If you did B.Sc Nursing, GNM, D.Pharm, DMLT or an Ayurved compounder course in Madhya Pradesh, MP Vyapam Group 5 is the exam that decides where you work for the next thirty years. It is the single door for staff nurse, pharmacist, lab technician and compounder jobs across MP's health, AYUSH and medical education departments.
The 2026 cycle is already done. Applications ran in March, the paper was held in April, and the result came out on 9 June 2026. But the board has another Group 5 round pencilled in for later this year, so if you missed the last one, you are not out of the race. Here's everything, in plain language.
Latest notification and important dates
The conducting body is now called Madhya Pradesh Employees Selection Board (MPESB). Most students still say "Vyapam" or "PEB", and that's fine. Same office, new name.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Notification released | March 2026 |
| Online application starts | 13 March 2026 |
| Last date to apply | 27 March 2026 (extended to 30 March in the revised notice) |
| Correction window | 13 March to 1 April 2026 |
| Admit card | 10 April 2026 |
| Written exam | 15 April 2026 onwards (shifts ran 17 to 23 April) |
| Provisional answer key | 24 April 2026 |
| Result and scorecard | 9 June 2026 |
| Document verification | By the concerned department, after merit list |
| Group 5 special backlog exam | September 2026 (tentative, from MPESB calendar) |
| PNST / GNMST 2026 (also under Group 5) | June 2026, results July 2026 |
The September backlog round for roughly 200 posts is only a calendar entry right now. No notification, no post breakdown. Treat the date as tentative until the PDF appears on esb.mp.gov.in. Do not believe any Telegram channel that gives you an exact date before that. We post confirmed updates on our exam news page as soon as boards release them.
What the job actually is
Group 5 is not one job. It is a bundle of paramedical and nursing posts filled through one common paper.
A staff nurse works in a district hospital, civil hospital or medical college. Shift duty, ward rounds, medicine administration, patient monitoring, emergency handling. It's physically demanding and night shifts are part of life.
A pharmacist grade-2 runs the hospital dispensary. Stock, indenting, dispensing against prescriptions, expiry checks, record keeping. Less physically tiring than nursing, more paperwork.
A lab technician handles sample collection and testing in the pathology lab. A lab attendant supports that work with cleaning, sterilisation and sample transport.
An Ayurved, Unani or Homeopathy compounder is posted at AYUSH dispensaries and health centres, often in rural blocks. You prepare and dispense medicines, keep the register, and assist the medical officer. Rural posting is normal here, not an exception.
Vacancy details
The 2026 cycle opened with 291 posts and was revised upward to 373 posts through an addendum. Post-wise, the bulk sat with AYUSH compounders.
| Post | Approximate vacancies |
|---|---|
| Ayurved Compounder | 125 |
| Unani Compounder | 30 |
| Lab Attendant | 22 |
| Homeopathy Compounder | 20 |
| Pharmacist Grade-2 | 9 to 12 |
| Staff Nurse | 7 |
| Lab Technician, Dental Technician, Dresser and other technical posts | 40+ combined |
Be honest with yourself about the numbers. 7 staff nurse posts against thousands of applicants is brutal. The compounder posts are where the real volume is. For comparison, the 2024 Group 5 cycle had 1,170 posts, so vacancy count swings wildly year to year depending on which departments send their requisition in time.
Eligibility
Age (as on 1 January 2026)
| Category | Age limit |
|---|---|
| Unreserved, male, outside MP | 18 to 40 years |
| MP domicile SC / ST / OBC / EWS | 18 to 45 years |
| Women (all categories, MP domicile) | 18 to 45 years |
| PwD (Divyang) | Up to 45 years |
| Government servants, contract staff, corporation employees (MP) | Up to 45 years |
| Some special categories per MP rules | Up to 55 years |
Education. Base requirement is 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry and Biology. On top of that you need the post-specific qualification: B.Sc Nursing or GNM plus MP Nursing Council registration for staff nurse, D.Pharm or B.Pharm with MP Pharmacy Council registration for pharmacist, DMLT for lab technician, and the relevant Ayurved, Unani or Homeopathy compounder certificate with MP Para-Medical Council registration for compounder posts. Registration matters. Every year people are rejected at document verification because their council registration was pending.
Domicile. Reservation and the relaxed age limit apply only to MP domicile candidates. Others can apply, but they compete in the unreserved pool at unreserved fees and unreserved age.
There is no physical standard test for Group 5. Only a medical fitness check by the appointing department at the end.
