If you did a diploma in civil, electrical or mechanical from a polytechnic in Madhya Pradesh, MP Vyapam Group 3 is probably the exam your seniors keep telling you about. It is the state's main technical recruitment: Sub Engineer, Draughtsman, Technician and similar posts across PWD, PHE, Water Resources, Rural Engineering Services and a few boards.
Here is the honest state of things as of July 2026. The board is now called MPESB (Madhya Pradesh Employee Selection Board), Vyapam is just the old name people still use. The 2026 Group 3 Sub Engineer notification has not been released yet. The MPESB 2026 exam calendar lists it with around 900 expected posts and a mid-2026 window, but no advertisement PDF has come out. Everything below marked "tentative" comes from that calendar. Everything marked "last cycle" comes from the 2024 advertisement, which is the safest reference you have right now.
Latest notification and important dates
| Event | Status / Date |
|---|---|
| Notification (advertisement PDF) | Not released yet as of 30 July 2026 |
| Expected vacancies | Around 900 (calendar estimate, tentative) |
| Online application start | Tentative, awaited |
| Last date to apply | Tentative, awaited |
| Correction window | Usually till 4 days after last date |
| Admit card | About 4 to 5 days before exam |
| Exam date | Tentative, per MPESB 2026 calendar |
| Result | Roughly 6 to 10 weeks after exam |
| Last cycle (2024) apply window | 5 Aug 2024 to 19 Aug 2024 |
| Last cycle (2024) exam | 12 September 2024 |
| Last cycle (2024) posts | 283 |
Check the board site yourself before believing any coaching page, including this one. The two official links that matter are esb.mp.gov.in for the advertisement and mponline.gov.in for the payment side of the form. We also post alerts on our exam news page the day a PDF drops.
What the job actually is
A Sub Engineer in MP is the field-level engineer. You are the person who measures the work, records it in the measurement book, checks whether the contractor actually laid what he billed for, and signs off before payment moves up. Your day is split between a sub-division office and site visits. Roads, canals, hand pumps, school buildings, drinking water lines, whatever your department handles.
Postings are anywhere in the state, and early postings are usually rural. That is the part nobody tells you. A first posting in a block office of Sheopur or Dindori is normal. If you want a Bhopal or Indore posting from day one, this is not that exam.
Draughtsman and Technician posts are more office-bound. Drawing, CAD work, records, testing. Less field pressure, slightly lower pay, a calmer life. If you want a desk and a fixed 10-to-6, look at clerical exams instead. Our exam guides section lists those.
Vacancy details
The 2026 breakdown will only be clear when the PDF comes. For reference, the 2024 cycle had 283 posts: 276 direct, 5 contractual, 2 backlog. Category split was UR 160, OBC 46, ST 39, SC 25, EWS 13.
Typical posts inside Group 3:
- Sub Engineer (Civil) — always the largest chunk
- Sub Engineer (Electrical)
- Sub Engineer (Mechanical)
- Draughtsman / Tracer
- Technician and Assistant Technician grades
- A few Electronics and Instrumentation posts in some departments
Civil takes most of the seats, so competition in civil is the heaviest in absolute numbers. But electrical and mechanical have far fewer seats, which keeps their cut-offs almost as high. Don't assume a smaller branch is easier.
Eligibility
Education. Three-year diploma in the relevant engineering branch from a recognised institute. B.E. or B.Tech in the same branch is accepted for most posts. Draughtsman posts usually want a diploma or an ITI Draughtsman certificate plus 10+2. Read the post-wise table in the advertisement, because a civil diploma will not get you an electrical post.
Age (as on 1 January of the recruitment year).
| Category | Age limit |
|---|---|
| Unreserved, MP domicile, male | 18 to 40 years |
| Unreserved, other state | 18 to 40 years |
| SC / ST / OBC / EWS, MP domicile | 18 to 45 years |
| Female candidates, MP domicile | 18 to 45 years |
| PwD, MP domicile | Up to 45 years |
| Government / corporation employees, contract staff | Up to 45 years |
Candidates from outside MP get no relaxation at all and no reservation benefit. They are treated as unreserved. That is a standing MPESB rule, not a one-time thing.
Domicile. You can apply from any state, but reservation and age relaxation need an MP domicile certificate.
