If you have a bachelor's degree and you're looking at a stable Bihar government job, BSSC CGL has probably shown up on your radar already. This is the exam that fills posts like Assistant Section Officer, Auditor and Planning Assistant across Bihar government departments, and the 4th edition of it is currently underway.
This post walks you through everything about BSSC CGL 4 2026 — the vacancy count, dates, eligibility, exam pattern, syllabus and how to prepare, without the fluff you'll find on most sites.
Quick Answer
BSSC CGL 4 notification was released on August 4, 2025, for 1,883 posts, and the online application window closed on October 24, 2025 (extended). The preliminary exam is expected in July-August 2026 (tentative, date not yet officially announced). The exam is conducted by the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) for graduate-level posts like Assistant Section Officer, Auditor and Planning Assistant. If you missed the application, you'll need to wait for BSSC CGL 5, so keep checking bssc.bihar.gov.in.
Latest Notification and Important Dates
Here's where things stand right now for BSSC CGL 4. Some dates are already over, and the exam date is still tentative because BSSC hasn't issued the official prelims notice yet.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Notification released | August 4, 2025 |
| Application start | August 25, 2025 |
| Application last date (extended) | October 24, 2025 |
| Fee payment deadline (extended) | October 21, 2025 |
| Application edit window | October 31 – November 24, 2025 |
| Prelims exam | July–August 2026 (tentative) |
| Mains exam | To be announced |
| Document verification | To be announced |
If you're tracking this along with other Bihar exams, it helps to bookmark pareeksha.in exam news so you don't miss a date change. BSSC has a habit of shifting exam dates by a few months, so treat the July-August 2026 window as an estimate, not a promise.
What the Job Actually Is
BSSC CGL posts are mostly desk jobs inside Bihar government secretariats and departments, not field postings. The biggest chunk of vacancies this time is for Assistant Section Officer (ASO), which is an office job handling files, correspondence, and departmental work under various ministries and directorates in Patna and district offices.
Auditors check accounts and financial records of government offices and cooperative societies. Planning Assistants work with the Bihar Planning and Development Department on scheme monitoring and data compilation. Industrial Extension Officers work with small industries and MSME promotion at the district level. None of these are physically demanding jobs — they're paperwork and computer-based roles, which is exactly why competition for them is so high among graduates.
Vacancy Details
BSSC CGL 4 has 1,883 total posts this cycle, spread across seven post categories.
| Post | Vacancies |
|---|---|
| Assistant Section Officer (ASO) | 1,064 |
| Auditors, Cooperative Societies | 198 |
| Auditor | 125 |
| Planning Assistant | 88 |
| Industrial Extension Officer | 60 |
| Junior Statistical Assistant | 5 |
| Data Entry Operator | 1 |
Notice how ASO alone makes up more than half the vacancies. If your rank is decent but not top-tier, ASO is your best shot simply because of the sheer number of seats. Reservation is applicable as per Bihar government norms across SC, ST, EBC, BC, EWS and women candidates, with a fair share of posts (roughly a third) reserved for women across most categories.
Eligibility
You need a bachelor's degree from a recognized university to apply for BSSC CGL 4, and age is counted as of August 1, 2025 for this cycle.
Education: Any graduate can apply — there's no restriction on stream. A BA, BSc, BCom or any other bachelor's degree qualifies you.
Age limit (as on 01.08.2025):
| Category | Minimum Age | Maximum Age |
|---|---|---|
| General (Male) | 21 years | 37 years |
| General (Female) / SC / ST | 21 years | 40 years |
| PwD candidates | Additional 10 years relaxation | — |
Domicile: You don't have to be a Bihar domicile holder for most CGL posts, but some posts do carry domicile requirements. Check the specific post notification for this — it varies post to post, unlike Bihar Police or CSBC exams where domicile is compulsory across the board.
There's no physical standard test for BSSC CGL since these are non-physical desk jobs.
Application Process and Fee
You apply online only, through bssc.bihar.gov.in — there's no offline option.
Fee table:
| Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| General / BC / EBC (Male) | Rs 100 |
| SC / ST candidates | Exempt |
| Female candidates (all categories) | Exempt |
| Divyang (PwD) candidates | Exempt |
Steps to apply:
- Register on the BSSC portal with your date of birth and mobile number.
- Log in and fill personal, educational, and category details.
- Upload your photo, signature and required documents.