Application process and fee
| Category | Fee per paper |
|---|---|
| Unreserved / other state | ₹500 |
| MP domicile SC / ST / OBC / EWS / PwD | ₹250 |
| MP Online kiosk / portal charge | ₹60 |
| Backlog direct recruitment posts | Nil (portal charge only) |
Steps to apply:
- Register on esb.mp.gov.in or mponline.gov.in and get your profile number.
- Fill the form, pick your post or posts, and select exam city preferences.
- Upload photo, signature and thumb impression in the exact size the portal asks for.
- Pay online. Keep the receipt.
- Print the final application. You'll need it at document verification.
One thing students get wrong every single year: the fee is per question paper, not per application. If you apply for posts covered by two different papers, you pay twice.
Exam pattern
One objective paper, computer-based, held in two shifts (10 AM to 12 noon and 3 PM to 5 PM).
| Part | Subject | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | General Knowledge, Hindi, English, Maths, Science, Aptitude | 25 | 25 |
| B | Post-specific technical subject | 75 | 75 |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
Duration is 2 hours. There is negative marking of 0.25 marks per wrong answer, so blind guessing hurts. Qualifying marks are 50% for unreserved and 40% for SC, ST, OBC, EWS and PwD candidates. Clearing the qualifying mark does not mean selection. Merit is prepared post-wise, and the actual cut-off runs much higher.
MPESB also adds a normalisation factor across shifts, so your scorecard shows both raw and normalised marks.
Detailed syllabus
Part A: General section (25 marks)
General Knowledge. Indian history with focus on the freedom struggle, Indian and MP geography, rivers, districts, national parks, MP tribes and festivals, Constitution basics, panchayati raj, MP government schemes, sports and awards. MP-specific questions are heavy. Do not skip them.
Current Affairs. Last 8 to 12 months, national and MP state news. Keep a daily habit using our current affairs section.
General Hindi. संधि, समास, उपसर्ग-प्रत्यय, पर्यायवाची, विलोम, मुहावरे और लोकोक्तियाँ, वाक्य शुद्धि, अपठित गद्यांश.
General English. Tenses, articles, prepositions, active-passive voice, synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitution, spotting errors, short comprehension.
General Maths. Percentage, ratio and proportion, average, profit and loss, simple and compound interest, time and work, time speed distance, basic algebra and mensuration. Class 10 level. Our Quantitative Aptitude complete guide covers all of it with shortcuts.
General Science. Class 10 physics, chemistry and biology. Human body systems, nutrition, diseases, light, sound, electricity, acids and bases, metals.
General Aptitude. Series, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction sense, analogy, odd one out, syllogism. Build speed here with the reasoning complete guide.
Part B: Technical section (75 marks)
Staff Nurse. Anatomy and physiology, nutrition and dietetics, microbiology, fundamentals of nursing, psychology, medical-surgical nursing, community health nursing, child health nursing, midwifery and obstetrics, mental health nursing, nursing administration and research, first aid and emergency care.
Pharmacist. Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacognosy, biochemistry and clinical pathology, human anatomy and physiology, health education and community pharmacy, pharmacology and toxicology, drug store management, hospital and clinical pharmacy, Pharmacy Act and Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
Lab Technician / DMLT. Clinical pathology, haematology, biochemistry, microbiology, blood banking, histopathology, lab instruments, sterilisation, biomedical waste handling, quality control.
Ayurved / Unani / Homeopathy Compounder. Basic principles of the respective system, dravyaguna and bhaishajya kalpana for Ayurved, materia medica, pharmacy practice of the system, dispensing, first aid, anatomy and physiology basics, national health programmes.
Full stage-wise breakdowns for other MP posts sit on our exam guides hub.
Salary and career growth
| Post | Pay level | Pay scale (₹) |
|---|---|---|
| Staff Nurse | Level 7 | 28,700 to 91,300 |
| Lab Technician | Level 7 | 28,700 to 91,300 |
| Pharmacist Grade-2 | Level 6 | 25,300 to 80,500 |
| Compounder / Technician posts | Level 4 to 5 | 19,500 to 62,000 approx |
| Lab Attendant | Level 1 | 15,500 to 49,000 |
Add DA, HRA (depends on city class), medical benefits and NPS. A fresh staff nurse takes home roughly ₹40,000 to ₹45,000 once regular. A pharmacist grade-2 lands around ₹35,000 to ₹38,000.
Here's the catch nobody mentions in coaching ads. MP has a probation stipend rule for new recruits: 70% of minimum pay in year one, 80% in year two, 90% in year three. Full pay starts after three years. So a staff nurse actually starts near ₹20,000 in hand. Plan your finances accordingly.
