AP DSC 90-Day Preparation Plan for SGT and School Assistant

Most DSC aspirants do not fail at studying. They fail at sequencing. One week goes to psychology, the next to mathematics, then a new book arrives, and three months pass without any subject reaching a stable level. In the last fortnight the fear arrives: half the syllabus is still untouched. A plan removes that fear because it replaces daily decisions with a schedule you have already agreed with yourself.

This guide offers a 90-day framework in three phases: foundation, practice and revision. It gives week-wise tables, a six-hour routine for full-time candidates, a three-hour routine for candidates who work, a subject split for SGT and School Assistant aspirants, a revision cycle, an error log method, and a final-fortnight plan. The last section explains how to adjust the plan if the exam date moves. The structure of the paper and the marks come from the official 2025 documents, so the time shares are tied to how marks are actually distributed.

As on October 2026: no DSC 2026 notification or TRT date was visible on the official portals (tet2dsc.apcfss.in, to which apdsc.apcfss.in redirects, and cse.ap.gov.in). Press reports mention a notification around 15 October 2026 and a test later in the year, but those are reports and not official announcements. Do not wait for a date to start, and do not build the plan around one date as if it were certain. Source: AP TET and DSC portal and cse.ap.gov.in, checked October 2026.

At a glance

Item	Plan
Length	90 days, which is 13 weeks with a buffer day each week
Phase 1 (weeks 1 to 5)	Foundation: learn the whole syllabus once, write short notes
Phase 2 (weeks 6 to 10)	Practice: topic tests, a weekly full mock, error log
Phase 3 (weeks 11 to 13)	Revision: mocks on alternate days, then a final-fortnight plan
Daily time	A six-hour routine and a three-hour routine are given
Paper reference	SGT and School Assistant: 160 MCQs for 80 marks in 2 hours 30 minutes (2025 pattern)

Why the dates matter less than the habit

The department has not published a DSC 2026 schedule, and a past delay or an early notification is always possible. Treat "Day 1" as the day you begin, and once an official date is announced, count back 90 days from a point a week before the test and see where you stand. How to adjust is set out in the last section.

The wider recruitment picture is in the AP DSC 2026 notification guide, and the paper format is in AP DSC exam pattern and marks.

Four principles behind the plan

1. Do not study everything at once. Limit a day to two or three subjects. Too many subjects in one day means none gets depth.
2. Remembering is harder than learning. Most of what you read once fades within days, so the plan builds revision into the schedule from the start.
3. Start practice early. If you wait until the syllabus is finished to attempt questions, there will be no time. Do a few MCQs every day from the first week.
4. Your mistakes are the real syllabus. The errors you repeat tell you what to study next, and an error log turns them into a list.

What the paper rewards: set your time shares from the marks

The 2025 official pattern fixes how marks are spread, and your time should follow it.

For the School Assistant paper (80 marks, 160 questions): General Knowledge and Current Affairs 10 marks, Perspectives in Education 5, Psychology 5, subject content 40 and subject methodology 20. That means three quarters of the paper sits in your own subject.

For the SGT paper (80 marks, 160 questions): General Knowledge 8, Perspectives 4, Psychology 8, and five subject areas (Language I, English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies) at 12 marks each, of which 8 is content and 4 is methodology. That means 60 of 80 marks come from five subject areas.

Component	SGT share of marks	School Assistant share of marks	Suggested share of study time
Subject content	40 of 80 (five areas at 8)	40 of 80	SGT 35 per cent, SA 40 per cent
Subject methodology	20 of 80 (five areas at 4)	20 of 80	SGT 20 per cent, SA 20 per cent
Psychology	8 of 80	5 of 80	SGT 15 per cent, SA 10 per cent
Perspectives in Education	4 of 80	5 of 80	10 per cent
General Knowledge and Current Affairs	8 of 80	10 of 80	10 to 15 per cent
Other (language grammar and practice beyond content)	Included above	Included above	Balance

The study-time column is a suggestion that follows the marks. Move time toward your weakest component after the first two mock tests. The exact syllabus is explained in AP DSC syllabus 2026.

A note on TET

In the 2025 rules, for School Assistants, SGTs and TGTs the final total was 100 marks: 80 for the written test and 20 for the APTET or CTET weightage. The APTET June 2026 notification repeats that 20 per cent of the weight goes to the TET score. A TET certificate is valid for life, and a candidate can reappear to improve a score. If your score is near the pass mark and a TET is available, an improvement can add a few marks to your total, but the written test still decides most of the outcome. For eligibility details see the Telugu-language AP TET 2026 guide.

