The Assam Public Service Commission (APSC), based in Guwahati, recruits for Assam's state civil services and many other gazetted posts. Its best-known examination is the Combined Competitive Examination (CCE), which fills posts such as Assam Civil Service (Junior Grade) and Assam Police Service (Junior Grade). Many Class-III posts, by contrast, have been recruited through a separate State Level Recruitment Commission.
This guide explains what APSC does, where the current CCE stands, the eligibility rules (including Assam-specific conditions on residence and language), the examination scheme, and a checklist for the next cycle.
Checked against notices and advertisements on apsc.nic.in on 9 October 2026. Most APSC documents are scanned images; we read them from the page images.
What APSC recruits for
APSC publishes numbered advertisements each year. In 2026 these included the CCE, Class-I (Junior Grade) posts in the Home Guards, Junior Engineer (Electrical) in the Public Works (Building and National Highway) Department, posts in the Directorate of Geology and Mining, Assistant Manager and Junior Manager posts in the Assam Power Generation Corporation, Veterinary Officers, and a Research Assistant post in Labour Welfare. Each advertisement sets its own qualifications and dates.
Class-III posts have been recruited through the State Level Recruitment Commission. For example, its October 2023 advertisement, issued under the Assam Direct Recruitment Commission for Analogous Posts in Class-III and Class-IV Act, 2021, covered 7,600 Class-III posts (tentative). Check the commission named in each advertisement before you apply.
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Continue with Document Verification Checklist – Central and Defence Recruitment₹299 — coaching के एक महीने से काफ़ी सस्ता / far cheaper than a month of coachingThe current CCE: where it stands
APSC's Advertisement No. 01/2026, dated 10 April 2026, is for the Combined Competitive Examination, 2025 (the year in the title refers to the examination cycle, not the advertisement date).
| Step | Official position |
|---|---|
| Vacancies | 78 |
| Online applications | 13 April to 3 May 2026 |
| Preliminary examination | Held on 5 July 2026 |
| Preliminary result | Declared on 30 July 2026 |
| Main examination | 9–11 October 2026 at the Guwahati centre (notification dated 5 September 2026) |
The 78 posts include Assam Civil Service (Junior Grade) 45, Assam Police Service (Junior Grade) 6, Assistant Employment Officer 8, Inspector of Labour 5, Sub-Registrar 4 and District Transport Officer 3, among others. Fourteen posts are reserved for women and three for persons with benchmark disabilities. When we checked, APSC had not published an advertisement for a CCE 2026 cycle.
The previous cycle, CCE 2024, finished with a final result in February 2026, which gives a sense of the time from advertisement to selection: that cycle's advertisement was dated March 2025.
Eligibility under Advertisement No. 01/2026
- Age: not less than 21 and not more than 38 years on 1 January 2025. The advertisement relaxes the upper limit by 5 years for SC, ST(P) and ST(H) candidates, 3 years for OBC/MOBC candidates and 10 years for persons with benchmark disabilities.
- Education: a degree from a university incorporated by an Act of the central or a state legislature, or an equivalent qualification as defined in the advertisement.
- Assam-specific conditions. The advertisement states that a candidate:
- should be able to speak Assamese or another official or associate official language of the state, or any of the tribal languages of the state;
- should be registered in a District Employment Office of Assam; and
- must be an original inhabitant of Assam.
These conditions are stricter than in many other states, so check them before you invest time in preparation.
Worked age check (illustrative): a general-category candidate born on 15 June 1988 was 36 on 1 January 2025 and within the limit of 38. One born on 15 June 1985 was 39 and outside it, while an OBC/MOBC candidate with the same birth date would be within the relaxed limit of 41.
The examination scheme
Preliminary examination (objective):
- Two papers, General Studies I and General Studies II, each of 200 marks and two hours.
- Paper II is qualifying, with a minimum of 33%.
- Each question has four options, and one quarter of the question's marks is deducted for a wrong answer.
- About 11 to 12 times the number of vacancies are admitted to the Main Examination.
Main examination:
| Part | Marks |
|---|---|
| Paper 1: Essay | 250 |
| Papers 2–6: General Studies (250 each) | 1,250 |
| Interview / Personality Test | 180 |
| Total | 1,680 |
Each written paper lasts three hours. Candidates are called for the interview in the ratio of 1:3 against the vacancies.
Worked example: what the 33% rule means
Illustrative only. Paper II carries 200 marks, so the qualifying line is 0.33 × 200 = 66 marks. If each question carries 2 marks and a wrong answer costs a quarter of that (0.5 marks), then:
- 38 right and 12 wrong: 76 − 6 = 70, which qualifies.
- 35 right and 10 wrong: 70 − 5 = 65, which falls one mark short.
The number of questions per paper is not stated in the advertisement, so confirm the marks per question from the question booklet in your year; the method stays the same.
A checklist for the next cycle
Original inhabitant and District Employment Office registration documents ready (Y/N):
Language I can speak among the state's official, associate official or tribal languages:
Age on the reference date in the advertisement, and any relaxation:
Paper II practice: margin above the 33% line
General Studies notes covering Assam as well as national topics
Date I last checked apsc.nic.in
APSC's "Tentative Exam Calendar" page returned an error when we checked, so rely on dated notifications for exam dates.
For general state PSC preparation, see our state PSC preparation guide, and use the current affairs hub for dated notes.
Frequently asked questions
Can candidates from outside Assam apply for the APSC CCE?
The 2026 advertisement requires candidates to be original inhabitants of Assam and registered in a District Employment Office of Assam, so most candidates from outside the state will not meet the conditions.
Is there negative marking in the APSC prelims?
Yes. One quarter of the marks for a question is deducted for each wrong answer.
When is the next APSC CCE notification?
APSC had not published a CCE 2026 advertisement by 9 October 2026. Watch the advertisements page on apsc.nic.in.