Haryana Written Test Pattern and How Data Questions Are Asked
This chapter explains how the HSSC Group C written test is scored and what its data questions look like, before any state figure is memorised. Every pattern rule comes from HSSC Advertisement No. 04/2026 or the CET policy reproduced inside it, and the text says where a fact rests only on secondary reporting. It also covers HCS (HPSC) general studies, for which no official notice could be checked, so every HCS statement is hedged.
KarmSakha preparation topics covered
- Pattern of the HSSC Group C written test under Advt. No. 04/2026
- The fifth-circle rule, negative marking and the clause 17 OMR traps
- Qualifying marks and extra time for benchmark-disabled candidates
- CET merit, the ten-times cap and both tie rules
- The 75:25 CET syllabus weightage and the Haryana share of it
- Appendix-C 'Haryana economy' item and the block headed GROUP-6
- HCS (HPSC) reported pattern and its verification status
- Six data-question types and the trap in each
HSSC Group C written test: the pattern at a glance
The written examination is the stage at which the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) ranks candidates who have qualified in the Common Eligibility Test (CET) for Group C posts. Clause 4 of Advertisement No. 04/2026 sets the pattern: 100 multiple-choice questions, 100 total marks and 1 hour 45 minutes. Each question has four options, and all questions are compulsory. The paper is bilingual, in English and Hindi, and offline and OMR-based, so each answer is recorded by filling a circle on the answer sheet. The advertisement is divided into numbered chapters 1 to 18; this book cites them as clauses (clause 4 is the advertisement's Chapter 4, clause 13 its Chapter 13) so that they are not confused with the chapters of this book.
Two of these numbers need care. The advertisement gives 100 questions and 100 marks but no mark value per question. The penalty for an unattempted question is stated as one mark, which is consistent with one mark per question, and every calculation in this chapter relies on that reading. Clause 7.6 gives extra time to candidates with benchmark disabilities covered by clauses 7.1 and 7.2. Clause 7.1 covers blindness, locomotor disability with both arms affected, and cerebral palsy, and allows one scribe if desired. Clause 7.2 covers the remaining categories, for whom a scribe is allowed only on the conditions it sets out. Clause 7.6 gives a compensatory 20 minutes for each hour of examination, which the advertisement states comes to 35 minutes in addition to the 105 minutes.
The advertisement was published on 6 February 2026, and online applications ran from 9 to 23 February 2026, closing at 11:59 PM. The advertisement printed 23 February 2026 as the closing date; secondary reports say the window was later reopened, so check the Commission's own website for the final dates. No fee is required from any candidate for any post. The examination date and the admit-card download date are both printed as 'will be communicated separately', so this chapter names no examination date. Applications are made only through the portal link in clause 1 of the advertisement, which is disabled after the closing time. A candidate should take the date only from the Commission's own announcement.
| Item | What the advertisement says | Clause |
|---|---|---|
| Questions and marks | 100 multiple-choice questions; 100 total marks | 4(i), 4(ii) |
| Duration | 1 hour 45 minutes (105 minutes) | 4(iii) |
| Minimum marks, general category | 50% | 4 and 5(v) |
| Minimum marks, reserved (vertical and horizontal) | 40% | 4 and 5(v) |
| Fee | None payable against any post | Important dates table |
| Examination date and admit-card download | 'Will be communicated separately' | Important dates table |
The fifth-bubble rule: where candidates lose marks without a wrong answer
The marking rule in clause 4 is the most misread rule in the test. A wrong option that has been filled carries no penalty: there shall be no negative marking for a wrong option having been filled. A wrong answer therefore costs only the mark that was not earned, which is zero. The penalty falls on the blank, not on the wrong answer, and that asymmetry is the core of the rule. A candidate who does not want to attempt a question must fill the fifth circle or bubble on the OMR sheet. The advertisement's own words are that 'failure to do so shall result in deduction of one mark', so for every unattempted question there is negative marking of minus one mark. The fifth circle therefore turns a deliberate blank into zero and an accidental blank into minus one.
The practical consequence follows from expected value. An uninformed guess among four options is correct one time in four, so its expected value is 0.25 mark: one quarter of one mark, with the other three quarters scoring zero. A deliberate blank with the fifth circle filled is worth 0. Since a wrong guess costs nothing, guessing is never worse than a deliberate blank. A candidate loses marks only by leaving a question blank without filling the fifth circle.