Phase 1: Foundation (weeks 1 to 5, days 1 to 35)

The aim of the first five weeks is to understand and read the entire syllabus once and write short notes in your own words. Speed matters less than clarity here. One page of notes per topic is enough, and these notes become the base for later revision.

Keep daily practice small: 15 to 20 MCQs from the topic you studied that day. Start the error log in the first week.

Week-wise table for Phase 1

Week	Main subjects	Goal
1	Educational psychology (development theories), language grammar (Telugu or your language)	Notes on Piaget, Vygotsky, Kohlberg, Erikson and others
2	Mathematics (number system, percentages, ratio), English grammar	Strong basics in arithmetic and grammar rules
3	Science or environmental studies basics, learning theories	Notes on learning, motivation, memory and individual differences
4	Social studies (history and geography), Andhra Pradesh general knowledge	State geography, history highlights, rivers and districts
5	Perspectives in Education, civics, remaining content	Commissions and committees, RTE Act, NEP 2020

School Assistant candidates should add at least two extra sessions a week for their own subject. SGT candidates should cycle through all five subject areas so that none is left cold.

Phase 2: Practice (weeks 6 to 10, days 36 to 70)

Now the balance changes. Spend about 40 per cent of the time reading and 60 per cent on practice and error analysis. Two habits begin in this phase: a full mock test every week and a review of the error log every Sunday.

Week-wise table for Phase 2

Week	Reading	Practice	Mock tests
6	Second round of content (mathematics, science)	40 topic MCQs a day	One at the weekend
7	Methodology and evaluation (including continuous comprehensive evaluation)	Psychology and pedagogy questions	One at the weekend
8	Social studies and Andhra Pradesh general knowledge, second round	Current affairs quizzes	One at the weekend
9	Languages (Telugu and English), second round	Grammar and comprehension sets	One at the weekend
10	Weak topics only	Questions drawn from the error log	Two in the week

How often to take mock tests

• Weeks 1 to 5: topic tests only. A single introductory full mock in week 5 is enough.
• Weeks 6 to 10: one full mock a week, and two in week 10.
• Weeks 11 to 13: a mock every other day.

A full mock means the real time limit, one sitting and no phone. After the test, spend at least as long on analysis as you spent writing. The most useful number is not the score but the type of mistakes you made. For the 2025 SGT and School Assistant patterns, 160 questions in 150 minutes allows about 56 seconds a question, so practise at that pace.

The error log

An error log is a diary of your mistakes. Keep it in a notebook or a spreadsheet with these columns.

Question or topic	My answer	Correct answer	Reason for the error	Review date
Kohlberg, levels of moral development	Conventional	Post-conventional	Confused the order of levels	In 3 days

Label each error with one of four reasons.

1. Did not know. The topic was not studied. Fix: add it to the notes and study it.
2. Confused. Two concepts blurred. Fix: write a comparison table.
3. Careless. The question was misread, such as missing "not" or "except". Fix: underline the final words of a question.
4. Time. You knew the answer but ran short of time. Fix: timed practice and quick questions first.

Each Sunday, reread the week's errors. If the same mistake appears twice, mark it red. If it appears a third time, add it to the final revision list. After three months this log becomes a personal list of the questions you are most likely to miss.

Phase 3: Revision (weeks 11 to 13, days 71 to 90)

In the last three weeks, do not start a new book or a new topic. Your materials are your notes, your error log and your mock analysis. A good day has three parts: a mock or sectional test (on alternate days), the analysis of that test, and a revision of notes.

Week	Mock days	Other days
11	Days 1, 3, 5 and 7 (four mocks)	Analysis and subject revision
12	Days 1, 3, 5 and 7 (four mocks)	Red items from the error log
13	See the final-fortnight plan	Revision only

Spaced revision

Memory fades quickly after a single reading, but reviewing at planned intervals slows the fading. A simple cycle works.

• Day plus 1: the next morning, spend 15 minutes on yesterday's notes.
• Day plus 7: after a week, reread the notes and attempt 10 MCQs.
• Day plus 21: after three weeks, take a topic test.
• Day plus 45 and later: include the topic in the second-round review and test it in mocks.

