EXAM PATTERN

Exam Pattern: 

  1. As per the latest Karnataka Recruitment of Gazetted Probationers (Appointment by Competitive Examinations) (Amendment) Rules, the KAS aspirants have to clear the 2-stage exam. The first stage is the Preliminary examination which comprises 2 papers with objective type questions.
  2. The candidates who clear the Prelims become eligible for the Main stage of the exam. The Main stage of the KAS exam consists of a written examination and a personality test (interview). Hence, in effect, the KPSC KAS exam pattern is modelled quite closely on the lines of the UPSC IAS exam.

The KAS Exam Pattern:

  1. Prelims – 2 papers -objective type questions
  2. Mains – 7 papers – essay/descriptive type
  3. Interview

Prelims Exam Pattern: 

The Prelims stage consists of two papers which are conducted in offline mode (pen-paper) on the same day. This stage has only objective type (MCQs) questions and it acts as a filtering stage for the Main examination.

  1. The UPSC exam pattern is also on similar lines.
  2. The marks in KAS Prelims are not counted for the final merit list, however, aspirants should prepare diligently as the cutoffs vary each year.
  3. Both papers in Prelims consist of 100 questions each.
  4. Each question is for 2 marks and negative marking of 0.25 marks for an incorrect answer.
  5. The General Mental Ability questions will be of 10th standard level.

Main Exam Pattern: 

KPSC has altered the KAS exam pattern in August 2020. Two major alterations in the KPSC KAS exam pattern are:

  1. Optional Papers are removed.
  2. Marks assigned to KPSC KAS Personality test are slashed from 200 to 50. 
  3. The new exam pattern for the Main stage of the KPSC KAS exam is as follows: Total of 7 papers
  • English and Kannada language papers are compulsory and qualifying in nature
  • At least 35% marks are needed to clear English/Kannada papers
  • The level of the questions will be of Honours degree level.
  • The questions are descriptive-essay type in nature and there is no negative marking
  • The question papers will be set in both Kannada and English.
  • The standard of Kannada and English language papers will be of First Language Kannada and First Language English at SSLC level, respectively.

Total marks : 1250