WBCS EXAM PREPARATION

WBCS examination is a competitive exam conducted by the Public Service Commission (PSC) of West Bengal every year for recruiting officers at various levels for the Government of West Bengal.  The process of selection of successful candidates is completed in two phases -- the first phase of screening is conducted through the WBCS Preliminary examination comprising of Multiple Choice Questions  of 200 marks. The second phase consists of the Main Examination and the Interview.  The successful candidates in the Preliminary Examination are invited to write the WBCS Main examinations. The WBCS Main Exam is comprised of answering Compulsory Papers in Multiple Choice Question format along with the Optional Papers in the subjective writing test format. The candidates who pass the Main Exam are invited for the Interview.  

Understanding WBCS Preliminary Examinations

The PSC of West Bengal tests the general scholastic knowledge and general awareness of candidates through a paper called 'General Studies' in the WBCS preliminary examination. According to the PSC, "The standard of the paper will be of the level knowledge as expected of a graduate of any faculty of a recognized University".  This paper consists of 200 multiple choice questions mostly from 8 broad subjects with a pre-defined weight for each section.  Time allotted for completing the exam is 2 hours and 3o minutes.  The weight of each section in the General Studies paper is given below: 

  1. English Composition  (Idioms, Antonyms & Synonyms,  Phrasal verbs, Vocabulary)                   25     marks
  2. General Science  (General understanding of basic science and from every day observations)     25     marks
  3. History of India ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   25    marks
  4. Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal   (Physical, Social and Economic)       25     marks
  5. Indian Polity and Economy ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------25     marks
  6. Indian National Movement---------------------------------------------------------------------------------25     marks
  7. Current Events ( National and International)-------------------------------------------------------------25     marks
  8. General Mental Ability---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25    marks                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                                      TOTAL       200 marks

 

Remember, the main purpose of  the WBCS Preliminary test is to screen candidates for the WBCS Main Examinations and the marks obtained by the successful candidates in the Preliminary examination do not influence in the final selection of candidates.  The number of candidates selected for the WBCS Main examinations varies from year to year depending upon the number of vacancies in the services.  The details of the vacancies are duly announced by the West Bengal PSC. 

WBCS Main Examination

Since 2014,  Multiple Choice Questions for Compulsory papers have been introduced in the WBCS Main Examination. The complete syllabus of the Compulsory papers includes Geography, Indian Constitution, Indian Economy, Science Technology, Environment, Current Affairs, Arithmetic and General Intelligence (200X4 =800 marks). The organization of the marking scheme for the Main Exam is:

General Studies -I (200 marks)        

History        100 marks

Geography   100 marks          

General studies-II (200 marks)                        

Science and Technology        100 marks

GK and CA                              100 marks

Constitution and Indian Economy (200 marks)

Indian Constitution      100 marks

Indian Economy            100 marks

Arithmetic and Reasoning (200 marks) 

Arithmetic        100 marks

Reasoning         100 marks              

With the introduction of MCQs in the WBCS (Main) exam, mastering minute details on these subjects have become the areas of utmost importance. Remember these 800 marks is definitely and unarguably the determining factor to get a call for the Personality Test in the Office of the Public Service Commission.

WBCS is one of the toughest competitive examinations conducted by WBPSC. It is one of the few jobs where dignity, responsibility, power, and prestige perfectly blend together making the WBCS service even more lucrative and a job worth pursuing. There are  hardly any other state services that offers  all of these perks so generously at once.

To become a WBCS officer one needs to have only two things, a graduate degree in any discipline and a strong determination. The race, however,  is not a short sprint rather a marathon which needs a strategic and careful preparation.   From personal experience I noticed  that gluing strictly  to the examination syllabus and getting exposed to plenty of sample questions of good standards paid back. As a matter of the fact,  practicing  now has become an indispensable part of any comprehensive and strategized preparation.  It helps in draining out unwanted pressure from candidates to a considerable degree and renders a  psychological advantage over the ordinary candidates taking the same exam. Assimilating and more importantly retaining the colossal syllabus is a challenging task.  Forgetting is a natural part  of retention. In fact everyone forgets.  There is no reason to panic at least on this front.  The only remedy is to go for multiple revisions before the exam. 

 

Exambees can be a useful resource from the point of view of exam preparation. It is a huge storehouse of questions meticulously prepared by experts of diverse subjects after an in depth study of relevant study materials. Questions prepared are all similar to the target examination, carefully sorted from previous years and extensive numbers of unique questions have been incorporated. Taking the mock tests devised by Exambees hardens a candidate before the examination date by the real time testing of candidate’s ability and present state of preparation. Securing a critical a mark in the mock test can ensure one’s success in the target examination. Yes, one can assuredly crack WBCS Executive (Etc.) Examination, Preliminary by sincerely taking mock test papers prepared by Exambees.