A police exam syllabus for constable posts usually tests four things: general knowledge with a strong local flavour, reasoning, basic maths and a language, most often Hindi or the state language. Defence entries such as NDA, CDS and Agniveer use their own papers, with more maths and English, and every route ends in a physical test and a medical check.
This page lines up the main police and armed forces entries by qualification and stages, shows what the written papers contain, and explains how to prepare for the written test and the physical test at the same time.
Exam at a glance
Conducting bodies
State police recruitment boards, Staff Selection Commission, UPSC, the Army, Navy and Air ForceLevels
10th (SSC GD, Agniveer GD), 12th (state constable, NDA, Air Force and Navy Agniveer), graduate (SI, CDS, AFCAT)Written test
Objective; GK, reasoning, maths, language, and science for some defence postsPhysical stages
Running, measurement and medical tests; SSB interview for officer entriesNegative marking
In most papers; the size differs by examArmy recruitment site
Police exam syllabus and defence entries compared
| Exam | Who can apply | Stages |
|---|---|---|
| UP Police constable | 12th pass | Written test, documents, PST, PET, medical |
| Rajasthan Police constable | Check the latest notification | Written test, physical tests, documents |
| MP Police constable | Check the latest notification | Written test, physical tests, documents |
| Bihar Police constable | 12th pass | Written test, physical test |
| Delhi Police constable | 12th pass | CBT, physical endurance and measurement test |
| SSC GD (CAPF constable) | 10th pass, age 18 to 23 | CBT, PET, PST, medical |
| UP SI | Graduate | Written test, physical tests, documents |
| Army Agniveer | 10th for GD; 12th for technical and clerk | Online CEE, rally with physical tests, medical |
| NDA | 12th (maths and physics for Air Force and Navy wings) | Written exam, SSB, medical |
| CDS | Graduate, with degree conditions by academy | Written exam, SSB, medical |
| AFCAT | Graduate, with maths and physics at 12th for flying | Online test, Air Force selection board, medical |
Constable syllabus: what the written paper covers
State constable papers look alike from one state to the next. The UP Police constable paper, for instance, packs 150 objective questions worth 300 marks into four parts: GK, Hindi, maths and mental ability, and reasoning with IQ and mental aptitude. Recent papers gave two hours and took 0.5 off for each wrong answer, but reports on the newest notice differ on both the time and the penalty, so read them in your own notice. Your rank comes from this paper; the physical tests only need to be passed.
- General knowledge: Indian history and national movement, the Constitution, geography, economy, science in daily life, current affairs, and a large share on the state itself: its districts, rivers, culture and schemes.
- Reasoning and mental ability: mirror and water images, analogies, odd one out, coding, family relations, direction tests, figure counting and simple puzzles.
- Numerical ability: number system, simplification, averages, percentages, ratio, gain and loss, time and work, basic mensuration.
- Language: Hindi grammar in north Indian states (sandhi, samas, synonyms, opposites, idioms, comprehension) or the state language elsewhere.
State police constable syllabus: Rajasthan, Karnataka, JKSSB and others
The police constable syllabus of Rajasthan gives Rajasthan's history, art, culture and geography a big share of the paper, next to reasoning, computer basics and general awareness. Karnataka's police run their own written test for civil and armed constables, so the police constable syllabus of Karnataka should be read straight from the KSP notice. The JKSSB constable syllabus for Jammu and Kashmir Police is set by the J&K Services Selection Board; expect the same core plus questions on the Union Territory.
Because each board writes its own scheme, use this rule of thumb: about half the work is the shared core of reasoning, maths and national GK, and the other half is the state layer. Start with the core, and switch to state specific GK once the notice gives you the exact list.
Army syllabus and other defence papers
NDA has two papers of two and a half hours each: a Mathematics paper (120 questions, 300 marks) and a General Ability Test (150 questions, 600 marks). The GAT gives 200 marks to English and 400 to a wide GK section that takes in physics, chemistry, biology basics, Indian history, geography and recent events. Reports on past results say a score under a quarter of either paper means you are out regardless of the total, and the SSB that follows carries another 900 marks.
Army Agniveer starts with an online common entrance exam. As reported for recent notices, the General Duty paper runs for 60 minutes, with 50 questions worth 100 marks in total, on GK, basic science, maths and logical reasoning. Technical and clerk categories get their own papers, with physics and chemistry for technical and English for clerk posts; check the question count, marks and time for those posts in the current notice.
