ADRE Grade 3 Exam Pattern 2026: Marks, Questions and Negative Marking

ADRE Grade 3 Exam Pattern: Overview

The ADRE Grade 3 exam pattern is simple on paper: one offline objective paper of 150 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours, set at your qualification level. The State Level Recruitment Commission for Class-III Posts, Assam, runs the exam with SEBA. The pattern on this page is the one officially notified for the September 2024 written exam, the last completed cycle, because the ADRE 3.0 notification was still awaited in October 2026.

The detail that matters most is the difference between levels. The HSSLC and HSLC papers carry 150 marks, while the bachelor's degree paper carries 175 marks because 25 questions are worth 2 marks each. Negative marking applies to every level, so how you guess matters as much as how much you know.

Exam Pattern at a Glance

Written Exam Pattern by Level

The question counts, marks and negative marking above come from the SLRC notice dated 14 September 2024. Exam dates come from the SLRC notices of 5 August and 12 September 2024.

Subject-wise split: HSSLC level

Subject-wise split: Bachelor's degree level

The SLRC notice gave totals, not subject splits. The splits above are the ones widely reported for the 2024 papers and add up to the official totals, so treat them as indicative. Medium of the paper should be checked in the ADRE 3.0 notification and on the admit card; Assamese, Bengali, Bodo and English versions are commonly reported.

Marking Scheme and Negative Marking

• Correct answer: full marks for the question (1 mark, or 2 marks for the graduate comprehension questions).

• Wrong answer: one quarter of the question's marks is deducted, so 0.25 for a 1-mark question and 0.50 for a 2-mark question.

• More than one option marked: treated as a wrong answer.

• Unattempted: no marks and no deduction.

What the Pattern Means for You

• Time per question: 180 minutes for 150 questions is 72 seconds each. GK questions should take 20 to 30 seconds, which frees time for maths and comprehension.

• Cost of a wrong guess: with four options, a pure guess roughly breaks even. Once you can rule out one option, attempting is usually worth it; with two ruled out, it clearly is.

• Where the marks are: Assam-heavy Social Studies and GK carry 60 to 65 marks at both levels. For graduates, comprehension carries 50 marks on its own.

• Cut-offs were high: the unreserved 2024 cut-off for HSSLC posts was reported at 119.50 out of 150, so accuracy across all sections matters. See the ADRE Grade 3 cut off page.

Skill Test and Later Stages

Candidates shortlisted from the written exam took a skill test of 25 marks where the post needed one: a computer test, a stenography test or a driving test for Driver posts. Modalities and dates were announced in separate notices. Document verification followed, with original certificates and, for serving employees, a No Objection Certificate.

How Final Merit Works

The written exam score decides who is shortlisted and the merit order. Selection then follows grade pay and reservation rules, and in the last cycle departments within the same grade pay were allotted by draw of lots. The SLRC did not publish a single combined formula in the notices reviewed for this page, so read the ADRE 3.0 notification for how the skill test score is used.

Time Management on Exam Day

1. First pass (60 to 70 minutes): answer every GK, Social Studies and grammar question you know at once.

2. Second pass (70 to 80 minutes): maths, reasoning and, for graduates, the comprehension passages.

3. Final 20 minutes: revisit marked questions and attempt only those where you can eliminate options.

Practise this split under a timer before the exam. Full-length ADRE Grade 3 online tests on Testkart in the 150-question format help you check your pacing, and the section-wise analysis shows where time leaks. Older pages may still show a 200-question pattern, so follow the official notices on the Government of Assam portal. The topic list is on the ADRE Grade 3 syllabus page.