CSS Exam Information, Rules and Guidelines

Background of CSS Exam?

The Public Service Commission was initially set up in 1926, in British India. After independence in 1947, this Commission was established in Pakistan under the provision of Government of India Act, 1935. Nowadays, this commission is operating under article 242 of Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s constitution.  Commission has been provided autonomy in its working under Federal Public Service Commission FPSC regulations and business rules. The Commission has also been given administrative autonomy and financial autonomy to some extent to perform its functions independently. 

CSS Eligibility Criteria?

To appear in the CSS Examination, a candidate have to meet;

  1. Candidates who want to appear in CSS should be citizen of Pakistan.
  2. Minimum qualification for a CSS candidate is a Bachelors Degree in any Faculty/Discipline with the second division from any Pakistani University or an equivalent educational qualification from foreign University.
  3. The candidates who have obtained a Third Division (or ‘D’ grade) in his Bachelor’s Degree will not be eligible for CSS examination, exception for those candidates who obtained a higher Division in Master’s Degree.
  4. The age limit for CSS admission is 21-28 years. There is an upper age limit relaxation for candidates already in Government Service. Every year some age relaxation is announced for the candidates who belonging to different remote areas of the Pakistan.

CSS Subjects and Attempts Criteria

There are six compulsory subjects of CSS Exam carrying 600 marks which are:

  1. English Essay
  2. English Précis and Composition
  3. Everyday Science- (General Knowledge Paper-I)
  4. Current Affairs (General Knowledge Paper-II)
  5. Pakistan Affairs (General Knowledge Paper-III)
  6. Islamiyat

You have to choose optional subjects carrying 600 marks. You can only made three attempts for CSS examination

Considerations about Selection of the Subject?

For selection of CSS examination subjects, following consideration should be made:

  1. Try to select those optimal subjects that you have studied before or you have interest in.
  2. Don’t just consider an “easy subject”, without considering its scoring value.
  3. Past statistics represent that optional subject with 100 marks gives better results than subjects with 200 marks.
  4. Usually science subjects are more scoring as compared to their arts counterparts.
  5. Never consider Laws subjects easy because even lawyer not prefers to select them.
  6. Indo-Pak History is not an easy subject as it does not usually result in a high score

Exams Months and Groups Details

CSS exam held by the Federal Public Service Commission (FCPS) every year in October/November for selecting of officers in BPS 17 into the Civil services of the Federation. Below are for the 10 Groups/Services under the Federal Government. 

  1. Accounts Group 
  2. Commerce and Trade Group 
  3. Customs and Excise Group 
  4. Information Group 
  5. Income Tax Group 
  6. District Management Group (DMG)
  7. Police Service of Pakistan 
  8. Postal Group 
  9. Foreign service of Pakistan 
  10. Commercial and Transportation (Railways) Group 

Format of the CSS exam

CSS exam comprises of the following format;

Written Examination

The Written Exam consists of 1200 marks (600 compulsory and 600 for optional subjects). The examination usually held during the month of October/November every year.

The qualifying marks in CSS written exam are as below:

  1. 40% in each Compulsory Subjects
  2. 33% in each Optional Subjects
  3. Aggregate Marks are 50%

Medical and Psychological Test

Successfully qualified candidates from written examination have to appear for their medical Test before central Medical Board. Schedule for medical test is prescribed by the Ministry of Health. Medically qualified candidates then have to appear for psychological Tests

Viva Voce

The candidates qualified from written and medical and psychological tests have to appear in the viva voce. This test consists of 300 marks and minimum required marks are 100.

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CSS Preparation and Study Guide

Following the study material for CSS and PMS Competitive Exam.

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