Physical standards. None for Group 3. No running, no height requirement. A basic medical fitness check happens at joining for some departments.
Application process and fee
| Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Unreserved / other state | Rs 500 |
| SC / ST / OBC / EWS (MP domicile) | Rs 250 |
| MP Online portal charge | Rs 60 (approx, added on top) |
| Kiosk service charge | Rs 20 to 40 extra if you apply through a kiosk |
In 2024 the total paid came to about Rs 560 and Rs 310 respectively.
Steps: open the Group 3 advertisement on esb.mp.gov.in, register on MP Online and get your profile ID, fill the form (choose post and branch carefully, this cannot be changed later), upload photo and signature in the given sizes, pay online or at a kiosk, then save the PDF and the receipt.
There is a paid correction window after the last date. Use it only for typos. Post and branch changes are generally not allowed.
Exam pattern
One computer-based test. That is the whole selection, plus document verification.
| Part | Subject | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | General aptitude (non-technical) | 100 | 100 |
| B | Technical subject of your branch | 100 | 100 |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
Duration is 3 hours. No negative marking. Questions are bilingual, Hindi and English. If the exam runs in two shifts, MPESB applies normalisation, so your final score can differ slightly from your raw score.
No negative marking means you attempt all 200. Leaving a question blank is throwing away a free lottery ticket.
Detailed syllabus
Part A: General aptitude (100 marks)
General Knowledge and MP GK. Indian history with focus on the freedom struggle, geography, polity and the Constitution, economy basics, sports, awards, books and authors. MP-specific questions carry real weight: districts, rivers, national parks, tribes, folk dances, festivals, minerals, state schemes, MP in the news. Do not skip the MP part.
Current Affairs. Last 8 to 10 months, national and state. Keep a running note. Our daily current affairs section is enough for this level.
General Science. Class 10 physics, chemistry, biology. Units, human body, everyday chemistry, basic tech.
Mathematics. Number system, LCM/HCF, simplification, percentage, ratio, average, profit and loss, SI and CI, time and work, time speed distance, mensuration, basic trigonometry, data interpretation. Build this with the Quantitative Aptitude complete guide.
Reasoning. Series, analogy, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, syllogism, seating arrangement, ranking, non-verbal figures. The Reasoning complete guide covers each of these with solved sets.
General Hindi. Sandhi, samas, upsarg-pratyay, paryayvachi, vilom, muhavare, vakya shuddhi, apathit gadyansh.
General English. Tenses, articles, prepositions, voice, narration, synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitution, error spotting, comprehension.
Computer Knowledge. Hardware and software basics, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, operating systems, internet and email, shortcut keys, basic security.
Part B: Technical (100 marks)
Civil. Building materials, building construction, surveying, strength of materials, theory of structures, RCC and steel design, soil mechanics, fluid mechanics and hydraulics, irrigation, transportation engineering, environmental and public health engineering, estimating and costing, construction management.
Electrical. Basic electrical engineering, network theory, electrical machines (DC machines, transformers, induction and synchronous machines), power systems, transmission and distribution, switchgear and protection, measurement and instruments, control systems, power electronics, utilisation of electrical energy, wiring and estimation, electrical safety and IE rules.
Mechanical. Engineering mechanics, strength of materials, thermodynamics, IC engines, steam boilers and turbines, refrigeration and air conditioning, fluid mechanics and hydraulic machines, theory of machines, machine design, manufacturing and workshop technology, materials science, industrial engineering, metrology.
Diploma-level depth. Not GATE depth. Your polytechnic textbooks and notes are the right level.
Salary and career growth
Sub Engineer sits at Level 9 of the MP pay matrix in most departments, with a basic starting near Rs 32,800. Older notifications still print the pre-revised scale Rs 9,300 to 34,800 with grade pay Rs 3,600, which is the same post.
| Component | Approximate monthly |
|---|---|
| Basic pay | Rs 32,800 |
| Dearness allowance | As per current rate |
| House rent allowance | 7 to 10 percent by city class |
| Other allowances | Travel, medical |
| In-hand (approx) | Rs 48,000 to Rs 55,000 |
Technician and Draughtsman posts sit a level or two lower, roughly Rs 28,000 to Rs 38,000 in hand.
