRO Part A also carried the AP history, polity, geography and schemes heads, compressed into 50 questions, so a short AP general-studies routine still pays.
5. The plan: foundation now, sprint later
| Phase | When | What |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | Now, until the notification | Part A heads in the order above, one Part B unit a week (general posts) or your subject (technical), 20 reasoning or arithmetic questions and 20 minutes of current affairs every day; a Part A set of 75 questions in 75 minutes every fortnight |
| Sprint | The 45 days after the notification | Our day-by-day 45-day plan: 15 days of foundation (a second pass for you), 15 days of topic practice, 10 days with eight full mocks, 5 days of revision |
| Short window | If the notification leaves fewer than 45 days | Compress the practice phase, never the mock phase or the last five days |
The 45-day plan is written for the 75 + 75 general posts and has a section on re-weighting it for the 50 + 100 technical posts. If you start the foundation now, you will meet it as a second round, which is the position it was designed for.
If you are working
With three hours a day, stretch each day of the 45-day table across two days, keep the morning arithmetic set non-negotiable, and hold the weekend for one full mock. See preparing while working.
6. A weekly mock-analysis routine
Tag every wrong or skipped question:
- Did not know – re-read the topic, then 10 questions on it.
- Knew it, got it wrong in a hurry – slow the first read.
- Ran out of time – change the order of sections.
- Guessed and lost – apply the one-option rule.
Count the tags each week; the largest is next week's work. In the first mocks "did not know" dominates; if by the last mocks only "hurry" errors remain, you are on track. Compare your percentile, not only your marks: on Pareeksha everyone in a cohort sits the same fixed paper, so your percentile shows where you stand on identical questions (how it works).
7. Exam-day order (ours, for a general post)
| Stage | Time | Task |
|---|---|---|
| First look | 3 minutes | Turn through the booklet, spot the easy sections |
| Part B memory questions | 55 minutes | Fast, known questions first |
| Part A memory questions (current affairs, science, computers) | 25 minutes | |
| Part A arithmetic, reasoning, comprehension | 50 minutes | The time-consuming part |
| Marked questions and OMR check | 17 minutes | With the negative-marking rule in mind |
Use whichever order your mocks prove best; do not experiment on the day. For a technical post the clocks are separate (50 + 100), so plan each part on its own.
8. Mistakes this scheme punishes
- Waiting for the notification to start. The 2019 gap was five weeks. Part A cannot be built in five weeks from zero.
- Planning around a post count from a website. 14,000 and 37,000 are unverified. Plan around the syllabus.
- One plan for every post. Technical posts carry two-thirds of the marks in the subject.
- Skipping computer basics and environment. Named heads, easy marks.
- Blind guessing, or leaving too many questions for fear of the penalty. Four wrong cancel one right; the one-option rule is the balance.
- Using the old office and post names after 2026. Swarna Gramam and Swarna Wardu (Act 17 of 2026); Ward Data Processing Secretary and Ward Welfare and Education Secretary (Act 25 of 2025); Survey Assistant for the former Village Surveyor.
- Quoting 2019 pay or 2019 age limits as current. They are the last official figures, not the next notification's.
9. On the day the notification arrives
- Read the exam-pattern annexure first: Part A and Part B marks, time, mode (OMR or computer-based) and the negative-marking line. If any differs from 2019-20, change the time shares in this plan.
- Print the Part B syllabus for your post. Mark each head "know / know a little / do not know"; put the last group in the first two weeks of the sprint.
- Count backwards from the exam date and fit the 45-day plan to it.
- Read the eligibility, age, fee, local-status and (if required) OTPR rules, and get the certificates ready.
- Apply early; do not wait for the last day.
- Bookmark the department's portal for corrigenda, hall tickets and keys. Do not rely on social-media posts.
10. Practising on Pareeksha
- Free: the 10-question mini-mock for the Ward Administrative Secretary paper, which opens when the Sachivalayam papers go live, and the Daily Dangal quiz for daily current affairs and GS.
- Pro: full-length mocks in the 150-question format in the online test series, previous-year papers and topic-wise practice. See plans.
Related: Syllabus · Exam pattern · Cut-off · Andhra Pradesh state guide · తెలుగులో