WBCS Syllabus 2023

West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) sets the WBCS exam syllabus. The candidates who are preparing for West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) Exam can check out the syllabus before kickstarting their preparation.

There are three tiers in the examination– Preliminary, Mains and Interview. In this article, candidates will understand the WBCS Syllabus and the exam pattern of both prelims and mains.

Note: The notification for WBCS Exam 2021 is out on 18th December 2020 and the process is undergoing. Moreover, the WBPSC WBCS 2020 recruitment process is also undergoing. The syllabus for WBCS 2020 and 2021 remains the same.

Read the salient points of the WBCS Syllabus 2023 below:

The WBCS Prelims will have only one paper- General Studies. There is no Aptitude Test, unlike various other states’

The WBCS Mains Exam has six compulsory papers and one optional subject consisting of two papers.

Optional Subjects are meant to be taken by candidates opting for Group A and Group B services.

Out of 6 compulsory papers, four are of MCQ Type:

General Studies- I

General Studies- II

The Constitution of India and Indian Economy including role and functions of Reserve Bank of India

Arithmetic and Test of Reasoning

The Mains Exam (Conventional/Essay) is allowed to be taken only in Bengali/English language.

There is a deduction of 10% of the total marks secured by the candidate if he/she discloses his/her identity by writing his/her roll number/name.

Candidates may check the table below to know about WBCS Exam Pattern:

WBCS Exam Pattern

Tier Name of the exam Type of the exam Number of question papers Marks

I Preliminary Exam Objective

General Studies

200

II Mains Objective+Conventional Eight;

Paper-I (Conventional Type)

Paper-II (Conventional)

Paper-III (Objective)

Paper-IV (Objective)

Paper-V (Objective)

Paper-VI (Objective)

Paper-VII & VIII (Optional Subject chosen by the candidate)

200 for Paper-I to Paper VI

200 each for Paper-VII and Paper VIII

III Personality Test Interview – 200

WBCS Syllabus 2023:-Download PDF Here

Check latest updates about WBCS Result at the linked article.

WBCS Syllabus In Detail

The State Service Examinations of most of the states are aligned on the similar pattern of IAS Exam. The Preliminary stage consists of one paper on General Studies and one on Aptitude Test. In the WBCS exam, the preliminary stage has only one paper, which is of General Studies. There is no Aptitude Test paper to qualify for the next stage. Mains examination has eight papers. Candidates can read WBCS Mains syllabus in the article below.

Candidates may read below the details of WBCS Prelims and Mains:

WBCS Prelims

The WBPCS Prelims Exam takes place at various centres in Kolkata and few other districts of West Bengal. Darjeeling as a centre is allowed to be chosen only by the Scheduled Tribes of the Darjeeling district and by candidates from three hill-divisions: Darjeeling Sadar, Mirik and Kurseong.

Candidates can check the linked article to know about the WBCS Eligibility.

The WBCS Preliminary Syllabus comprises eight subjects/topics and in the prelims exam; 200 Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ) are asked. Each topic is assigned 25 marks. The duration of the exam is 2.5 hours. The Prelims is only a screening test, and its total marks (200) are not considered for final selection. The commission has clearly stated in its notification that the Prelims Exam tests the level of knowledge as that of a graduate of any faculty from any recognized university.

The eight topics given in WBCS Prelims Syllabus are:

English Composition

Synonyms and Antonyms

Idioms and Phrases

Vocabulary Test

Phrasal Verbs

Homophones

Fill in the qualifying words.

General Science

General appreciation

Understanding of science

Matters of everyday observation

Experience as expected from an educated person not having made special studies of scientific disciplines

Current Events of National and International Importance

Significant events affecting India and its relations with the world

History of India

Ancient

Medieval

Modern

Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal

Physical Geography

Social Geography

Economic Geography

Indian Polity and Economy

Indian Constitution

Panchayati Raj

Constitutional Bodies, etc.

Indian National Movement

Nature and character of Nineteenth-Century Resurgence

Growth of Nationalism

Attainment of Independence

General Mental Ability

Logical Reasoning

Common Aptitude

To cover broad topics from the subjects mentioned above, candidates can take help of the BYJU’S classroom notes, mentioned in the following links:

History

Ancient History Notes

Modern History Notes

Medieval History Notes

National Movement

Modern History Notes

Indian & World Geography

Geography Notes 

Indian Polity

Indian Polity Notes

Social & Economic Development

Indian Economy Notes

Environment, Ecology & Climate Change

Environment Notes 

To know how to prepare for WBPSC and to get help for current affairs, you may check the linked articles below:

WBCS Exam Preparation

Current Affairs

Government Schemes

The official notification has mentioned the following about the WBCS Prelims Syllabus:

WBCS Prelims Syllabus

To get the Latest Notifications of Government Exams in one place, check the linked article.

WBCS Mains Syllabus

The West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) in its official notification has mentioned the WBCS Mains Syllabus. After the Preliminary Stage, shortlisted candidates will have to appear for WBCS (Exe.) etc. (Main) Exam. The WBCS Main exam comprises six compulsory papers and one optional subject that consists of two papers. Only candidates appearing for Group A and Group B exam have to take exams for Optional Subject. Candidates enrolled for Group C, and Group D have to take only the six compulsory papers.

Six compulsory papers and two papers of Optional Subject (list provided by the commission) will be of 200 marks each. The duration for all the papers will be of 3 hours.

Candidates may check the six compulsory subjects given in WBCS Mains Syllabus below:

WBCS Main Exam Subject Marks

Group A Group B Group C Group D

Paper-I Bengali/Hindi/Urdu/Nepali/Santali:

Letter writing

Précis Writing

Composition and Translation from English to Bengali/Hindi/Urdu/Nepali/Santali

200 200 200 200

Paper-II English:

Letter writing

Précis Writing

Composition and Translation from Bengali/Hindi/Urdu/Nepali/Santali to English

200 200 200 200

Paper-III General Studies-I:

Indian History with special emphasis on National Movement

Geography of India with

special reference to West Bengal

200 200 200 200

Paper-IV General Studies-II:

Science and Scientific & Technological advancement

Environment

General Knowledge

Current Affairs

200 200 200 200

Paper-V The Constitution of India and Indian Economy including role and functions of Reserve Bank of India 200 200 200 200

Paper-VI Arithmetic & Test of Reasoning 200 200 200 200

For the papers as mentioned above, WBCS in its notification has mentioned:

WBPSC Syllabus- Mains

The general studies syllabus of the WBPSC overlaps with UPSC GS syllabus of Mains to some extent (excluding state-specific syllabus.) For instance:

History and geography that is asked in WBCS syllabus of Paper 3 (GS 1) are also covered in IAS syllabus of Mains GS 1.

Science and environment that are covered in WBCS syllabus of Paper 4 (GS 2) is also covered in the UPSC syllabus of Mains GS 3

Indian Polity and Indian Economy that are included in WBCS syllabus of Paper 5 are covered partly in GS 2 of UPSC Mains and partly in GS 3 of UPSC Mains.

BYJU’s brought a broad strategy for covering topics related to mains general studies. MPSC candidates can take inspiration from these strategies and are suggested to imply that while covering the syllabus of MPSC examination. The links are mentioned below:

GS 1 Strategy

GS 2 Strategy

GS 3 Strategy

List of WBPSC (Exe.) etc. Optional Subjects:

WBCS Syllabus 2020 - List of Optional Subjects 1

WBCS Syllabus 2020 - List of Optional Subjects 2

WBCS Optional Syllabus 2023:-Download PDF Here

WBCS Personality Test