Quick answer and applicable cycle
| Subject | Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| General Intelligence and Reasoning | 20 | 40 |
| General Knowledge and General Awareness | 20 | 40 |
| Elementary Mathematics | 20 | 40 |
| English / Hindi | 20 | 40 |
The paper has 80 objective questions carrying 160 marks in 60 minutes. A wrong answer deducts 0.25 mark. Questions are at matriculation level. The notification specifies English, Hindi and 13 regional languages for the CBE.
What changed?
This guide uses the GD 2026 notice, not an assumed 2027 syllabus. Later notices changed scheduling; a changed date does not establish a changed subject syllabus.
Subject-wise syllabus
- Reasoning: analogies, similarities/differences, spatial visualisation, visual memory, discrimination, observation, relationships, arithmetic reasoning, classification, series, coding and decoding.
- General awareness: current events, India and neighbouring countries, sport, history, culture, geography, economy, polity, Constitution and scientific research.
- Mathematics: number systems, whole numbers, fractions/decimals, percentages, ratio/proportion, averages, interest, profit/loss, discount, mensuration, time/distance and time/work.
- English/Hindi: basic language understanding and comprehension.
Preparation plan
Build an official-topic checklist, complete one mixed timed paper regularly and revise errors before taking the next. Rotate arithmetic and reasoning drills with language comprehension and general-awareness revision. Prioritise accuracy because wrong answers lose marks.
Scoring example
For practice, 60 correct answers and 12 wrong answers give 120 − 3 = 117 raw marks. This arithmetic example is not a predicted cut-off or a normalized score.
Exceptions and common mistakes
The physical and medical stages are separate from the written syllabus. Do not combine an old force allocation or 2025 final-result notice with the 2026 paper.
Related exam resources
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Official sources
Frequently asked questions
Is the paper 100 questions?
The 2026 notice specifies 80.
Is there negative marking?
Yes, 0.25 mark per wrong answer.