WBCS Preliminary Exam Syllabus and Marks Distribution

WBCS Prelims:

The current trend of setting the GS paper in the WBCS Preliminary Exam, candidates have no option but to bank upon chosen optional subjects while making reasonable amount of preparation for all areas of GS. Besides, it is wise to prepare these areas from the view-point of the WBCS Main Examination. The areas to be taken care of are Modern India, Polity, Indian Economy, Indian Geography, Current Events and General Science.
One of the major problems encountered by the WBCS candidates is due to the vastness of the terrain of the GS Prelims. It can be resolved by dividing the areas into - Core areas, Important areas and Optional areas.

CORE AREAS:

Current Affairs , Indian Polity and Modern Indian history must form the foundation of your preparation on which no compromises should be made. Not only the majority of questions in prelims are asked from these areas but they also form significant portion of Mains G.S. Paper. The question paper analysis of last 4 years shows that current affairs section is getting more and more important every year. This makes regular reading and compilation of newspapers indispensable .Various competition magazine are not at all sufficient; they can only supplement your daily self-made newspaper notes.

IMPORTANT AREAS:

After the core areas, next on the list of priority are Indian Economy, Geography and Ancient & Medieval history. In case of Geography, physical geography especially Indian physical geography is very important. Economics along with basic concepts, study of Economic Survey and relevant chapters of INDIA Year Book would be helpful.

OPTIONAL AREAS:

These are those tricky areas such as Science and Technology etc. which on ultimate cost-benefit analysis should come later on the list of priorities. Obviously the academic background of the student would play an important role in it. For students having a non-science background, there is a note of caution. The analysis of previous papers points to the fact that the questions related to these areas are becoming more specialized and less general. Hence it is advisable to do only basic minimum on these areas. Also it should be kept in mind that you would be able to attempt questions successfully only if you had revised these areas thoroughly. For this NCERT unto 10th standard would be suffice.

Same is true for General Mental Ability wherein questions are becoming tougher year after year. Here student should analyze his/her own strengths and weaknesses. For those who are not comfortable with mental ability can put it last on his/her list of priorities.

The questions in the Preliminary examination are objective in nature. Therefore, general tendency to do intelligent guesswork when you don’t know the precise answer.

The WBCS Preliminary Examination will consist of only one paper, viz., a paper on “General Studies”. The paper will be of an objective type consisting of 200 multiple-choice questions. The paper will carry 200 marks and will be of 2½ hours duration. The standard of the paper will be of the level of knowledge as expected of a graduate of any faculty of a recognized University. The paper will include questions covering the following fields of knowledge:
(i) English Composition : 25 Marks
(ii) General Science : 25 Marks
(iii) Current events of National & International Importance : 25 Marks
(iv) History of India : 25 Marks
(v) Geography of India with special reference to West Bengal : 25 Marks
(vi) Indian Polity and Economy: 25 Marks
(vii) Indian National Movement: 25 Marks
(viii) General Mental Ability: 25 Marks