- Pay the fee online (if applicable to your category).
- Review the form carefully before final submission — corrections aren't always allowed later.
Since applications for CGL 4 are already closed, this section is mainly reference for candidates preparing for CGL 5 or checking what the process looks like.
Exam Pattern
BSSC CGL has two stages: a preliminary exam that's qualifying in nature, and a mains exam that actually decides your merit and final selection.
Preliminary exam:
| Section | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| General Studies | 50 | 200 |
| General Science & Mathematics | 50 | 200 |
| Reasoning / Mental Ability | 50 | 200 |
| Total | 150 | 600 |
Duration is 2 hours 15 minutes. Each question carries 4 marks, and there's negative marking for wrong answers, so don't guess blindly. Prelims marks aren't added to your final merit — you just need to clear the cut-off to move to mains.
Mains exam:
Mains has two papers. Paper 1 is a qualifying Hindi language paper — 100 questions, 400 marks, and you need at least 30% to clear it, but these marks don't count toward merit. Paper 2 is the one that actually matters for your final rank.
| Paper 2 Section | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| General Studies | 50 | 200 |
| Science & Mathematics | 50 | 200 |
| Reasoning | 50 | 200 |
| Total | 150 | 600 |
Duration for Paper 2 is also 2 hours 15 minutes. Your final merit is based purely on Paper 2 marks of mains, so that's where you should put most of your prep energy once prelims is cleared. After mains, there's document verification, and that's the final stage — no interview.
Practice under exam-like conditions using free mock tests on pareeksha.in so you get a feel for the 2 hour 15 minute time pressure before the real thing.
Detailed Syllabus
General Studies: Indian history (especially freedom struggle), Bihar history and culture, Indian and Bihar geography, polity and Constitution, current affairs, basic economics, and government schemes. Bihar-specific questions show up often, so don't focus only on national topics.
General Science: Physics, chemistry and biology basics at a 10th-12th standard level — everyday science, human body, inventions and scientific terms.
Mathematics: Percentages, ratio and proportion, profit and loss, simple and compound interest, time and work, time speed and distance, averages, number system, simplification and data interpretation. Build speed here using a structured Quantitative Aptitude guide.
Reasoning / Mental Ability: Series completion, coding-decoding, blood relations, syllogism, seating arrangement, direction sense, analogy, classification and non-verbal reasoning. A good Reasoning guide covers all this with practice sets.
Hindi (mains qualifying paper): Grammar, comprehension, vocabulary, sentence correction and general language skills at graduate level. Since it's only qualifying, don't over-invest time here beyond what's needed to clear 30%.
For general awareness and current affairs, keep the General Awareness guide and current affairs updates in your regular revision loop, since GS carries a full third of the marks in both stages.
Salary, Pay Scale and Career Growth
BSSC CGL posts come with a Level 6 or Level 7 pay matrix depending on the post, and the in-hand salary typically ranges from about Rs 42,000 to Rs 73,000 per month once you add HRA, DA and other allowances on top of basic pay. Assistant Section Officer and Auditor posts usually fall in the Rs 44,900 basic pay band under the 7th Pay Commission matrix.
On top of basic pay, you get Dearness Allowance (revised twice a year), House Rent Allowance depending on your posting city, and other standard government benefits like pension under NPS, medical benefits and leave travel concessions.
Career growth in these posts happens through departmental promotions over the years — an ASO can move up to Section Officer and further up the administrative ladder with seniority and service years. It's a slow but steady climb, typical of state government service.
Previous Year Cut-off
BSSC CGL 3 (2023) prelims cut-off gives you a sense of how tough the competition is. These are out of 600 marks, expressed as percentage-equivalent scores.
| Category | Cut-off (approx, out of 600) |
|---|---|
| General | 99.46% equivalent |
| EWS | 98.59% equivalent |
| Backward Class | 99.07% equivalent |
| Very Backward Class | 98.31% equivalent |
| SC | 93.50% equivalent |
| ST | 94.23% equivalent |
These numbers look extreme because BSSC normalizes scores across shifts, and with lakhs of graduates applying for under 2,000 posts, the prelims cut-off ends up brutally high. Don't let this scare you off — it just tells you that speed and accuracy in prelims matter more than depth, since it's a qualifying round with a huge applicant pool.
