Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) conducts Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) annually. 65th CCE is underway with the Mains examination starting from 4th August 2020. Aspirants preparing for CCE examination should keep BPSC syllabus handy to prepare well for the examination. The syllabus is always released with the official notification every year. For 65th CCE, the notification was released in July 2019.
Aspirants should know the BPSC exam pattern before knowing the important topics of the exams in detail:
BPSC CCE Prelims Exam Pattern:
| Number of Papers conducted in CCE Prelims | There is only one paper called the ‘General Studies’ in the Prelims stage of the BPSC Exam |
| The duration of the CCE Prelims GS | The GS paper is of two hours |
| Marks allotted to CCE Prelims General Studies Paper | GS paper is of 150 marks |
| Nature of the Exam | BPSC CCE Prelims is of objective type |
| The negative marking in PCS Prelims | There is no negative marking in the CCE prelims stage unlike many other PSC exams |
| The minimum qualifying marks in CCE Prelims | The minimum qualifying marks for different categories are given below:
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BPSC CCE Mains Exam Pattern:
| Number of Papers conducted in CCE Mains | There are four papers:
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| The duration of the CCE Mains Papers | Each paper is of three hours |
| Marks allotted to each CCE Mains papers | While General Hindi is of 100 marks and is qualifying in nature, every other GS papers and optional papers are of 300 marks each |
| Nature of the Exam | CCE Mains is a subjective paper, i.e., aspirants have to write essay-type answers |
Focus Areas in CCE Syllabus
The table below mentions the important topics and sub-topics, questions from which are frequently asked in the BPSC Exam. The BPSC Syllabus mentions the subject in detail.
BPSC Prelims Syllabus and Important Topics
| Subjects | Important Sub-Topics |
| General Science | Aspirants should focus on current affairs-related science developments. |
| Events of national and international importance | Current events related to the state of Bihar and, also relevant to India and the world should be well-read |
| History of Bihar and Indian History | Aspirants should read about Bihar history starting from the Magadha Empire, Mauryan Empire, Buddhism, Chola Dynasty etc. |
| Geography | Indian Geography should be focussed at with main topics like:
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| Geography of Bihar | Topics like Bihar population, rivers, bordering states and diversity should be well-read. Important districts and their facts should be known |
| Indian Polity and Economy | Executive and Legislature make important topics. Constitutional developments are other important topics. Indian Economic Survey should be well-read for the exam. |
| Changes in the economy of Bihar post-independence | The service-oriented economy of Bihar should be well-read. |
| Indian National Movement and the Role of Bihar | All freedom struggle movements, peasants’ movements, tribal uprisings should be read with special focus on Bihar. |
| General Mental Ability | Arithmetic should be practised |
Aspirants should know the BPSC Exam Date of each year. The CCE exam dates are mentioned along with the official notification. The 66th CCE exam dates are not yet out. 65th CCE Mains exams are on 4th August 2020, 5th August 2020, and 7th August 2020. While Prelims took place on 15th October 2020.
The conclusion to be taken away by the BPSC aspirants is that they should always be updated with the notification and keep BPSC syllabus handy before starting their preparation.
Focus areas mentioned above can act as a score-booster for the aspirants and once these topics are well-versed with by the aspirants, surely, it becomes easier to crack the BPSC CCE exam.