Three further traps sit in clause 17. Under clause 17.3, pencil should not be used, and if more than one circle is darkened for a question, that answer will not be evaluated. Under clause 17.4, smudging, scratching or erasing any place on the sheet with an eraser, nail, blade or whitener leads to cancellation of the OMR sheet and candidature, and the candidate bears sole responsibility. The scanning machine also cancels a sheet on which it detects such marks. Under clause 17.5, sheets are evaluated once, with no re-evaluation.
| Answer state | Option circle | Fifth circle | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Correct option filled | One filled | Empty | +1 |
| Wrong option filled | One filled | Empty | 0 |
| Unattempted, fifth circle filled | Empty | Filled | 0 |
| Unattempted, fifth circle empty | Empty | Empty | -1 |
| Two or more option circles darkened | More than one filled | Empty | Not evaluated (clause 17.3) |
From CET merit to the written cut-off: the selection flow
Not every candidate who qualified in the CET sits the written examination. Under clause 5(i), applications are invited on the basis of the CET merit list. Out of the candidates applying for a post, the maximum eligible to appear for the skill and/or written examination shall be ten times the total number of posts advertised. A candidate ranked below that cap is not called, however well the written test might have gone. Clause 5(ii) qualifies the cap. If the last candidate within the cap shares his CET mark with others, all candidates at that cut-off mark who have applied are entitled to be considered. The cap is therefore not a hard count, and the number appearing can exceed ten times the posts. Solved Example 4 works through a tie.
Clause 5(v) sets the minimum marks in the skill and/or written examination. A general-category candidate must secure at least 50 per cent. A reserved-category candidate, vertical or horizontal, receives a 10 per cent concession, so the minimum is 40 per cent. Clause 5(vi) then shortlists candidates on the marks obtained in the written examination. The total for this purpose is the written marks added to any other score that applies, such as NCC marks in police recruitment, which the clause gives as an example.
A separate tie rule governs the final result. Under clause 13.1, candidates with equal aggregate written or skill marks are ranked with the older candidate first. Under clause 13.2, if the date of birth is also the same, the candidate with higher marks in the CET Phase-I written examination is considered first. Clause 5(ii) decides who may sit the examination; clause 13 decides who ranks higher after it.
| Stage | Rule | Clause |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | Maximum eligible is ten times the posts advertised | 5(i) proviso |
| Tie at the cut-off | All applicants tied at the cut-off CET mark are entitled to be considered | 5(ii) |
| Minimum marks | General 50%; reserved 40% after a 10% concession | 5(v) |
| Final result tie | Older candidate first; if date of birth is also the same, higher CET Phase-I written marks | clause 13 |
The 75:25 weightage and what the Haryana share covers
The CET policy dated 31 December 2024 is reproduced in the advertisement as Appendix-D. An amendment dated 11 July 2025 is referred to but was not checked for this edition. Clause 4(1) of the policy divides the CET syllabus into two parts. The first, with 75 per cent weightage, covers General Awareness, Reasoning, quantitative ability, English and Hindi, plus computer knowledge for Group C posts. The second, with 25 per cent, covers History, Current Affairs, Literature, Geography, Environment and Culture 'etc. of Haryana'.
The second list ends with 'of Haryana', so the 25 per cent part is read as Haryana-focused across the whole list, current affairs included. The clause gives no separate rule for current affairs, and the advertisement does not say how many of the 100 questions are Haryana content. This chapter therefore assumes no split of questions. The 25 per cent is a weightage in the syllabus, not a count of questions, and this is the only reading the clause supports. Clause 4(2) sets the level: senior secondary (10+2) for Group C posts, with a proviso that Hindi and English are at Matric level. The 75:25 split and the 10+2 level govern the CET Phase-I paper, which is the qualifying stage these candidates have already cleared. The Phase-II written test described in this chapter follows the Appendix-C syllabus of the candidate's group, whose tentative weightages (for example 20:10:70 in GROUP-6) measure something else.
Appendix-C 'Haryana economy' topic: what it lists and which group carries it
Appendix-C is the subject syllabus for the written examination, printed in blocks that each begin with a GROUP heading. The block headed GROUP-6 follows GROUP-5 and ends where GROUP-7 begins. Inside it, lettered items run from A to H. Item F is a separate lettered item beside General Awareness, printed as 'F. Haryana economy', and this book uses that name. The block also carries three weightages, which the block itself calls tentative: 20 per cent for general awareness and related areas, including Haryana history and current affairs; 10 per cent for computer terminology; and 70 per cent for the subject-related syllabus. The block's note says the weightage 'is tentative & may vary'. These describe the syllabus, and the advertisement does not convert them into question counts. They are not the 75:25 CET split.
Item F sits in one group block, so a candidate's own post decides whether it applies. Clause 2 and Appendix-A list each group, its posts, category-wise bifurcation, age and minimum essential qualification. In Appendix-A, Group 6 contains one post category: Cat. No. 12, Forest Guard in the Forest Department (779 posts), so item F appears to apply to Forest Guard candidates under this advertisement. Appendix-C prints its syllabus blocks under the same GROUP numbers, but the advertisement does not state the mapping in words, so confirm it against the Appendix-C block named for your own post. The numbering is confirmed by the next block: Group 7 is Cat. No. 13 onwards (Junior Engineer posts), and the GROUP-7 syllabus opens with fluid mechanics. Candidates for other posts should read their own group block in Appendix-C. General Awareness, item A, reaches the state's economy from another side. It lists the welfare schemes run by the Government of Haryana and their provisions, and it says the test covers questions on India and its neighbouring countries, including the Economic Scene and Static Awareness. A candidate who revises only item F may miss state welfare content in item A, so the two should be read together.
