HPSC Exam Pattern & Syllabus 2025: Check Prelims & Mains Pattern

HPSC HCS Exam pattern 2025 consists of three stages- Preliminary Test, Mains Test, and Personality Test/Interview. Preliminary Test is qualifying in nature and consists of two papers of General Studies and CSAT. Both Papers of Prelims are for 100 marks each with a negative mark of 0.25 for each wrong answer. Both papers of Prelims will be MCQ- based and 2 hours long. You will be allowed to sit in HPSC HCS Mains exam only if you obtain 33% marks in CSAT paper of the HPSC Prelims.

In HPSC Mains there will be total 5 papers. First 3 papers are compulsory with the rest of the two papers are optional. You can choose from list of subjects given by HPSC for Papers 4 & 5. Paper 1-3 are 100 marks each while Papers 4 & 5 are 150 marks each. Each paper in HPSC Mains will be 3 hours long. Personality Test will comprise of 75 marks making a grand total of 675 including HPSC Mains and Personality Test. Take HPSC HCS Mock Test

Table of Contents

Prelims Exam Pattern
Mains Exam Pattern
Prelims Syllabus
Mains Syllabus
HPSC FAQs

Selection Process

Prelims Pattern

HPSC HCS Prelims Exam Pattern 2025

There will be two papers, each with 100 marks.
Questions will be objective MCQ-based.
Each paper will have to be completed within 2 hours.
For every wrong answer, ¼th of the marks, i.e. 0.25 will be deducted.
Question papers will be asked in two languages, that is in Hindi and English.

Paper	Subjects	Total no. Of Questions	Total Marks	Exam Duration
I	General Studies	100	100	2 hours
II	CSAT	100	100	2 hours

As mentioned earlier, some changes have been approved in the exam pattern of HPSC HCS.

Paper 2 – CSAT, the aptitude paper which was introduced in 2016, is now qualifying in nature.
At least 33% of marks must be obtained in CSAT.
Provisional selection for Mains will be based on Paper I only, provided 33% is scored in Paper 2.
Previously, the selection was based on the score procured in both papers.

Mains Pattern

HPSC HCS Mains Exam Pattern 2025

A total of 5 papers have to be attempted by the candidates in the HCS Mains examination.
First 3 papers are compulsory in nature and Papers 4 & 5 are optional; you can choose the subjects for these two papers.
Papers will have questions of a conventional nature.
Each paper will be for 3 hours.
The Interview round worth 75 marks is also a part of this test.
Final selection is made on the basis of marks scored out of 675.

Papers	Subjects	Total Marks	Duration
I	English	100	3 hours for each paper
II	Hindi (in Devanagari script)	100
III	General Studies	100
IV	Optional Paper	150
V	Optional Paper	150
Total marks in Mains exam		600
Personality Test		75
Total marks in Mains + Personality Test		675

Prelims Syllabus

HPSC HCS Syllabus 2025 for Prelims

HPSC HCS Prelims exam has only two papers, and the syllabus for both subjects is given below.

Paper 1– General Studies

General Science: Including knowledge of concepts of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
Current Affairs: Recent happenings in India and the World.
History of India & Indian National Movement
Indian and World Geography
Indian Polity and Economy: Constitution of India and Economic development in the country, basic concepts of Economics.
General Mental Ability: testing reasoning and analytical abilities.
Haryana- Social, economic and cultural institutions, Economy and people; and language of Haryana.

Paper 2– Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT)

Reading comprehension
Decision-making and problem-solving
Interpersonal skills, including communication skills
Logical reasoning and analytical ability
General mental ability
Basic numeracy (Class 10 level)
Data interpretation (Class 10 level)

Mains Syllabus

HPSC HCS Syllabus 2025 for Mains

Paper 1: English

Precise writing
Comprehension skills
Essay
Word usage and vocabulary
General Grammar knowledge
Composition or Essay

Paper 2: Hindi

Translation of English passage to Hindi
Letter or precise writing
Explanation of Hindi passage (regarding poetry or prose)
Composition (idioms, proverbs, etc.)
Essay (choice of topics will be given)

Paper 3: General Studies

This paper is divided into two parts, and the two parts contain different topics as they are listed below.

Part 1

History of Modern India & Indian culture
Geography of India
Indian Polity
Current national issues and topics of social relevance

Part 2

India and the World
Indian Economy
Developments in the fields of science and technology, communication and space
Statistical analysis, graphs, and diagrams

Paper 4 and 5 (Optional Subjects)

A list of 23 subjects is given by HPSC to the applicants to choose their optional papers:

Agriculture
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Service
Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Commerce and Accountancy
Economics
Electrical Engineering
English Literature
Geography
Hindi Literature
Indian History
Law
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Physics
Political Science and International Relations
Psychology
Public Administration
Punjabi Literature
Sociology
Sanskrit Literature
Zoology

However, the following combination of subjects are not allowed to be chosen together

Political science and International relations with Public Administration.
Agriculture with Animal husbandry and veterinary service.
Hindi literature, English literature, Sanskrit literature and Punjabi literature.
Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering.

The choice of optional subjects and the planning of preparation tips must be done after checking the detailed exam pattern, syllabus, and the previous year question papers. The aspirants must be well aware of their strengths and weakness and plan their preparation based on them.

FAQs

HPSC Syllabus & Exam Pattern: FAQs

Ques. What is the marking scheme in the HPSC HCS exam?

Ans. In HCS Prelims questions being objective in nature, will carry 1 mark each. All papers in Mains exam will comprise subjective questions, each carrying marks ranging up to 30.

Ques. How many papers are there in HCS exam?

Ans. There are 2 papers in HCS Prelims and 5 papers in HCS Mains.

Ques. How difficult is HCS exam?

Ans. HCS, like most other Civil Service Exams, is one of the toughest exam and needs immense discipline and hard work to qualify..

Ques. Is there any negative marking in HCS exam?

Ans. Yes, in preliminary exam 0.25 marks will be deducted for any wrong answer.

Ques. What are the qualifying marks for HCS exam?

Ans. As per the new rules, to qualify for HCS Mains examination the cut-off marks as decided by HPSC must be acquired. The cutoff will be based on Paper 1 as Paper 2 will be of qualifying nature only. However, 33% of marks must be secured in CSAT Paper.