MP Vyapam Group 5 Exam Pattern 2026: Marking Scheme

The MP Vyapam Group 5 exam pattern is simple on paper: one online test of 100 objective questions, 100 marks and 2 hours. The Madhya Pradesh Employees Selection Board (MPESB), earlier known as MP Vyapam or the Professional Examination Board, uses this single paper to recruit Staff Nurse, Pharmacist, technician, compounder and other paramedical Grade III staff. There is no interview, so your written score decides your merit rank.

What makes the paper tricky is in the details. Three-quarters of the marks come from a technical section that changes with your post, and the 2026 cycle brought back negative marking. This page explains the pattern section by section, the marking scheme, how scores from different shifts are compared, the qualifying marks and how to plan your 2 hours, based on the 2026 rule book.

Table of Contents

MP Vyapam Group 5 Exam Pattern

The paper is split into two parts. The table below shows how the 100 marks are divided.

What This Means for You

• Your trade carries the paper: 75 of the 100 marks come from your diploma or degree subjects. Technical revision deserves most of your study time.

• Part A is short but valuable: 25 questions at roughly school level can separate candidates who have similar technical scores.

• Time is not generous: You get about 1 minute 12 seconds per question, so speed matters as much as knowledge.

• Every mark is a merit mark: With no interview, the written test alone decides your rank for each post.

Part A: General Section

Part A is common to every candidate, whatever post they apply for. It has 25 questions shared across six subjects. The rule book names the subjects but does not fix how many questions come from each, so expect around four questions per subject and do not skip any of them.

The level sits around Class 10 to 12. Most candidates can answer Part A faster than Part B, which is why it works well as the opening section in the exam hall.

Part B: Technical Section and Paper Codes

Part B has 75 questions from the trade of the post. Group 5 is a combined test, so MPESB does not set one technical paper for everyone. Instead, it groups related posts under a question paper code. A Staff Nurse and a Lab Technician sit the same exam on the same day, but their 75 technical questions are completely different.

In the 2026 rule book, the posts were grouped into 14 technical papers.

Two points follow from this. First, the difficulty of Part B depends on your trade. Paper B, for example, is set at Class 12 science level, while papers such as F (Staff Nurse) and C (Lab Technician) follow the full diploma course. Second, your competition is only the group of candidates who sit the same paper code and apply for the same post. The mapping can change from one cycle to the next, so always confirm your paper code in the current rule book before you start preparing.

Marking Scheme and Negative Marking

Every question in the MP Vyapam Group 5 exam carries 1 mark. The 2026 rule book applies negative marking, so a wrong answer costs you a quarter of a mark.

How Your Raw Score Is Calculated

Your raw score is the number of correct answers minus 0.25 times the number of wrong answers: $\text{Score} = C - 0.25 \times W$. The examples below show how the same number of correct answers can lead to different scores.

Candidates 1 and 2 got the same 70 questions right, but the extra 16 wrong answers cost Candidate 2 four full marks. In a post where hundreds of candidates are separated by fractions of a mark, that gap can move you down the merit list.

Should You Guess?

Assuming four options per question, as in past papers, a blind guess is right one time in four. The table shows the average value of a guess depending on how many options you can rule out.

A blind guess adds almost nothing on average and makes your score less predictable, so skip it. Once you can confidently rule out one option, the odds move in your favour, and with two options gone a guess is clearly worth taking. The real danger is not guessing itself but answering quickly and wrongly on questions you think you know, so check units, negatives such as "not" or "except", and option wording before you click.

Language of the Question Paper

The question paper is bilingual, in Hindi and English, and you can read each question in either language. The rule book also says that for science and technical subjects, the English version is treated as final if the Hindi and English versions differ.

This matters most for Part B. If you studied your diploma in Hindi, learn the English names of drugs, instruments, procedures and diseases too, so that a translation slip in Hindi does not cost you a mark. For General Hindi and General English questions, the language of the subject itself applies.

Shifts, Normalisation and Merit

MPESB often holds the Group 5 test over several days and shifts. In 2026, the computer-based test ran from 17 to 23 April, with a morning shift from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon and an afternoon shift from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Shift timings for the next cycle will be printed on the admit card.

Different shifts get different question sets, and one set can be harder than another. To keep comparisons fair, the board normalises scores when a test runs in more than one shift and prepares the merit list on percentile scores rather than raw marks. A percentile shows where you stand within your own shift: a percentile of 90 means about 90 percent of the candidates in your shift scored the same as or less than you. The exact method is set out in the rule book, and the scorecard shows both your raw and normalised scores.

For you, this means two things. You cannot compare your raw score directly with a friend from another shift, and a hard shift does not automatically put you at a disadvantage, because everyone in that shift faced the same paper.

When two candidates have the same percentile, the tie is broken first by written-test marks and then by age, as laid down in the rule book.

Qualifying Marks and Selection

To enter the merit list, you must reach the minimum qualifying marks for your category. These are applied to your score out of 100.

Qualifying marks are only the entry gate. Actual selection depends on the post-wise merit cut-off, which is usually much higher.

The selection process after the written test is short:

1. Result and merit list: MPESB publishes the result with post-wise merit, based on your post preferences and category.

2. Waiting list: A waiting list of 15 percent of the posts is prepared. It stays valid for one year from the result, or until the next result, whichever comes first.

3. Document verification: The recruiting department checks your certificates, council registration and other documents before issuing the appointment order.

There is no re-evaluation or recounting after the result, so raise any doubts about questions during the answer key objection window. In 2026, the provisional answer key was released on 24 April.

What Changed in the 2026 Exam Pattern

• Negative marking is back: MPESB decided in early 2026 to bring back negative marking in its recruitment tests, after more than a decade without it. The Group 5 2026 rule book applies a deduction of 0.25 marks per wrong answer.

• Structure unchanged: The 25 plus 75 split and the 100-question, 100-mark format are the same as in the 2024-25 cycle. Only the marking has changed.

• Separate nursing recruitment: In April 2026, MPESB ran a separate recruitment for Nursing Officer and Sister Tutor posts with its own rule book. Reports describe a similar 100-question structure, but check that rule book separately if you are applying for those posts.

Many pages written for the 2024 and 2025 cycles still say the Group 5 exam has no negative marking. Follow the current rule book, not older articles.

How to Plan Your 2 Hours

The 2026 scheme has no separate time limit for Part A and Part B, so you decide the order and pace. A simple plan that works for most candidates:

If your technical subject is your strength, you can start with Part B instead. What matters is that you practise one fixed order in mock tests, so you do not waste time deciding on exam day.

Exam-Day Points to Remember

• Reporting time: In 2026, reporting for the morning shift started at 8:00 am for a 10:00 am exam. Follow the time printed on your admit card.

• Documents: Carry the admit card and the original photo ID it asks for. Entry can be refused without them.

• Use the instruction time: The 10 minutes before the paper are for reading instructions and checking the screen layout, language switch and question palette.

• Watch the palette: Use the mark-for-review option for doubtful questions, and check that answers you want counted are saved.

• Keep track of time: Check the timer at the end of Part A and again around the 90-minute mark.

The rule book for each cycle is published on the MPESB rule books page, and notices and results appear on the official MPESB website.