Every daily timetable should contain a revision slot that is separate from the slot for new topics. Revision debt is hard to repay in the last weeks, so do not skip it.

A six-hour routine for full-time candidates

Quality matters more than raw hours. This is a model; shift the hardest subject to the time when you are most alert.

Time	Activity	Duration
6:00 to 6:30	Walk or exercise, breakfast	30 minutes
6:30 to 8:30	Hardest subject (mathematics or content), new topic	2 hours
8:30 to 9:00	Break	30 minutes
9:00 to 10:30	Psychology and pedagogy, or social studies	1.5 hours
10:30 to 1:00	Lunch and rest	2.5 hours
1:00 to 2:00	Languages (Telugu or English)	1 hour
4:00 to 5:00	MCQ practice and error log	1 hour
5:00 to 6:00	Current affairs and general knowledge	1 hour
9:00 to 9:30 pm	Fifteen minutes of notes revision and tomorrow's plan	30 minutes

Reserve Sunday for a full mock and its analysis, so this routine changes on mock days.

A three-hour routine for working candidates

If your job, private school teaching or family duties leave only three hours, use them carefully. Where possible, stretch the plan to 120 days by lengthening each week by about a third. A shorter daily window does not mean a worse result, but it does mean a longer calendar.

Time	Activity	Duration
5:30 to 6:30 am	One new topic, a single subject	1 hour
Commute or lunch break	Flash cards, notes, current affairs	30 minutes
8:30 to 9:30 pm	MCQ practice and error log	1 hour
9:30 to 10:00 pm	Revision of the day's topic	30 minutes

If you can study four to five hours on Saturday and five to six hours on Sunday, those days recover the shortfall. Put a mock on Sunday morning and the analysis in the afternoon. On weekdays take one subject per day to save decision time: mathematics on Monday, psychology on Tuesday, social studies on Wednesday, science on Thursday and languages on Friday.

The last fortnight (days 77 to 90)

In the final two weeks the goal is recall, not new learning.

Days	What to do
77 to 80	Last round of short notes in every subject; a mock on alternate days
81 to 83	Only the red items of the error log; flash cards for formulas, dates and definitions
84 to 85	The last two full mocks, at the time of day of the real test
86 to 88	Light revision of three to four hours a day; short current affairs review
89	Check the centre, the hall ticket, identity proof and travel; light study
90	Rest and an early night

Avoid comparing what you have studied with others in the last week, and do not open new material. On the exam day take a first pass through the questions you can answer quickly, then the medium ones, then the hard ones. Whether there is negative marking has to be read in the 2026 bulletin: the 2025 documents reviewed here do not mention it, which is not a confirmation that none exists.

Health and sleep

Cutting sleep to add study hours usually backfires, because memory consolidates during sleep. Aim for about seven hours. Take a ten-minute break after each 50 to 60 minutes of study, and walk or drink water instead of scrolling. Add 20 to 30 minutes of exercise, eat at regular times and do not change your diet in the weeks before the test. Keep one evening a week for complete rest as part of the plan. If stress becomes heavy, talk to family or fellow candidates, and seek a qualified professional if it does not ease.

How to study each subject

Mathematics. Solve about ten examples yourself in each topic before memorising formulas, and write all the formulas on one sheet. For SGT, the official content covers number systems, arithmetic, geometry, data handling, algebra and mensuration. For School Assistant (Mathematics), the content goes up to Intermediate-level topics.

Psychology. Use comparison tables with four columns: the theorist, the theory, the stages or key terms, and a classroom use. Linking each theory to a classroom example makes application questions easier.

Social studies and general knowledge. Keep separate pages for timelines, maps and Andhra Pradesh facts such as districts, rivers, projects and schemes. Review the lists once a week.

Science. Aim to explain each concept in one sentence and link it to daily life. Draw diagrams.

Languages. Short daily doses of grammar and comprehension work better than weekly marathons. Add a 20-question language quiz once a week.

Current affairs. Spend 20 minutes a day and write a one-page weekly summary. Sort the previous six months of events by month.

