If you're aiming for a Group B or C government job in Uttar Pradesh — Lekhpal, VDO, Junior Assistant, Forest Guard, and dozens more — there's one gateway exam you cannot skip: the UPSSSC PET (Preliminary Eligibility Test) 2026. Here's the complete, updated breakdown of eligibility, exam pattern, negative marking, and the full 15-subject syllabus.
What is UPSSSC PET and Why It Matters
The Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UPSSSC) introduced the Preliminary Eligibility Test (PET) in 2021 as a common, mandatory screening exam for almost every Group B and Group C post in the state. It isn't a recruitment exam by itself — instead, it's a gateway score. Once you clear PET, that score becomes your ticket to apply for specific main recruitment exams like Lekhpal, Village Development Officer (VDO), Junior Assistant, and Forest Guard, without having to sit a separate prelims for each one.
Since a single PET score unlocks access to dozens of recruitment drives across UP government departments, lakhs of aspirants take this exam every cycle. Preparing with a structured online exam preparation platform helps you stay on top of all 15 subjects instead of losing marks in sections you didn't get around to practising.
UPSSSC PET Key Highlights
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Exam Name | Preliminary Eligibility Test (PET) |
| Conducting Body | Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UPSSSC), Lucknow |
| Exam Level | State-Level (Uttar Pradesh) |
| Frequency | Annual (held in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2025 — no PET cycle in 2024) |
| Purpose | A mandatory qualifying/gateway exam — not a recruitment exam in itself |
| Score Validity | 3 years from the result date (extended from 1 year, effective PET 2025 onwards) |
| Historical Note | Introduced in 2021 to replace the earlier practice of holding separate prelims for every individual Group C recruitment in UP |
| Official Website | upsssc.gov.in |
Eligibility Criteria
Educational Qualification
- Minimum Class 10 (High School) pass from a recognised board.
- Graduates and postgraduates are equally eligible — there's no upper educational bar.
Age Limit
- Minimum: 18 years | Maximum: 40 years (as on 1 July of the notification year)
Age Relaxation
| Category | Relaxation |
|---|---|
| OBC | +3 years |
| SC/ST | +5 years |
| PwBD (General) | +10 years |
| PwBD (OBC) | +13 years |
| PwBD (SC/ST) | +15 years |
| Ex-Servicemen | As per UP Government rules |
(Relaxation applies to UP-domicile categories.)
Domicile
- PET itself is open to all Indian citizens, but UP domicile is required for most of the actual Group B/C recruitment posts that follow.
UPSSSC PET Exam Pattern 2026
PET is a single-paper, offline (OMR-based) exam.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Total Questions | 100 MCQs (1 mark each) |
| Total Marks | 100 |
| Duration | 2 hours (120 minutes) |
| Negative Marking | 0.25 marks deducted per wrong answer |
| Mode | Offline, OMR-based |
| Language | Hindi and English |
Key rules: - Each correct answer = +1 mark; each wrong answer = −0.25 marks; unanswered questions carry no penalty. - UPSSSC does not fix a single minimum qualifying mark for PET — instead, category-wise cut-offs are decided separately for each subsequent recruitment exam. Actual cut-offs have typically ranged between 60 and 80 out of 100 in recent cycles. - Your PET score, once achieved, is valid for 3 years, letting you apply for multiple UPSSSC main recruitments within that window without retaking PET.