Promotion path is Sub Engineer, then Assistant Engineer (partly by departmental exam and quota), then Executive Engineer for a lucky few. Promotions in MP engineering departments are slow. Plan for one jump in your first 10 to 12 years, and treat anything faster as a bonus.
Previous year cut-off
Category-wise marks out of 200, from the Sub Engineer cycle whose figures are public. Use these as a target, not a promise.
| Post | UR Male | UR Female | OBC Male | SC Male | ST Male |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sub Engineer (Civil) | 158.34 | 140.11 | 155.88 | 141.35 | 125.18 |
| Sub Engineer (Electrical) | 154.00 | 144.00 | 152.00 | 137.00 | 123.00 |
| Sub Engineer (Mechanical) | 154.87 | 141.53 | 153.84 | 139.48 | 124.10 |
Read that clearly. A UR candidate needs roughly 155 to 160 out of 200. That is close to 80 percent with no negative marking. This exam is not won by scoring "decent". It is won by making almost no mistakes in Part A.
Books and preparation strategy
For technical, your diploma textbooks beat any market book. Add one objective question bank for your branch, and previous year MPESB Sub Engineer papers from 2018, 2022 and 2024. Questions repeat more than you would expect.
For Part A, keep it light: one Lucent-style GK book, one MP GK book in Hindi, one arithmetic book, one reasoning book. Free chapter-wise material is in our Reading Room, including the General Awareness complete guide.
Month 1 and 2. Revise your full technical syllabus subject by subject. One subject every 4 to 5 days, notes as you go. Alongside, one hour daily on maths and reasoning through topic-wise practice sets.
Month 3. Finish MP GK, Hindi and English. Start solving 100-question technical sets under time.
Month 4. Full-length mocks twice a week from the free mock test series, then a full day analysing each one. Fix weak chapters immediately.
Last 3 weeks. Only revision, past papers and current affairs. No new topic. A ready-made schedule is on our study plan page.
Common mistakes people make
They over-prepare technical and under-prepare Part A. Both halves are 100 marks. Part A is easier to score in, so toppers max it out and technical becomes the tiebreaker.
They ignore MP GK. Ten to fifteen easy marks sitting there, lost every year.
They leave questions blank out of habit from negative-marking exams. There is no negative marking here. Fill every bubble.
They apply for the wrong branch in a hurry and lose the whole cycle.
They also treat this as their only option. Keep a parallel track running, like SSC CGL or RRB NTPC if you have a degree, or RRB Group D as a backup. MPESB cycles can slip by a year.
FAQ
Has the MP Vyapam Group 3 2026 notification come out? No. As of 30 July 2026 only the exam calendar mentions it, with roughly 900 expected posts. No advertisement PDF yet.
How many posts are expected? Around 900 as per the calendar. The last cycle had 283, so this would be a big jump. Wait for the PDF.
Is there negative marking? No.
Can candidates from other states apply? Yes, but as unreserved, with no age relaxation and no reservation.
Is a B.Tech degree allowed instead of a diploma? For most Sub Engineer posts, yes. Check the post-wise eligibility table in the advertisement.
Is there an interview? No. One CBT, then document verification.
What is the in-hand salary? Roughly Rs 48,000 to Rs 55,000 per month for Sub Engineer, less for Technician and Draughtsman posts.
How many attempts are allowed? No attempt limit. Only the age limit applies.
What is a safe score? Aim for 165 plus out of 200 if you are unreserved. 150 plus is competitive for reserved categories in most branches.
Which branch has the best chance? Civil has the most seats but the most candidates. Cut-offs across the three main branches stay within a few marks of each other, so pick your own branch and score well.
Related reads on Pareeksha
- MP Patwari exam guide
- MP Police Constable recruitment
- MPESB Group 4 (Assistant Grade 3, Steno)
- MPESB Group 5 (Staff Nurse and paramedical)
Final word
Group 3 is one of the few state exams where a diploma holder can land a Level 9 government job with a single paper and no interview. That is a good deal. The catch is the cut-off. At 155 to 160 out of 200 with no negative marking, there is very little room to be careless.
So start with your technical syllabus now, while the notification is still awaited. Build Part A in parallel, quietly, an hour a day. When the PDF drops you will have three or four months of exam time, and the people who started in July will already be revising while others are buying books.
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