Odisha Civil Services Exam 2018: Dates, Eligibility, Vacancy and Exam Pattern

Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) has invited applications for recruitment to the posts and services coming under the Odisha Civil Services (Group A and Group B). The eligible candidates can apply to the posts between  03.09.2018   to 03.10.2018 (Note: 05.10.2018 is the last date for payment of examination   fees).

Important Dates

OPSC Vacancy Details

Eligibility Criteria for Odisha Civil Services Exam 2018

(i)  Citizenship

A candidate must be a citizen of India.

(ii)  Age limits 

A candidate must be under 32 years and over 21 years of age as on the 1st January, 2018, i.e. he/she must not have been born earlier than 2nd January, 1986 and not later than 1st January, 1997.  

Age relaxation shall be as per Government Rules, prescribed for the purpose.

Note: Candidates who have appeared in the OCSE-2015 or OCSE-2016 or OCSE-2017 but are otherwise ineligible to appear/compete in the OCSE-2018, on account of attainment of upper age limit or exhaustion of the attempts prescribed under the Rule, shall be allowed one more additional compensatory attempt for appearing in the OCSE-2018. 

(iii) Educational Qualification 

1. A  candidate  must  hold a  Bachelor’s  Degree  from  any recognised University 

2. He/she must be able to read, write and speak Odia and have-

(a) Passed  Middle School  Examination with  Odia as a Language

subject; or

(b) Passed HSC or equivalent examination with Odia as medium of

examination in non-language subject; or

(c) Passed in Odia as a language subject in the final examination of

Class-VII from a School or Educational Institution recognized by the Government of Odisha or the Central Government; or

(d) Passed a test in Odia in Middle English School Standard conducted

by the School & Mass Education Department of the Government of Odisha.

Selection Criteria for Odisha Civil Services Exam 2018

Candidates will be selected on the basis of their performance in Preliminary Exam, Main Exam and Personality Test and Interview.

I] Preliminary Exam

The preliminary examination shall consist of two papers of objective types (Multiple Choice  Questions) and each paper shall be of two hours duration carrying 200 marks each.

The General Studies Paper-II of the Odisha Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.  A candidate has to secure a minimum of 33% in the Paper-II of preliminary examination so as  to evaluate Paper-I of the preliminary examination. 

PAPER – I

(1) Current events of National and International importance;

(ii) History of India and Indian National Movement;

(iii) Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of

India and the World;

(iv) Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati

Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

(v) Economic and Social Development-sustainable Development,  Poverty,

Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

(vi) General Issues  on Environmental Ecology,  Bio-diversity and Climate

Change that do not require subject specialization, and

(vii) General Science.

PAPER – II

(i) Comprehension;

(ii) Interpersonal Skills including communication skills;

(iii) Logical Reasoning and Analytic ability;

(iv) Decision Making and Problem Solving;

(v) General Mental Ability;

(vi) Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude)

(Class-X level). Data Interpretation (Charts, Graphs, Tables, Data Sufficiency etc. – Class-X level); and

(vii) English Language Comprehension Skills (Class-X level)

II] Mains Examinations

The scope of the syllabi for optional subject papers for the Main Examination is broadly of the Honours Degree level, i.e., a level higher than the Bachelors Degree and lower than the Masters Degree. In the case of Engineering and Law, the level corresponds to the Bachelors’ Degree.

The Main Examination shall consist of the following papers and each paper shall be of three hours duration.

Compulsory papers – 1400 marks

Paper – I   Odia Language 300 Marks

Paper – II  English 300 Marks

Paper – III English Essay 200 Marks

Paper – IV General Studies-I 300 Marks

Paper – V General Studies-II 300 Marks

Optional Papers

[Two subjects to be selected from the list of Optional subjects, each subject will have two papers and each paper carrying 300 marks]

(Paper VI,VII,VIII & IX) – 1200 marks

III] Personality Test/Interview

The candidate shall be interviewed by a Board to be constituted by the O.P.S.C. for the purpose.

The said Board will have before them a record of his career. He will be asked questions on matters of general interest.

The object of the interview will be to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for a career in public service. The object of test shall be to judge the mental caliber of a candidate, his intellectual qualities as well as social traits and his interest in current affairs. Further some of the qualities (to be judged will be) like mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, balance of judgment,  variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity, are to be judged by the said Board.

How to apply for OPSC Odisha Civil Services Exam 2018

Candidates  must apply online  through the Website  of the OPSC http://opsconline.gov.in.  Applications received through any other mode would not be accepted and summarily be rejected. Candidates can apply to the post through the online mode on or before 3 October 2018.

Candidates are advised to take a printout of the finally submitted online application for future reference.