Subject-Wise Marks Distribution (15 Subjects, 100 Marks Total)
| # | Subject | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indian History | 5 |
| 2 | Indian National Movement | 5 |
| 3 | Geography (India + World) | 5 |
| 4 | Indian Economy | 5 |
| 5 | Indian Constitution & Public Administration | 5 |
| 6 | General Science | 5 |
| 7 | Elementary Mathematics (up to Class 8) | 5 |
| 8 | General Hindi | 5 |
| 9 | General English (up to Class 8) | 5 |
| 10 | Reasoning & Mental Ability | 5 |
| 11 | General Awareness (Current Affairs) | 10 |
| 12 | Hindi Unseen Passage (Apathit Gadyansh) | 10 |
| 13 | English Unseen Passage | 10 |
| 14 | Graph Interpretation | 10 |
| 15 | Table Interpretation | 10 |
| Total | 100 |
Detailed Subject-Wise Syllabus
1. Indian History (5 marks) Indus Valley Civilisation; Vedic culture and Mahajanapadas; Maurya Empire (Chandragupta, Ashoka); Gupta era; medieval India — Sultanate and Mughal period; Bhakti and Sufi movements; Maratha Empire; British rule — 1857 Revolt and major Acts; Indian National Movement (1885–1947); important personalities of the freedom struggle.
2. Indian National Movement (5 marks) 1857 First War of Independence; formation of INC and the Moderate phase; the Extremist phase (Bal-Pal-Lal); Swadeshi Movement and Partition of Bengal (1905); Lucknow Pact 1916; Non-Cooperation Movement 1920; Civil Disobedience Movement and Salt March 1930; Quit India Movement 1942; Subhash Chandra Bose and the INA; Independence and Partition 1947.
3. Geography (5 marks) Solar system and Earth; latitudes, longitudes, and time zones; continents and oceans; rivers, mountains, and plateaus of India; climate of India — monsoon and seasons; soil types and agriculture; natural resources and minerals; wildlife sanctuaries and national parks; UP geography — districts, rivers, climate; world geography — capitals and countries.
4. Indian Economy (5 marks) Planning in India — Five Year Plans; GDP, GNP, NNP, and national income; inflation and RBI monetary policy; agriculture — Green Revolution, MSP; banking system — commercial and cooperative; government budget — revenue and capital; GST basics and slabs; poverty, unemployment, and HDI; trade policy and WTO; UP economy — key industries and agriculture.
5. Indian Constitution & Public Administration (5 marks) Constituent Assembly and drafting; Preamble — objectives and keywords; Fundamental Rights (Articles 12–35); Directive Principles (Articles 36–51); Fundamental Duties (Article 51A); Union and State executives (President, PM, Governor); Parliament — Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha; judiciary — Supreme Court and High Courts; Panchayati Raj (73rd Amendment); Urban Local Bodies (74th Amendment).
6. General Science (5 marks) Physics — motion, force, work and energy, light, sound, electricity; chemistry — matter, acids, bases, salts, metals and non-metals, chemical reactions; biology — cell, tissues, organ systems, human diseases and vitamins, nutrition and digestive system; environment — ecology and biodiversity; scientific inventions and discoveries; technology in everyday life.
7. Elementary Mathematics (5 marks) Number system — LCM, HCF, factors; simplification and BODMAS; percentage, profit and loss; simple and compound interest; ratio and proportion; average, mixture and alligation; time, speed, and distance; time and work, pipes and cisterns; mensuration — area and volume; statistics — mean, median, mode.
8. General Hindi (5 marks) अपठित गद्यांश (unseen passage); संधि एवं संधि विच्छेद; समास; विलोम शब्द; पर्यायवाची शब्द; मुहावरे एवं लोकोक्तियाँ; वर्तनी शुद्धि; तत्सम, तद्भव, देशज, विदेशी शब्द; लिंग, वचन, कारक; काल एवं वाच्य।
9. General English (5 marks) Reading comprehension (unseen passage); tense (simple, continuous, perfect); active and passive voice; direct and indirect speech; articles, prepositions, and conjunctions; synonyms and antonyms; vocabulary — one-word substitution; sentence correction; fill in the blanks; spelling errors.
10. Reasoning & Mental Ability (5 marks) Analogy (word and number); series — alphabet, number, mixed; classification and odd one out; coding-decoding; blood relations; direction and distance; ranking and order; calendar and clock; non-verbal reasoning (figures); Venn diagrams and syllogism.
