About the exam

What is MPSC Rajyaseva, and who can apply?

The State Services examination of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission recruits the state’s Group-A and Group-B gazetted officers. Everything below is from MPSC’s own advertisement and press notes of 2025–26, except where it says otherwise; the 2027 advertisement may change details.

What it is

The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) is the state public service commission set up under Article 315 of the Constitution. Its State Services examination, called Rajyaseva and now advertised as the “Maharashtra Gazetted Civil Services Group-A & Group-B Combined Preliminary Examination”, fills posts such as Deputy Collector, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax, Block Development Officer and Tehsildar.

It has three stages: an objective preliminary examination (screening only), a descriptive main examination and an interview. The 2026 prelims (Advertisement 132/2025, 87 posts) was held on 31 May 2026.

Who can apply

Nationality: Indian citizen, with knowledge of Marathi.
Qualification: a degree from a recognised university (a few posts need a specific degree). Final-year students may sit the prelims, but must pass the degree by the last date of the mains application.
Age on 1 April of the exam year: at least 19 (18 for some posts). Maximum 38 for the open category; 43 for backward classes, EWS and orphans, and for eligible sportspersons and ex-servicemen; 45 for persons with disabilities. Only one relaxation applies.
Attempts: no limit at present (MPSC removed the attempt cap in 2022).
Fee (2026): ₹544 open; ₹344 backward classes, EWS, orphans and persons with disabilities.

The preliminary examination

Two compulsory objective papers of 200 marks and 2 hours each, printed in Marathi and English. Missing either paper means disqualification.

Paper I (General Studies): 100 questions of 2 marks: current events, history, geography, polity, economic and social development, environment and general science. Your rank for the mains is decided by Paper I alone.

Paper II (CSAT): 80 questions of 2.5 marks: comprehension, reasoning, decision-making, numeracy and data interpretation. It is qualifying: you need 33% (66 marks) for your Paper I to count.

Negative marking: a wrong answer costs a quarter of that question’s marks (−0.5 in Paper I); a blank costs nothing; marking two answers counts as wrong. Decision-making questions in CSAT are widely reported to carry no negative marking; confirm in your year’s instructions.

In 2026 the open general cut-off for State Services was 98 out of 200. From 2027, MPSC has announced computer-based prelims held more than once a year, with normalisation between sittings.

The main examination and interview

For 2026, the mains is descriptive: Marathi and English (300 marks each, qualifying at 25%), Essay (250), four General Studies papers (250 each) and two optional papers (250 each): 1,750 marks, plus a 275-mark interview.

From 2027 the optional papers are dropped: Marathi and English (qualifying), Essay and GS I–IV make 1,250 marks, and the interview is 175 marks, for 1,425 in all (MPSC press note of 25 June 2026 and corrigendum of 22 July 2026).

What this site covers

Paper I’s static subjects (history, geography, polity, economy, science and environment) and Paper II. Current events are not covered: they change every month, so read a newspaper daily and a monthly compilation alongside this site.

Pattern at a glance

Section	Questions	Marks
History	20	40
Geography	20	40
Polity	20	40
Economy	20	40
Science and Environment	20	40
Total	100	200
CSAT (Paper II)	Paper II · 80 Q · 200 marks · qualifying (33%)

Duration: 120 minutes
Marks per correct answer: 2
Negative marking: −0.5 for each wrong answer
Medium: Marathi and English (the paper is printed in both)
Mode: Objective, on an OMR sheet (2026). MPSC has announced computer-based prelims, held more than once a year, from 2027; check the 2027 advertisement.
Eligibility: Indian citizen with knowledge of Marathi. A degree from a recognised university (final-year students may sit the prelims if they pass before the mains application closes). Age on 1 April of the exam year: at least 19 (18 for some posts), at most 38 (open), 43 (backward classes, EWS, orphans, sportspersons, ex-servicemen) or 45 (persons with disabilities). No limit on attempts.