Growth is department-driven. Staff nurse to nursing sister to matron. Pharmacist grade-2 to grade-1 to chief pharmacist. Compounders move up through time-scale promotions. Promotions are slow and depend on DPC meetings, but the job security and pension are the real reward.
Cut-off marks
MPESB publishes qualifying marks openly and post-wise merit through the scorecard, not as a public cut-off PDF. Here's the picture from the 2026 cycle and past trends.
| Category | Minimum qualifying | Realistic merit range (out of 100) |
|---|---|---|
| Unreserved | 50 | 72 to 85 |
| OBC | 40 | 66 to 78 |
| EWS | 40 | 65 to 76 |
| SC | 40 | 58 to 70 |
| ST | 40 | 50 to 64 |
Merit swings hard by post. Where only 7 seats exist, the closing mark sits near the top. Where 125 compounder seats exist, it drops a lot.
Books and preparation strategy
Your technical 75 marks decide selection. Full stop. Everyone clears Part A more or less; the gap opens in Part B.
Technical. Use your own diploma or degree textbooks first. For nursing, add a standard staff nurse question bank. For pharmacy, work through past D.Pharm exam papers and one drug-focused MCQ book. For DMLT, Ramnik Sood plus lab practical notes. For AYUSH compounders, stick to the syllabus prescribed by the MP Para-Medical Council board and revise the pharmacy portion twice.
General section. One MP GK book (Lucent MP or a Ghatna Chakra state volume), Lucent GK for national portions, and Class 10 NCERT science. Free chapter-wise material is on our Reading Room, including the General Awareness complete guide.
A three-month plan that works
Month 1. Finish the technical syllabus once, start to end. Two hours a day on general subjects, split between MP GK and maths.
Month 2. Second technical revision, but only through MCQs. Solve 100 subject questions daily. Add one full free online mock test every weekend.
Month 3. Revision plus timed practice. Three mocks a week, full analysis after each. Clean up weak topics with topic-wise practice sets. Last ten days, no new material.
If you're unsure how to split hours, our ready-made study plan works well here.
Common mistakes
Applying without valid council registration. This kills more candidates at document verification than any low score.
Ignoring MP-specific GK. Students revise national history for hours and then lose easy marks on MP districts, rivers and schemes.
Guessing wildly because of the two-hour cushion. With 0.25 negative marking, 20 blind guesses can cost you five marks. That's a rank difference of thousands.
Chasing only the staff nurse post because it pays more. If you're eligible for two posts under the same paper, apply for both. A level-5 job in hand beats a level-7 dream you missed by three marks.
Related reads on Pareeksha
- MP Patwari exam guide
- MP Police Constable recruitment
- MPESB Group 4 exam details
- MP Police SI notification and syllabus
If you also want a central government backup, the SSC CGL and RRB NTPC pages are worth a look, since the general section overlaps heavily.
FAQ
Is MP Vyapam Group 5 notification 2026 out? The main 2026 notification is done. Applications closed 30 March, exam was in April, result came 9 June 2026. A special backlog round of about 200 posts is listed for September 2026 in the MPESB calendar, but that date is tentative and the notification hasn't been released.
How many posts were there in 2026? 373 after the revised notice, up from the original 291.
What is the qualifying mark? 50% for unreserved, 40% for SC, ST, OBC, EWS and PwD. Merit cut-offs are far above this.
Is there negative marking? Yes, 0.25 marks for each wrong answer.
Can candidates from outside MP apply? Yes, but you're treated as unreserved for age, fee and reservation.
Is the exam in Hindi or English? Both. The paper is bilingual, so answer in whichever language you're comfortable with.
Is there an interview? No. Written test, then document verification and medical fitness by the department.
How long is the merit list valid? The waiting list stays valid for one year from the result date.
What's the starting in-hand salary? Because of the probation stipend rule, a staff nurse starts near ₹20,000 and reaches full pay after three years.
Where do I download the scorecard? esb.mp.gov.in, using your application number, date of birth, first two letters of your mother's name and the last four Aadhaar digits.
Where to start
If you're preparing for the September backlog round, start with your technical subject this week. Read the syllabus for your exact post, mark what you've forgotten since college, and rebuild it through MCQs rather than re-reading chapters. Give the general section one focused hour a day, mostly MP GK and basic maths.
Official links worth bookmarking: MPESB official website, MP Online application portal and the MP Public Health and Family Welfare Department for departmental notices.
Group 5 rewards subject depth more than exam tricks. You already studied this material for two or three years. Now make it fast enough to answer in 60 seconds a question, and the seat is yours.
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