Mistakes to avoid

1. Too many books. Pick one main source for each subject, starting with school textbooks. The official syllabus bases the content on the 2023-24 textbooks for classes 3 to 10.
2. Leaving psychology until late. It carries marks in both SGT and School Assistant papers and the concepts are easy to score on once understood.
3. Starting mocks late. If tests begin after the syllabus is done, there is no time to act on the analysis.
4. Looking only at the score. A mock without analysis is half wasted.
5. Postponing current affairs to the final month. Twenty minutes a day is better than a month of cramming.
6. Underrating language sections. Thirty minutes a day of grammar saves a surprising number of marks.
7. Studying without notes. Writing improves recall.
8. Copying someone else's timetable. Your time and weaknesses are different from theirs.

If the dates change

Notification delays and shifts in test dates have happened before, so keep the plan flexible.

Situation	What to do
Test earlier than expected (under 60 days)	Shrink Phase 1 to three weeks. Start the error log and mocks early. Trim low-scoring topics and focus on high-mark sections
Test on the expected schedule (about 90 days)	Follow the plan as written
Test later than expected (120 days or more)	Use the extra time for a second round of foundation, weak subjects and current affairs notes. Do not postpone the start of Phase 2

Once a date is fixed, count back from it. Ninety days before the test is Day 1. If you have more than 90 days, share the extra days between Phase 1 and Phase 2. Keep Phase 3 as the last three weeks. If the syllabus or the pattern changes in the 2026 bulletin, adjust your notes accordingly. Check the exam calendar weekly for dates.

A ten-minute weekly review

Each Sunday night, write short answers to these questions.

1. What share of this week's planned topics did I finish?
2. How many new errors entered the log, and how many were careless?
3. How did my mock score compare with last week? If it did not rise, was the cause a topic, time or anxiety?
4. On how many days did I keep the revision slot?
5. What was my average sleep?
6. What one thing will I change next week?

Write only one change in the last box. If you write five changes, none will happen. Next Sunday, begin by checking whether you made last week's change. If a week slips, use the buffer day and recover the following week. Change the length of the phases only after two weeks of slippage.

Strengthening a weak subject

Every candidate has a subject that feels hard, and most delay it in favour of what they enjoy. That feels comfortable but does not raise marks. Try five steps.

1. Find the cause. Open the error log and see whether errors in that subject are not known, confused, careless or time-related. The fix differs for each.
2. Break it down. "Mathematics is weak" is too large. The real problem may be percentages or time and work. Choose one sub-topic.
3. Practise in small daily doses. Thirty to forty minutes a day beats four hours once a week. Place it in your most alert hours.
4. Start easy. Solve basic examples correctly first, then move to harder ones. A few correct answers in a row rebuild confidence.
5. Retest after two weeks. Take a short test on the same sub-topic. If errors fall, the method works. If not, change the method and do not give up.

Keep a short weekly review on your strong subjects as well, so their marks hold.

Catching up after a missed day

Illness, travel and family work will sometimes break the plan. The mistake to avoid is cramming everything missed into the next day, which increases fatigue and slippage. Instead:

• One or two days missed: move the missed new topics to the weekly buffer day and keep the daily revision slot.
• A week missed: choose only the high-mark topics from that week and defer the rest to the next round.
• More than two weeks missed: lengthen the phases, but do not move the final three weeks.

On the first day back, do 15 MCQs from an earlier topic to get into the rhythm before starting anything new. Write down what is outstanding and set a date for it. A task on paper weighs less than a task in your head.

Key facts for exams

• The 2025 SGT and School Assistant papers each had 160 MCQs for 80 marks in 2 hours 30 minutes.
• School Assistant marks: general knowledge 10, perspectives 5, psychology 5, content 40, methodology 20.
• SGT marks: general knowledge 8, perspectives 4, psychology 8, five subject areas at 12 each.
• The 2025 total was 100 marks: 80 for the written test and 20 for APTET or CTET (for posts that need TET).
• Average time per question in a 160-question, 150-minute paper is about 56 seconds.
• A TET certificate is valid for life under the June 2026 notification.
• The plan has three phases: foundation (weeks 1 to 5), practice (weeks 6 to 10) and revision (weeks 11 to 13).