Best Books and Preparation Strategy
Start with NCERT books for history, geography and polity (class 6 to 12) — they cover 70% of what BSSC asks in General Studies. Add a Bihar-specific GK book since local questions are common and most national-level books skip them.
For Maths and Reasoning, pick one standard book each (R.S. Aggarwal works fine for both) and focus on solving, not just reading. Speed matters more than fancy tricks at this level.
Month-wise approach if your exam is a few months away:
- First 2 months: build basics in GS (NCERT + Bihar GK), Maths (arithmetic topics) and Reasoning (all chapters).
- Next 2 months: shift to daily practice sets, timed mocks, and error analysis. Use the topic-wise practice section to target weak chapters specifically.
- Last month: full-length mocks every 2-3 days, revision of formulas and current affairs, and sleep well the week before the exam.
Since prelims and mains have identical section structure, your prep for one directly helps the other — just remember mains needs more depth and mains marks are what count for your final rank.
You'll also want a fixed daily study plan rather than random studying — BSSC aspirants often lose months to unstructured prep.
Common Mistakes and Honest Advice
Don't ignore Bihar-specific GK thinking national-level books have you covered — they don't. A good chunk of GS questions each year are about Bihar's history, rivers, districts and schemes.
Don't skip negative marking calculations in prelims. With 4 marks per question and negative marking active, wild guessing can hurt your score more than skipping a question you're unsure about.
Don't wait for the mains notification to start mains-level prep. Paper 2 topics overlap heavily with prelims, so keep building depth in GS, Maths and Reasoning throughout — the gap between the two stages is often short.
And don't rely only on Telegram groups for exam updates. Always cross-check dates on the official bssc.bihar.gov.in site before making prep decisions.
Related reads on Pareeksha
If you're prepping for multiple Bihar exams together, these guides on Pareeksha will help:
Many BSSC CGL aspirants also prepare in parallel for SSC CGL since the syllabus overlaps a lot in Maths and Reasoning — worth checking if you want a national-level backup option alongside Bihar state exams.
FAQ
Is BSSC CGL 4 notification out in 2026? The notification was released on August 4, 2025, and applications closed on October 24, 2025. No new notification has come in 2026 — the current cycle is at the exam stage.
How many vacancies are there in BSSC CGL 4? There are 1,883 total vacancies across posts like Assistant Section Officer, Auditor, Planning Assistant and Industrial Extension Officer.
When is the BSSC CGL 4 prelims exam? The prelims exam is tentatively expected in July-August 2026, but BSSC has not released an official exam date yet. Check bssc.bihar.gov.in for confirmation.
What is the salary of BSSC CGL posts? In-hand salary ranges from about Rs 42,000 to Rs 73,000 per month depending on the post and posting location, including basic pay, DA and HRA.
What is the age limit for BSSC CGL 4? General male candidates can apply up to 37 years, while women and SC/ST candidates get relaxation up to 40 years, as on August 1, 2025.
Is there an interview in BSSC CGL selection? No. Selection is based on prelims (qualifying), mains Paper 2 marks, and document verification — there's no interview stage.
What is the application fee for BSSC CGL 4? General, BC and EBC male candidates pay Rs 100. SC, ST, all female candidates and Divyang candidates are exempt from the fee.
Which post has the most vacancies in BSSC CGL 4? Assistant Section Officer (ASO) has the most vacancies at 1,064 posts, more than half of the total 1,883 seats.
Do I need Bihar domicile for BSSC CGL? It varies by post — some BSSC CGL posts require Bihar domicile and some don't. Check the specific post details in the official notification before applying.
What is the BSSC CGL prelims cut-off? In BSSC CGL 3 (2023), the General category cut-off was around 99.46% equivalent out of 600 marks, with SC and ST categories slightly lower. Cut-offs are normalized across shifts and vary each cycle depending on applicant numbers and difficulty.
Final word
BSSC CGL 4 is a solid opportunity if you're a graduate looking for a stable Bihar government office job, but the competition is real — lakhs of candidates chase under 2,000 seats. The good news is the syllabus is predictable and overlaps heavily with other state and SSC exams, so consistent prep pays off here more than last-minute cramming.
Keep an eye on bssc.bihar.gov.in for the official prelims date, and use the months before the exam to build speed in Maths and Reasoning while staying updated on Bihar current affairs. Start practicing now on pareeksha.in so you're not scrambling when the date finally drops.
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