The vfa syllabus published by Kerala PSC for the Village Field Assistant post in the Revenue Department carries 100 marks in five parts: general knowledge (50), current affairs (20), simple maths and mental ability (10), general English (10) and a regional language, Malayalam, Kannada or Tamil (10). Questions are set at SSLC standard and you mark answers by darkening bubbles.
Village Field Assistants work in village offices, helping with land records, certificates and field enquiries, so the paper rewards a sound grip on Kerala's history, governance and laws. Below you get every part with its sub marks, the topics inside each, and a way to divide your study time.
Exam at a glance
Conducted by
Kerala Public Service CommissionPost
Village Field Assistant, Revenue Department, district wiseExam
One objective test, OMR basedTotal marks
100, in five partsTime
1 hour 30 minutes, as reportedNegative marking
1/3 mark for each wrong answerQualification and age
SSLC or equivalent; 18 to 36 years for general candidatesOfficial website
keralapsc.gov.in
How Kerala PSC selects Village Field Assistants
The recruitment is district wise. After you apply and submit your confirmation for the exam, you sit the OMR test. Kerala PSC then publishes a short list and a ranked list for each district, checks certificates and advises candidates against vacancies as they arise.
The detailed syllabus for the latest notification describes a single 100 mark paper. Earlier rounds of this recruitment have used a two tier route of a common prelims and then a mains, so look at the notification and your admit card to see which format applies to you.
VFA exam pattern and marks
| Part | Subject | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| I | General knowledge (11 units) | 50 |
| II | Current affairs | 20 |
| III | Simple mathematics and mental ability | 10 |
| IV | General English | 10 |
| V | Regional language: Malayalam, Kannada or Tamil | 10 |
| Total | 100 | |
Each right answer earns 1 and each error takes away 0.33, so three wrong guesses undo one right answer. Part I and Part II together make up 70 marks, which is where most of the ranking is decided.
Part I: the eleven GK units and their marks
| Unit | Marks | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| History | 5 | Kerala from the arrival of Europeans, Travancore, reform movements, the Aikya Kerala movement, Indian freedom struggle, world revolutions and the UN |
| Geography | 5 | Atmosphere, winds, seasons, global warming, maps and remote sensing; rivers, soils, crops, minerals and transport of India and Kerala |
| Economics | 5 | Five Year Plans, NITI Aayog, reforms, financial institutions, cash crops, Green Revolution |
| Indian Constitution | 5 | Preamble, citizenship, rights, duties, directive principles, key amendments, Panchayati Raj, constitutional bodies, the three lists |
| Kerala governance | 5 | State civil service, commissions, disaster management, wetland protection, employment schemes, land reforms, social security |
| Biology and public health | 6 | Human body, nutrients and deficiency diseases, communicable and lifestyle diseases, Kerala's health programmes, environment |
| Physics | 3 | Units, laws of motion, light, sound, buoyancy, gravitation, heat, work and energy |
| Chemistry | 3 | Atoms and molecules, gas laws, periodic table, metals, acids, bases and pH |
| Arts, sports, literature and culture | 5 | Kerala's art forms and institutions, major games, Malayalam literature, Jnanpith winners, journalism and cinema |
| Computer basics | 3 | Hardware, software, networks, internet services, e governance, cyber crime and cyber law |
| Important laws | 5 | Right to Information, consumer protection, laws for SC and ST communities, women and children, including POCSO |
Biology and public health is the single largest unit, and Kerala governance plus important laws add 10 marks that many candidates underprepare.
Parts II to V in the vfa syllabus
Current affairs (20)
Recent events in Kerala, India and the world. The syllabus does not break this part down, so follow a monthly round up of state schemes, appointments, awards, sports and science news for the year before your exam.
Simple mathematics and mental ability (10)
Maths (5): numbers, fractions and decimals, percentage, gain and loss, interest, ratio, speed, work done, averages, exponents, mensuration and progressions. Mental ability (5): number and alphabet sequences, sign substitution, analogies, picking the misfit, coding, relations within a family, directions, clock and calendar problems and clerical ability.
General English (10)
Grammar (5): sentence types, articles, agreement, modals, question tags, tenses, prepositions, reported speech, voice and degrees of comparison. Vocabulary (5): plurals, gender, collective nouns, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms, antonyms, phrasal verbs, foreign phrases, one word substitutes, spelling, idioms and abbreviations.
Regional language (10)
Word purity, sentence correction, translation, one word substitutes, synonyms, antonyms, idioms and proverbs, gender, number and joining or splitting words. The Kannada and Tamil options cover the same kind of grammar for candidates from those language groups.
Ten weeks, ordered by where the marks sit
- Weeks 1 to 3: Kerala history, the Constitution and Kerala governance (15 marks). Keep a chart of reform leaders and their movements.
- Weeks 4 and 5: biology and public health, physics and chemistry (12 marks) from SCERT Class 8 to 10 textbooks.
- Week 6: important laws and computer basics (8 marks). Learn the year and main sections of each act on the list.
- Weeks 7 and 8: geography, economics, and arts and literature (15 marks).
- Every day: 15 maths and reasoning questions, 10 English items, 10 Malayalam items, and twenty minutes of current affairs.
- Weeks 9 and 10: full 100 question mocks under timed conditions, plus revision of weak units.
Textbooks and the PSC syllabus file
For depth, the SCERT Kerala books used in Classes 8, 9 and 10 are right for the social science and science units. Add a basic Malayalam grammar book and a school level English grammar. The detailed syllabus is published as a PDF on the Kerala PSC site: Village Field Assistant detailed syllabus. The commission notes that questions can also come from other topics at the post's qualification level, and that not every listed topic will appear.
If you are weighing other state level tests, browse the state exams section, the VAO syllabus for a similar village level post in another state, and the eligibility checker.
Frequently asked questions
What does VFA mean in Kerala PSC notifications?
VFA stands for Village Field Assistant, a post in the Kerala Revenue Department filled district wise through Kerala PSC.
How many marks is the VFA exam?
The detailed syllabus totals 100 marks: GK 50, current affairs 20, maths and mental ability 10, English 10 and regional language 10.
Does the VFA paper have negative marks?
Yes. On Kerala PSC objective papers a mistake costs 0.33, and leaving an item untouched gives zero.
What qualification is needed for Village Field Assistant?
A pass in SSLC or an equivalent qualification. The general age limit reported is 18 to 36; reserved communities get extra years under Kerala rules.
Can I answer the language part in Tamil or Kannada?
The syllabus lists Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil for Part V. Check the notification and question paper instructions on how the language option works for your district.
Which part of the VFA syllabus carries the most marks?
General knowledge, with 50 marks across eleven units. Within it, biology and public health has 6 marks, the largest single unit.