Ten practice questions

1. According to Piaget, children aged about 7 to 11 are in which stage? (A) Sensorimotor (B) Pre-operational (C) Concrete operational (D) Formal operational

2. Who proposed the zone of proximal development? (A) Vygotsky (B) Skinner (C) Bruner (D) Pavlov

3. In which year was the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act enacted? (A) 2005 (B) 2009 (C) 2012 (D) 2015

4. The RTE Act guarantees education for children of which age group? (A) 3 to 10 (B) 5 to 12 (C) 6 to 14 (D) 6 to 18

5. What is the purpose of spaced revision? (A) Reading everything in one day (B) Reviewing at planned intervals to strengthen memory (C) Studying only before the test (D) Studying without notes

6. In an error log, misreading the word "except" is which kind of error? (A) Did not know (B) Confused (C) Careless (D) Time

7. Who proposed operant conditioning? (A) Pavlov (B) Thorndike (C) Skinner (D) Kohler

8. According to the plan, how often should mock tests be taken in weeks 11 to 13? (A) Monthly (B) Weekly (C) Every other day (D) Not at all

9. Kohlberg's theory concerns which type of development? (A) Language (B) Moral (C) Social (D) Physical

10. What is the best use of day 90 in the plan? (A) New topics (B) Staying awake all night (C) Rest and an early night (D) New mock tests

Answers and explanations

Q	Answer	Explanation
1	(C)	Piaget placed ages about 7 to 11 in the concrete operational stage, where logical thinking applies to concrete objects.
2	(A)	The zone of proximal development is Vygotsky's idea about what a child can do with help.
3	(B)	The RTE Act was enacted in 2009.
4	(C)	The Act covers children from 6 to 14 years.
5	(B)	Reviewing at intervals slows forgetting.
6	(C)	Misreading a key word in the question is a careless error, and the fix is to underline the last words.
7	(C)	Operant conditioning is Skinner's theory, whereas Pavlov is linked to classical conditioning.
8	(C)	The plan has a mock every other day in weeks 11 to 13.
9	(B)	Kohlberg proposed stages of moral development.
10	(C)	Rest and sleep protect memory and concentration.

Frequently asked questions

When will the AP DSC 2026 notification come? As on October 2026, no notification was visible on the official portals. Press reports mention about 15 October 2026, which is not official. Check cse.ap.gov.in and the AP TET and DSC portal.

Will the test be in December 2026? Some reports say so, but no official schedule was published. Continue preparing while you wait.

I work full time. Are 90 days enough? With three hours a day it may not be. If possible, stretch the plan to about 120 days and use weekends for longer sessions. No one can say how much time is enough for you, because it depends on your starting level.

Can I apply for both SGT and School Assistant? In the 2025 rules candidates could apply for more than one post and pay the fee for each separately. Check the 2026 notification, and remember that the two papers differ.

What if my mock score is low? Do not be discouraged. Log the errors by type and work on those topics. The trend over several weeks matters more than one score.

How many mock tests are enough? The plan produces about 15 to 20 full mocks. The quality of the analysis matters more than the count.

Is self-study enough without coaching? It can be, with a clear timetable, notes, mocks and an error log. There is no guarantee of any result.

If my TET score is low, should I stop DSC preparation? No. The written test carries 80 of 100 marks in the 2025 pattern, and a TET attempt can be repeated if you want to improve the score.

Related reading

• AP DSC 2026 notification
• AP DSC exam pattern and marks
• AP DSC syllabus 2026
• Andhra Pradesh government exams 2026
• AP DSC 90-day plan (Telugu)

Start today

A plan on paper achieves nothing until week one begins. Pick your first topic today and set up an error log notebook. To see your present level, take the free mini mock, then move to full-length papers in the online test series. Pareeksha.in offers 10 Lakh+ MCQs, 100+ Exams and 5,000+ Full-Length Mocks, and the mock papers are fixed, so your percentile is compared with others who attempted the same paper. Topic questions are in the practice sets. These tools measure preparation and do not guarantee any result.

Sources and verification

Official documents opened for this guide:

• Mega DSC 2025 Information Bulletins and notifications, the suggestive syllabus issued by SCERT, and the frequently asked questions, on the AP TET and DSC portal (tet2dsc.apcfss.in).
• APTET June 2026 notification and information bulletin, on the same portal.
• Commissioner of School Education home page (cse.ap.gov.in).

News report opened for context: Deccan Chronicle, 22 September 2026, on the expected DSC notification.

Not verified: the DSC 2026 notification date, test date, pattern and negative marking. The study plan itself is an editorial framework and not an official recommendation. The time shares are suggestions derived from the marks in the 2025 pattern. Information as on October 2026.