CDS sets three papers for candidates aiming at the Military, Naval and Air Force academies: an English paper, a GK paper and an elementary maths paper. The Officers Training Academy entry keeps only the first two. AFCAT is a single online test of verbal ability, numerical ability, reasoning, military aptitude and general awareness, with an extra engineering knowledge test for technical branches.
Featured pages in this section
- UP police constable syllabus: four sections and physical standards
- UP police constable cut off: category wise normalised marks
- UP police constable previous papers: question styles by section
- UP SI syllabus: law, Hindi, numerical and reasoning papers
- UP SI cut off: how the merit list is drawn
- UP home guard syllabus: what the selection tests
- NDA syllabus: maths and GAT topic lists
- NDA eligibility: age window, wings and 12th subjects
- NDA previous papers: how to practise maths at speed
- CDS syllabus: English, GK and maths
- CDS eligibility: degree rules by academy
- AFCAT syllabus: online test and EKT
- Agniveer syllabus: CEE for every Army category
- Agniveer cut off: what decides the rally call
- Air Force X group syllabus: science subjects test
- Air Force Y group syllabus: other subjects test
- Navy SSR syllabus: science, maths, English and GK
- CRPF syllabus: constable and tradesman routes
- CISF syllabus: written and physical tests
- Forest guard syllabus: state forest department exams
Preparing for the written and physical tests together
Every recruitment season, some candidates top the written test yet miss the running time, while others breeze through the run and fall short on paper. Train both from the first week.
- Mornings for running. Build up slowly to the distance your board sets, and time yourself once a week against its limit.
- Evenings for the paper. Give reasoning and maths an hour a day; they are the most scoring sections in constable papers.
- State GK on cards. Write districts, rivers, forts, fairs and schemes of your state on small cards and revise them in short breaks.
- Language practice. Ten grammar questions a day keep the Hindi or state language section safe.
- Officer entries. For NDA and CDS, practise English and maths at speed, and start reading about the SSB process early.
Constable and army syllabus in Hindi
Below is the police syllabus in Hindi, which also sums up the constable syllabus in Hindi and the army syllabus in Hindi for quick revision.
पुलिस कांस्टेबल की लिखित परीक्षा आम तौर पर चार हिस्सों में बँटी होती है: सामान्य ज्ञान, सामान्य हिंदी, गणित और तर्कशक्ति। सामान्य ज्ञान वाले हिस्से में प्रदेश से जुड़े प्रश्न, जैसे ज़िले, नदियाँ, लोक कला और सरकारी योजनाएँ, अच्छी संख्या में आते हैं। उत्तर प्रदेश पुलिस का पेपर 150 प्रश्नों और 300 अंकों का होता है; समय और नेगेटिव मार्किंग अपने नोटिस में देखें। पेपर पास करने पर शारीरिक मानक, शारीरिक दक्षता और मेडिकल की जाँच होती है। सेना की अग्निवीर परीक्षा में सामान्य ज्ञान, विज्ञान, गणित और तर्क पूछे जाते हैं, और NDA में गणित तथा सामान्य योग्यता के दो पेपर होते हैं।
Frequently asked questions
Do all states use one police constable syllabus?
The core of GK, reasoning, maths and language is common, but every board adds questions on its own state and sets its own number of questions and marks. Some boards also add a computer basics section.
What is the army syllabus for Agniveer GD?
It is an online paper of 50 questions carrying 100 marks, to be finished in an hour, covering GK, basic science, maths and logical reasoning at about class 10 level. Check the current notice for the negative marking rule.
Does the physical test add to my marks in police exams?
In the UP Police constable exam the physical tests are only qualifying and the merit list comes from the written paper. Some other boards do award marks for physical events, so read your notice.
Which defence exam can I take after 12th?
NDA is the main officer entry after 12th. You can also try Army Agniveer, Air Force Agniveervayu (X and Y groups) and Navy Agniveer, depending on your subjects.
Is there negative marking in police exams?
Usually yes. Recent UP Police constable papers deducted 0.5 marks per wrong answer, SSC GD deducts 0.25 and NDA takes away one third of each wrong question's value. Rules differ by board.
Can I write the police exam in Hindi?
In Hindi speaking states the paper is usually bilingual and a Hindi language section is compulsory. Other states offer their own language along with English.