CET Graduation Level 2026: Exam Pattern, Marking, Eligibility and Strategy
This chapter maps the Common Eligibility Test (CET) at Graduation Level, which the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board (RSSB) announced in Advertisement No. 09/2026. It covers the paper's structure, the marking question on which the sources disagree, eligibility and the calendar as reported, and a planning method that works under either marking rule. The active RSSB notice always controls.
KarmSakha preparation topics covered
- What the CET is, and how its score is used
- The paper: 150 objective questions, 300 marks, three hours
- The marking rule: the 2024 scheme, the 2026 reports and the 2024 reversal
- Break-even arithmetic for guessing under a one-third deduction
- Eligibility, age, qualifying marks and score validity as reported
- The 2026 calendar and the September revision of the exam dates
- Telling the graduation-level CET from the 12th-level CET
- Allocating study time across nine subject blocks, and an error log
What the CET Graduation Level is, and what it is not
The CET is a screening examination that RSSB runs for a group of recruitment posts. Instead of holding a separate first-round test for each recruitment, the board uses one common objective test, and the result decides whether a candidate may proceed to the main recruitment examination for a post. The graduation-level CET is the version for candidates who hold a bachelor's degree or its equivalent, and its advertisement is numbered 09/2026. The screening stage is the only stage this chapter covers, because the post-specific examinations are announced separately.
A pass does not secure a job. Reports on the 2026 cycle describe the CET score as used for eligibility and shortlisting, not for final selection. Qualifying makes a candidate eligible to sit the main recruitment examination for a chosen post, and the final selection comes from that examination and its own rules. The target for this test is therefore a qualifying score, measured against the qualifying mark that the notice sets. This book does not state a cut-off, because none was confirmed in the sources read.
Keep two questions apart. The CET asks whether you clear the qualifying line. The post advertisements that follow ask whether you are selected for a vacancy. The sources read for this edition do not give a confirmed count of posts or vacancies under this test, so the book does not state one. Those figures sit in the separate post advertisements, which should be read when published. A candidate who plans only for the CET has not yet planned for selection.
Paper structure, time and the answer sheet
Reports on the 2026 notice describe the graduation-level paper as 150 objective (multiple-choice) questions carrying 300 marks, taken in three hours in an offline, OMR-based mode. Each question is therefore worth 2 marks, since 300 divided by 150 is 2. The 2024 scheme record gives the same 150 questions, 300 marks and three hours, which is why this book treats that structure as the baseline. The two records agree on the structure and differ on the marking rule, which section three covers. The table compares them.
The average time per question is 180 minutes divided by 150 questions, which is 1.2 minutes. An average is not a target for each question: one hard item can take four minutes while an easy one takes thirty seconds. Set checkpoints instead: at 60 minutes, the average pace implies about 50 questions attempted or reviewed, and at 120 minutes about 100. If you are behind, skip faster rather than finish the item you are stuck on. A checkpoint tells you where you stand; a stopwatch on every item only costs time.
Answers are recorded by filling circles on an OMR sheet. One report describes five printed options (A to E) with a rule for unmarked questions. That detail is not corroborated in the sources read, so this book does not state it, and the number of options is as printed in the notice. The practice items here use four options. A second report, also unconfirmed, describes disqualification if more than a tenth of the questions are left without a marked circle. Read the notice's answer-sheet instructions rather than any summary, including this one.
| Feature | 2026 reports | 2024 scheme record |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | 150 objective | 150 |
| Total marks | 300 | 300 |
| Marks per question | 2 (300 divided by 150) | 2 (300 divided by 150) |
| Duration | Three hours | Three hours |
| Mode | Offline, OMR-based | Not stated in the record read |
| Negative marking | One-third of a question's marks per wrong answer (reported) | Not applied (per the record) |
The marking question: the 2024 scheme, the 2026 reports and the break-even arithmetic
The sources disagree on marking, and the disagreement changes how you should prepare. The RSSB scheme for 2024 states that negative marking will not be applied, and that test was held on 27 and 28 September 2024. The final 2024 position came after a reversal. A Patrika report dated 23 August 2024 says the board's notice of 6 August 2024 had provided for one-third of a mark to be deducted for each wrong answer, and that the board then decided no negative marking would be kept. The reversal rests on one news report, while the 2024 scheme position rests on the RSSB record checked on 18 July 2026, so the two are weighed differently.
