Patna High Court Exam Pattern 2026: Stages, Marks and Negative Marking

Patna High Court fills Group-C and judicial posts through separate examinations, and each one follows its own Patna High Court exam pattern. This page explains the stages, marks, timing and qualifying rules for the four recruitments advertised in 2026: Technical Assistant, Computer Operator-cum-Typist, Ex-Cadre Assistant and District Judge (Entry Level).

The figures for the first three posts come from the court's advertisements PHC/01/2026, PHC/02/2026 and PHC/03/2026. The District Judge advertisement is a scanned file, so that section is marked as reported. The main thing to understand is how marks are counted: some stages only screen candidates and add nothing to merit, while typing and skill tests carry heavy weight.

Table of contents

• Patna High Court exam pattern at a glance

• Technical Assistant exam pattern

• Computer Operator-cum-Typist exam pattern

• Ex-Cadre Assistant exam pattern

• District Judge (Entry Level) exam pattern

• Marking scheme and negative marking

• How shortlisting works across stages

• Stage-wise preparation plan

• What the pattern means for you

• Time management and exam-day strategy

• Older pages and the official source

Patna High Court exam pattern at a glance

Three rules apply to all staff posts. The preliminary test is held only if the number of applicants is high, and its marks never count towards merit. Every stage has a qualifying mark, and missing it ends your candidature. Papers are bilingual, except the English and Hindi language sections.

Technical Assistant exam pattern

The post has three main stages and an optional screening test. Each stage shortlists a fixed multiple of the vacancies for the next one, and candidates tied with the last shortlisted candidate in a category are also called.

Preliminary test sections

Each correct answer earns 1 mark and each wrong answer costs one-fourth of a mark. With 60 of 100 marks from Computer Applications, even the screening stage rewards technical preparation.

Written test, trade test and interview

The written test is multiple choice and tests domain knowledge from six computer science subjects. The advertisement states marks and duration but not the number of questions. The trade test checks practical skill, and no topic list is published for it. The interview carries 30 marks.

The minimum qualifying standard is 40 per cent in each test and 30 per cent in the interview. If candidates tie on total marks, preference goes first to High Court work experience, then to higher written-test marks, then to the older candidate.

Worked example: a candidate with 120 in the written test, 70 in the trade test and 20 in the interview has 210 out of 330. This is an illustration, not a predicted cut-off.

Computer Operator-cum-Typist exam pattern

This post has two stages: a written test in three parts and an interview. The computer-based written test was held on 22 July 2026 in two shifts, and the court made the provisional answer key final on 19 August 2026.

Your typing accuracy percentage is converted directly into marks out of 100, so 94 per cent accuracy gives 94 marks. You must qualify in all three parts to reach the interview, and three times the vacancies are shortlisted for it. The Hindi test uses the Remington Gail layout and the Mangal font.

Preliminary test (if held)

If applications are very high, a 50-mark screening test is held in 30 minutes: General Awareness 15, English 20 and Computer Awareness 15, with 20 marks to qualify. Ten times the vacancies are shortlisted, and these marks are not counted in merit.

Ties are broken by higher written-test marks and then by age. Worked example: 36 in Part A, 96 in English typing, 92 in Hindi typing and 7 in the interview total 231 out of 260. Again, this only shows how the marks add up.

Ex-Cadre Assistant exam pattern

The court advertised 68 Ex-Cadre Assistant posts under PHC/03/2026. Applications closed on 27 August 2026. The court released the admit card for the computer-based preliminary test on 12 September and a model answer notice on 22 September 2026. The result had not been listed when this page was prepared.

Only the written test and the interview count towards the final merit list, which makes it out of 110. The computer proficiency test is qualifying. The preliminary test shortlists ten times the vacancies, the proficiency test shortlists six times (the same paragraph also mentions a three-times criterion, so follow the court's result notice), and the interview shortlists three times.

