Himachal Pradesh Administrative Service (HPAS) Exam Pattern

Himachal Pradesh Administrative Service (HPAS) Exam Pattern :- I don’t think that there will be an aspirant in Himachal Pradesh who prepares for competitive exams and doesn’t know about the HPAS or HAS examination. This exam is conducted by Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC) almost every year for recruiting officers for various department in government of Himachal Pradesh. It is the exam through which you can get to a high ranking post in the administrative departments of Himachal Pradesh.

Every year HPPSC conducts civil service examination across the state. On an average 40-50 thousands aspirants fill the application forms for HPAS examination. Around 55-60% who have filled the application forms appeared in the Preliminary examination. However, 20 times of the total number of vacancies to filled that year are called for Mains examination and 3 times are called for interviews.

Exam Pattern of HPAS Examination :- 

Himachal Pradesh Administrative Service Competitive Examination also known as HPAS exam is conducted in three stages :-

1. Preliminary Examination
2. Mains Examination
3. Personality Test

Scheme of Examination :-

1.) Preliminary Examination :-

(i) This preliminary examination will consist of two objective type papers (multiple choice questions) i.e. Paper 1 :- General Studies and Paper 2:- Aptitude Test each of 2o0 marks. Duration of Paper 1 (General Studies) and Paper 2 (Aptitude Test) will be 2 hours each. and This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only. The marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit.

(ii) The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about 20 times of the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this examination. Only those candidates who
have been declared by the Commission to have qualified the Preliminary Examination will be eligible for admission
to the Main Examination corresponding to the said Preliminary Examination provided they are otherwise eligible for
admission to the Main Examination.

Provided that Aptitude Test (Paper-II) of the Preliminary Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33% and therefore, marks obtained in this paper shall not be counted for determining the merit of the candidates which will be drawn exclusively on the basis of marks obtained in General Studies (Paper-I) of the Preliminary Examination for their admission to the Main Examination.

# Note :- There will be negative marking for incorrect answers for all the questions:-

• There are four alternatives for the answers to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has
  been given by the candidate, one third of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty.
• If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even if one of the given answers happen to be correct and there will be same penalty as above for that question.
• If a question is left blank i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question.

2.) Main Examination :- 

(i) The main examination shall include compulsory subjects and one optional subject.

(ii) The candidate shall specify in his / her application form the Optional Subject, he / she desires to take. He / she
may intimate any change of his / her Optional Subject to the Secretary of the Commission but not later than the
last date prescribed for the payment of the examination fee. A candidate shall answer the Optional Paper in English or in Hindi as per his / her option.

(iii) No candidate shall be considered to have qualified the written examination unless he / she obtains atleast 40%
marks in each compulsory papers of Hindi and English and 45% marks in the aggregate (excluding compulsory papers of Hindi & English)

(iv) The total number of candidates to be called for interview / personality test on the basis of Main written examination, shall not exceed three (3) times the number of the vacancies notified for recruitment through that
examination;
Provided that in case there is a tie between or amongst the candidates on account of having obtained equal minimum qualifying marks on the basis of written examination, all such candidates obtaining equal minimum marks shall be called for interview / personality test.

(v) The marks obtained by the candidates in the main examination (written part as well as interview / personality test) shall determine their final ranking. Candidates will be allotted various services / posts keeping in view their ranks in the examination and the preference expressed by them for the various services and posts.

(vi) The compulsory and optional subjects and maximum marks fixed for each subject shall be as below:-

(vii) The standards and contents of papers in general (excluding compulsory papers of English and Hindi) shall be similar to those of the Degree level, i.e. B.A. or B.Sc. etc. examinations of a recognized University. The standards and contents of compulsory papers of English and Hindi shall be of 10+2 level.

(viii) All Papers shall be of three hours duration.

(ix) The marks obtained in the Compulsory Papers of English and Hindi will not be counted for overall ranking though it would be necessary to obtain 40% marks in each of these papers to qualify.

(x) Marks and ranking will be decided on the basis of marks obtained in all other Compulsory and Optional Papers
(excluding marks of English and Hindi Papers of Compulsory Papers).

(xi) Credit will be given for good English / Hindi including orderly, effective and exact expression combined with the
economy of words, in all subjects of the examination.

(xii) The candidates declared qualified in the Main Examination on the basis of merit will be called for Personality Test.

#Note:- Detailed syllabus for the Himachal Pradesh Administrative Service Competitive Main Examination is available on the official website of the commission. 

Official website of HPPSC :- Click Here 

Syllabus of Various Competitive Exams conducted by HPPSC :- Click Here.

3.) Interview/ Personality Test :- 

(i) The candidate will be interviewed by the Commission who will have before them a record of his/her career. He/ She will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The object of the Personality Test is to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for the services or service for which he/she has applied to the Commission.

(ii) The Personality Test is intended to judge the mental calibre of candidates. In broad terms, this is really an assessment of not only his/her intellectual qualities but also social traits and his/her interest in current affairs including the knowledge of customs, manners and dialects of Himachal Pradesh. Some of the qualities to be judged are mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, care and logical exposition, balance of judgements, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity.

# Note 1:- Marks obtained by the candidates in the (Preliminary) Examination will not be counted for the purpose of final order of merit. However, marks obtained in the main examination as well as in the Personality Test would determine their final merit for selection. The marks obtained in the Compulsory Papers of English and Hindi will not be counted for overall ranking.

# Note 2 :- In the event of a tie, order of merit shall be determined in accordance with highest marks secured in the interview/ Personality Test and if the marks in the Interview / Personality Test are also equal, then the order of merit shall be decided in accordance with the highest marks obtained by such candidates in the aggregate of the compulsory subjects (excluding English and Hindi Paper) and if the marks in the aggregate of the compulsory subjects are also equal, then the order of merit shall be decided in accordance with the highest marks obtained by such candidates in the Essay Paper and in case there is still a tie, then the elder candidate shall be placed higher in the merit.

More From HP Exam Adda :- 

1.) HPPSC HPAS Notification :- Eligibility Criteria, Age limit etc.

2.) National Parks in Himachal Pradesh :- HP GK

3.) Lakes in Himachal Pradesh :- HP GK