For the 2026 notice, several secondary reports say that one-third of a question's marks is deducted per wrong answer, and a Careers360 Hindi headline says negative marking was introduced in the 2026 cycle. Their wording agrees, but they are all secondary. The official PDF of Advertisement No. 09/2026 could not be reached when this edition was prepared, so the 2026 rule is reported, not confirmed. Until the notice is read, plan under the deduction, since that plan costs little if the deduction is later dropped.
Under the reported rule, a correct answer on a 2-mark question gives 2 marks, and a wrong one costs one-third of 2, which is 0.67 marks. A blind guess among four options is right one time in four, so its expected value is 0.25 × 2 − 0.75 × (2/3), which is zero. Among five options the chance is one in five, and the expected value is about −0.13 marks. Under this rule, a blind guess among four options gains nothing on average, and one among five loses marks on average.
Elimination changes the sum. With one option removed, a guess is right one time in three, and its expected value is about +0.22 marks. So attempt a question when you can eliminate at least one option and have a reason for the remaining choice, and skip a question you could only guess blindly. If the notice confirms no deduction, a guess costs nothing and every question you can reach should be attempted. Practise elimination on each timed set, and log every lucky guess so that a right answer by chance does not look like mastery.
| Source | Date | What it says | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSSB scheme record, 2024 scheme | Record checked 18 July 2026 | 150 questions, 300 marks, three hours; negative marking will not be applied | Official record; PDF not reachable on 8 October 2026 |
| Patrika (Hindi) report | 23 August 2024 | The 6 August 2024 notice provided a one-third deduction; the board later dropped it | News report with dated details |
| Secondary reports on Advertisement No. 09/2026 | 2026 | One-third of a question's marks deducted per wrong answer | Secondary; not checked against the PDF |
| Careers360 Hindi headline | 2026 cycle | Negative marking introduced for the CET | Headline only; article body not checked |
Eligibility, age and qualifying marks as reported
The reports agree on the core qualification: a bachelor's degree or equivalent from a recognised university, in any stream. Final-year candidates are reported as eligible if they will hold the degree by a date the notice sets. One report words this as 'by the time of the main exam', so the wording differs across sources. The notice's own date controls. A final-year student should compare the date printed in the notice with the date the degree will be completed, instead of assuming that the result will arrive in time.
The age limit is reported as 18 to 40 years, counted as on 1 January 2027, with relaxations for reserved categories and some other groups. The relaxation years are in the notice's table, and the sources read do not agree on them, so this book does not list them. Age is counted on the reference date, not on the day of application or the day of the exam, so a candidate who turns 40 after 1 January 2027 is still counted at 39 on that date.
Qualifying marks are reported as 40 per cent for General candidates, the figure most sources share. For SC and ST candidates the 2026 reports give 35 per cent, while one report from the 2024 cycle gave 30 per cent, so the reserved-category figure is unconfirmed. The sources read do not settle how the 40 per cent figure applies to OBC and EWS candidates either. Score validity is reported as three years from the date the result is declared. One listing gives a shorter validity for the 12th-level test, so do not carry one test's rule over to the other.
| Criterion | Reported position | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Qualification | Bachelor's degree or equivalent, any stream, from a recognised university | Consistent across reports |
| Final-year candidates | Allowed if the degree is completed by the date the notice sets | Wording varies; check the notice |
| Age | 18 to 40 years as on 1 January 2027, with relaxations | Consistent; per-category years not listed |
| Qualifying marks, General | 40 per cent | Shared by several reports |
| Qualifying marks, SC and ST | 35 per cent (2026 reports); 30 per cent (one 2024-cycle report) | Unconfirmed |
| Score validity | Three years from the date of result declaration | Reported; not confirmed in the notice |
The 2026 calendar: what has closed and what is scheduled
Advertisement No. 09/2026 was released in early July 2026; the reports give either 1 or 2 July. Online applications ran from 4 July to 2 August 2026, closing at 11:59 PM on the last day. That window had closed before this edition was prepared on 8 October 2026. Only candidates who completed the online application can sit the test, so the first task for any reader is to confirm their application status on the RSSB portal rather than to assume that they applied.
The exam dates changed after the first calendar. Articles from June 2026 still show 23 to 25 October 2026 for the 12th-level test and 1 to 3 December 2026 for the graduation-level test. A revised RSSB calendar, reported in articles dated 29 September 2026, moved the 12th-level test to 1 to 3 December 2026 and the graduation-level test to 16 to 18 January 2027. The reports attribute the change to local body and Panchayat elections, which affected October examinations. The revised dates are marked tentative, so the notice and the RSSB press note on upcoming exam dates control.