District Judge (Entry Level) exam pattern

This is a direct recruitment from the Bar, so the pattern differs from the staff posts. The 2026 advertisement is a scanned file, so the details below are reported and drawn partly from earlier official District Judge advertisements. Confirm them in the notice before you rely on them.

Marking scheme and negative marking

Blank answers carry no penalty in any of these papers. Typing tests are scored on accuracy, not on a right-or-wrong basis.

How shortlisting works across stages

Most candidates misread the pattern at this point. Clearing the qualifying mark does not guarantee the next stage, because each stage shortlists only a fixed multiple of the vacancies, in merit order within each category. So there are two hurdles at every step: the minimum mark and your rank.

To see what this means, take 20 vacancies. A 10 times shortlist means 200 candidates go beyond the preliminary test, however many applied. A 3 times shortlist before the interview means only 60 are called. Candidates tied with the last shortlisted person in their category are also included, so the actual list can be slightly longer.

The practical lesson is to treat qualifying marks as the floor, not the target. In a stage with a heavy applicant count, the rank cut-off will sit well above the minimum.

Stage-wise preparation plan

If a preliminary test is held

The preliminary test is short and does not count in merit, so use it as a speed check. Aim to finish with ten minutes spare and revise only the questions you flagged. For Technical Assistant, give most of your time to Computer Applications because it carries 60 of 100 marks.

Written test

Split your preparation by the paper's weight, not by what feels comfortable. For the Ex-Cadre Assistant paper, English and Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude together carry 60 of 100 marks. For the Technical Assistant paper, the six computer science subjects are the whole test, so revise subject by subject and then solve full-length papers.

Typing and skill tests

These are scored on accuracy or practical output, so daily practice matters more than last-week cramming. For the Computer Operator-cum-Typist post, practise English passages of 400 words in 10 minutes and Hindi passages of 300 words in 10 minutes. Check your accuracy after each attempt, because the thresholds are 90 per cent for English and 85 per cent for Hindi. For the Ex-Cadre Assistant proficiency test, practise word processing, spreadsheet formulas and basic internet tasks within the 30-minute limit.

Interview

The interview carries only 10 marks for the Computer Operator-cum-Typist and Ex-Cadre Assistant posts, and 30 for Technical Assistant. Prepare to talk about your qualification, your experience and why you want a court job. Remember the qualifying minimum of 3 marks (or 9 for Technical Assistant).

What the pattern means for you

• Typing decides the Computer Operator-cum-Typist merit list: 200 of the 260 merit marks come from the two typing tests, so a good Part A score cannot make up for weak accuracy.

• Technical depth wins for Technical Assistant: The written test is 200 of 330 marks, and the preliminary test is 60 per cent Computer Applications.

• Attempt every question where there is no penalty: Part A of the Computer Operator-cum-Typist test has no negative marking, so guessing helps.

• Guess carefully where marks are deducted: At 0.25 per wrong answer, you lose one mark for every four incorrect guesses, so skip questions where you cannot narrow down the options.

• Do not neglect qualifying marks: A strong written score is useless if you miss the 30 per cent interview minimum or the typing accuracy threshold.

Time management and exam-day strategy

For the Technical Assistant written test, 200 marks in 2 hours leaves little time to recheck, so solve the subjects you know best first and return to hard calculations later. For the Ex-Cadre Assistant written test, 100 questions in 90 minutes gives under a minute per question. Spend the least time on General English and Hindi and keep reasoning and quantitative questions for the middle of the paper.

For typing tests, practise on the exact layout. Hindi candidates should train on Remington Gail, not Inscript, because layout errors cost accuracy. Type for correctness first, since speed matters only up to the stated target of 40 and 30 words per minute.

Older pages and the official source

Older pages may still show earlier versions of these tests. Some pages say the Assistant exam has no negative marking, but the 2026 advertisement specifies 0.25 for each wrong answer. Always follow the court's own notice.

Read the advertisements and notices on the official Patna High Court recruitments page before you prepare or apply.