Bihar Police SI Exam Pattern 2026: Prelims and Mains

The Bihar Police SI exam pattern has three stages: a qualifying prelims, a two-paper mains and a qualifying physical test. The Bihar Police Subordinate Services Commission (BPSSC) uses this structure for the Police Sub Inspector (Daroga) post under Advertisement No. 05/2025, with 1,799 vacancies.

All three written papers share the same format: 100 objective questions, 200 marks, two hours and a deduction of 0.2 marks per wrong answer. What changes is the role each paper plays. Only Mains Paper 2 counts for merit, which should shape how you divide your time. This page explains each stage, the minimum marks, the marking scheme with worked examples, and how the final merit list is built. It also covers the current position after BPSSC cancelled the mains exam of 27 May 2026.

Table of Contents

Bihar Police SI Exam Pattern at a Glance

Prelims Exam Pattern

The prelims is a single screening paper. It checks breadth of general knowledge and awareness of current events.

Qualifying rules for the prelims

• Minimum marks: You must score at least 30%, which is 60 out of 200, to be considered for the mains. The same minimum applies to all categories.

• Shortlisting ratio: BPSSC shortlists about 20 times the vacancies in each category for the mains, in order of marks.

• Normalisation: The prelims can run in more than one shift. Scores are normalised with the equi-percentile method so that candidates in an easier or harder shift are placed fairly.

• No merit value: Prelims marks are not carried into the final merit list.

In the 05/2025 cycle, the prelims was held on 18 and 21 January 2026 and 35,857 candidates were shortlisted for the mains. Note the difference between clearing 30% and being shortlisted: many more candidates crossed the minimum than the number called, so the real target is the category cut-off, not 60 marks.

Mains Exam Pattern

The mains has two papers. Both are objective and both carry the same deduction for wrong answers.

Minimum marks in the mains

Paper 1 is purely qualifying. You need at least 30%, or 60 out of 200, and the marks are not added to merit. For merit, the advertisement sets category-wise minimum marks.

These are minimum marks to stay in contention, not cut-offs. In the mains result of 19 June 2026, the unreserved male cut-off was 134 out of 200, far above the 80-mark minimum.

Marking Scheme and Negative Marking

The deduction is one-tenth of the value of a correct answer. That is lighter than in many other recruitment exams, where a wrong answer often costs a quarter or a third of a question's value.

Worked example

Suppose you attempt 85 questions in Paper 2 and get 72 right and 13 wrong. You earn 144 marks for the correct answers and lose 2.6 marks for the wrong ones, which gives a net score of 141.4 out of 200.

Now suppose 15 of those 85 attempts were guesses, and only 2 of the 15 came out right. Had you skipped all 15, you would have had 70 correct answers and 140 marks. The guesses therefore added 1.4 marks overall, even though most of them were wrong. This is why careful guessing, after ruling out options, tends to help in this exam.

What the Pattern Means for You

• Put most of your time into Paper 2: It is the only paper that ranks you. Every extra correct answer is worth 2 marks in the final list.

• Protect your Hindi score: General Hindi does not add to merit, but a score under 60 ends your selection. Aim for a comfortable margin, not the bare minimum.

• Use the light penalty wisely: If you can rule out one or two options, a careful attempt is usually worth it. Wild guessing across many questions still adds up, so stay selective.

• Prelims is about crossing the cut-off: Because only about 20 times the vacancies move ahead, aim well above the 30% minimum.

• One subject cannot carry you: Paper 2 spans six named areas. Leaving out mathematics or science narrows how many questions you can attempt with confidence.

How Prelims and Mains Differ

The two written stages look alike on paper, with the same number of questions, marks and time. In practice they test different things, and your preparation should reflect that.

Approach to each part of Paper 2

• General Studies, civics, history and geography: These are recall-based. Answer them quickly in the first pass to save time for calculations.

• General Science: Most questions test school-level concepts. Clear concepts help more than memorised one-liners.

• Mathematics: Arithmetic questions take longer. Solve the ones you recognise and leave lengthy ones for the second pass.

• Mental Ability: Series, coding and direction questions are quick once practised. They are a good place to gain marks under time pressure.

Sectional tests help you learn the right speed for each area before you move to full papers. On Testkart, you can practise Bihar Police SI sectional tests and compare your time per section across attempts.

Physical Efficiency Test and Physical Standards

About six times the category-wise vacancies are called for the physical stage, based on mains merit. The test carries no marks, but you must clear every event.

Physical standards

Failing any event or standard leads to disqualification. For the 05/2025 cycle, the physical test that was planned for September and October 2026 was postponed until further orders by a notice dated 28 August 2026.

How the Final Merit List Is Prepared

1. Clear the prelims: Reach the category cut-off and the 30% minimum.

2. Clear Mains Paper 1: Score at least 30% in General Hindi.

3. Rank on Mains Paper 2: Your General Studies marks, above the category minimum, decide your position.

4. Qualify the physical stage: Clear all PET events and physical standards.

5. Clear documents and medical: Certificates are verified and a medical examination follows.

The final list follows Paper 2 marks among candidates who clear every stage, applied category-wise as per reservation rules. If two candidates have the same marks, the older candidate ranks higher. If the date of birth is also the same, the candidate with the higher educational qualification ranks higher, and after that the order follows the alphabetical order of names as on the matriculation certificate.

Worked example

Candidate A scores 120 in General Studies and 70 in General Hindi. Candidate B scores 112 in General Studies and 150 in General Hindi. Both clear the Hindi minimum, so the Hindi marks stop mattering. Candidate A ranks above Candidate B because only Paper 2 counts.

Time Management and OMR Strategy

Each paper gives 120 minutes for 100 questions, which is just over a minute per question. The time is enough if you do not get stuck.

• First pass, 60 to 70 minutes: Answer every question you know at once. In General Studies, this is usually most of the GK, polity and science questions.

• Second pass, 30 to 40 minutes: Return to calculation and reasoning questions and to those where you could rule out options.

• Last 10 minutes: Check your OMR sheet and fill any answers still marked only in the question booklet.

Avoid OMR errors

The official results show how costly small mistakes are. In the 05/2025 prelims, 29,272 answer sheets were rejected, mostly for a wrong roll number or a wrong question booklet number on the OMR sheet, and some because the sheet was unsigned. Several hundred more were rejected in the mains for the same reasons.

• Fill details first: Write and bubble your roll number and booklet number before reading any question, and check them twice.

• Sign where required: An unsigned OMR sheet can be rejected.

• Follow every written instruction: If the sheet asks you to copy a declaration, write it in full.

Practising on timed, full-length papers is the surest way to fix your pace and OMR routine. You can take Bihar Police SI mock tests on Testkart in the current pattern and use the section-wise analysis to see where your time goes.

What Changed in the 05/2025 Cycle

• Mains cancelled: BPSSC cancelled the mains written exam of 27 May 2026 through a notice dated 23 September 2026. A new date will be announced separately.

• PET postponed: The physical test based on that mains was postponed on 28 August 2026, before the cancellation.

• Pattern unchanged so far: The cancellation notice does not change the pattern. Check the next mains notice in case BPSSC revises any detail.

Older pages may still show a different number of questions, a different deduction or details from other Bihar SI posts such as Prohibition SI or Special Branch SI. Follow the 05/2025 advertisement and notices for the regular Police SI post. Whatever practice material you use, check that it follows the 05/2025 pattern. Official website: https://bpssc.bihar.gov.in/