11. General Awareness (10 marks) National and international current affairs (last 6 months); important national days and events; sports awards — national and international; recent science and technology developments; books and authors, new appointments; summits, conferences, and agreements; Government of India schemes; environment and climate change (COP summits); defence and security news; UP-specific current affairs and state news.
12. Hindi Unseen Passage — Apathit Gadyansh (10 marks) Two passages of 5 questions each; comprehension of the passage; questions on main idea, tone, and inference; vocabulary in context; author's intention or conclusion; passages from social, environmental, or literary themes.
13. English Unseen Passage (10 marks) Two passages of 5 questions each; comprehension-based MCQs; true/false or direct-answer type questions; vocabulary (antonym/synonym of underlined word); main idea or title of the passage; passages from science, civic, or economic themes.
14. Graph Interpretation (10 marks) Two graphs with 5 questions each; bar graph — comparison, percentage increase/decrease; line graph — trend analysis; pie chart — proportion and degree calculation; table-graph combinations; mixed graphs with two data sets; calculations of total, average, ratio, and percentage change.
15. Table Interpretation (10 marks) Two tables with 5 questions each; simple data tables — reading values accurately; two-variable tables — comparative analysis; missing data, maximum/minimum identification; percentage, ratio, and proportion calculations; average, total, and difference-based questions.
Preparation Strategy & Resources
1. Don't ignore Graph and Table Interpretation. Sections 14 and 15 together carry 20 marks but are commonly skipped by aspirants who focus only on "traditional" GK subjects. Daily practice with 20–25 data-interpretation questions is one of the fastest ways to boost your score.
2. Keep current affairs recent and focused. The 10 marks in General Awareness come almost entirely from the last 6 months of national and UP-specific news — you don't need a full year of back-reading, just consistent recent coverage.
3. Be strategic with the negative marking. At −0.25 per wrong answer, blind guessing isn't worth it — but if you can eliminate two or more options, attempting the question is usually still a good bet mathematically.
4. Don't neglect UP-specific General Knowledge. Questions on UP districts, rivers, government schemes, and Chief Minister's initiatives appear consistently every cycle — dedicate focused time to this before the exam.
5. Aim for a well-rounded 70+ score rather than trying to ace one or two subjects while neglecting others — since each of the 15 sections only carries 5 to 10 marks, consistency across all of them matters more than deep expertise in a few.
6. Simulate the real exam regularly. With 100 questions to complete in 2 hours across 15 varied sections, time management is a skill in itself. Practice latest mock tests to build the speed and accuracy you'll need on exam day.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Is there negative marking in UPSSSC PET? Yes. 0.25 marks are deducted for every wrong answer. Each correct answer earns +1 mark, and unattempted questions carry no penalty.
Q2. How long is the UPSSSC PET score valid? From PET 2025 onwards, your score is valid for 3 years from the result declaration date (previously it was only 1 year). Within this window, you can apply for multiple UPSSSC main recruitment exams using the same PET score.
Q3. What is the eligibility for UPSSSC PET 2026? A minimum of Class 10 (High School) pass from a recognised board, with an age between 18 and 40 years (general category), plus standard relaxations for OBC, SC/ST, and PwBD candidates.
Q4. Does clearing PET guarantee a government job? No. PET is only a qualifying/gateway exam. Clearing it makes you eligible to apply for specific main recruitment exams (like Lekhpal, VDO, or Junior Assistant), which have their own separate selection processes.
Q5. What is the exam pattern for UPSSSC PET? 100 MCQs worth 100 marks, to be completed in 2 hours, spread across 15 subjects/sections, with 0.25 negative marking per wrong answer.
This guide reflects the UPSSSC PET pattern as established in the PET 2025 cycle. Since the 2026 notification, dates, fees, and cut-offs can be revised by the commission, always cross-check with the official notification on upsssc.gov.in before finalising your preparation plan.
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