Selection Stages and Cut-Off Dates for Constable Physical Tests
This chapter maps the two recruitments before any training starts: the stage order, the written-test thresholds, the age windows, the education and licence rules, and the printed dates that have passed. Race timings, jump standards, measurement limits and medical rules are taught in chapters 2, 3, 4 and 7.
KarmSakha preparation topics covered
- The two recruitments and the physical test each one uses
- Stage order in each notice
- Computer Based Examination (CBE) minimum marks, National Cadet Corps (NCC) bonus and shortlisting multiples
- Age windows from the printed cut-off dates
- Upper-age relaxations for CAPF and Delhi Police
- Education rules and the Delhi male LMV licence
- Exemptions for ex-servicemen and departmental candidates
- CBE pattern, negative marking and the dates that still matter
Two recruitments, two physical tests
This book covers two recruitments, and each has its own notice and its own physical test. The first is Constable (General Duty) in the Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo Tibetan Border Police, Sashastra Seema Bal and Secretariat Security Force, plus Rifleman (General Duty) in Assam Rifles, under Examination 2026 (F. No. HQ-C-3007/10/2025-C-3). Its vacancy table totals 25,487 posts, which the notice calls tentative (para 3.1). The second is Constable (Executive) Male and Female in Delhi Police, under Examination 2025 (F. No. HQ-C-3020/2/2025-C-3).
The central forces use the Physical Efficiency Test (PET), which is a race, and the Physical Standard Test (PST), which measures height, weight and chest as applicable (para 12.2). Delhi Police use one test, the Physical Endurance and Measurement Test (PE&MT): a race, a long jump and a high jump, then a Physical Measurement Test (PMT) for candidates who qualify all three events (para 12.15.1; 10 July 2026 notice, point 16). For men the PMT covers height and chest. For women it covers height, and the notice prints no chest standard for them (paras 12.15.3 and 12.19).
Race means the timed run in both recruitments. PET is the central forces race, PST their measurement check, PE&MT the Delhi test as a whole, and PMT the Delhi measurement check. The central forces test has no jump. Chapters 2 to 4 own the race standards, jump rows and measurement limits. State police, Army and Air Force rallies, RPF recruitment and written-test syllabuses are outside this book, and a third-party standard for them does not apply here. The 10 July 2026 Delhi notice refers candidates to the SSC notification for its physical standards (point 12).
| Item | CAPF: Constable (GD) and Rifleman (GD) | Delhi Police: Constable (Executive) |
|---|---|---|
| Notice | Examination 2026, F. No. HQ-C-3007/10/2025-C-3 | Examination 2025, F. No. HQ-C-3020/2/2025-C-3 |
| Written test | CBE: 80 questions, 160 marks | CBE: 100 questions, 100 marks |
| Physical stage | PET (race) and PST | PE&MT: race, long jump, high jump, then PMT |
| After the physical stage | DME or RME, with document verification | Document verification, then medical examination |
The stage order in each notice
The CAPF notice lists the CBE, PET and PST, the Detailed or Review Medical Examination (DME or RME), and Document Verification (DV) (para 14.1). A candidate shortlisted after the CBE goes through biometric verification, then the PET and PST (para 12.2). Only those who qualify the PET and PST are called for DME and DV (para 12.6), which run together (para 14.7). The sequence is strict: each stage admits only those who passed the one before, so a candidate who fails the physical stage never reaches the medical or document check.
The Delhi notice lists the CBE, the PE&MT with document verification, and the medical examination (para 16.1). Inside the PE&MT the order is fixed: the race, then the long jump and high jump, with three attempts to qualify each jump and no appeal against disqualification in the race, long jump or high jump (10 July 2026 notice, point 15). The height and chest measurement has a same-day appeal (para 12.21). Only those who qualify all three events are measured (point 16) and checked at document verification (para 16.9). The medical examination follows (para 12.1). The table below sets the two orders side by side.
| Order | CAPF notice | Delhi Police notice |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CBE; merit shortlist for PET and PST | CBE; merit shortlist for PE&MT and DV |
| 2 | Biometric verification, then PET and PST | Race, then long jump, then high jump |
| 3 | DME or RME with DV, for those who qualify PET and PST | PMT and DV, for those who qualify all PE&MT events |
| 4 | Final merit list after PET, PST, medical and DV (para 14.10) | Medical examination (para 12.1); final merit list after PE&MT and DV (para 16.10) |
The written scores that decide who reaches the physical round
The CAPF CBE is one paper of 80 questions at 2 marks each, so 160 marks (para 12.1). A candidate must reach a minimum before any NCC bonus is added to be shortlisted for PET and PST: 30 per cent for Unreserved (UR), 25 per cent for OBC and EWS, and 20 per cent for all other categories (para 14.2). The notice names no separate row for SC or ST, so both fall under ‘all other categories’. On 160 marks the three lines are 48, 40 and 32 marks (derived).
NCC certificate holders get a provisional bonus added to the normalised score: 5 per cent of the maximum marks for NCC C, 3 per cent for NCC B and 2 per cent for NCC A (para 14.3). On 160 marks that is 8, 4.8 and 3.2 marks (derived). The bonus does not count toward the threshold (para 14.2), and it is withdrawn if the certificate is not produced at document verification (para 14.8). Shortlisting then runs at about 8 times the vacancies for PET and PST and about 2 times for DME and DV (paras 14.4 and 14.6).
The Delhi notice prints its own cut-offs. Para 16.5 sets the minimum normalised CBE marks for shortlisting to PE&MT and DV, on a 100-mark paper: 35 for Unreserved, 30 for SC, ST, OBC and EWS, and 25 for ex-servicemen. Para 16.6 then shortlists category-wise on merit, around 12 times the vacancies. The two papers use the same category names with different numbers, and neither notice converts one scale into the other, so each must be read on its own scale.
| Notice and category | Minimum CBE marks | Paper maximum |
|---|---|---|
| CAPF: UR | 48 (30 per cent of 160, derived) | 160 |
| CAPF: OBC or EWS | 40 (25 per cent of 160, derived) | 160 |
| CAPF: all other categories, including SC and ST | 32 (20 per cent of 160, derived) | 160 |
| Delhi: Unreserved | 35 (printed, normalised) | 100 |
| Delhi: SC, ST, OBC or EWS | 30 (printed, normalised) | 100 |
| Delhi: ex-servicemen | 25 (printed, normalised) | 100 |
Age windows on the printed cut-off dates
The CAPF notice states the age as ‘18-23 years as on 01-01-2026’, then fixes the window by dates: born not before 02-01-2003 and not later than 01-01-2008 (para 5). The crucial date is fixed under the Department of Personnel and Training (DoP&T) OM No. 14017/70/87-Estt.(RR) dated 14-07-1988 (para 5). The printed range and the window say the same thing, and the window is the form to check, because a date that fails the window fails whatever the range appears to say. Age is proved from the matriculation or secondary certificate at document verification (para 12.6.1.1).
The Delhi notice uses the same method with different dates: 18 to 25 years as on 01-07-2025, and born no earlier than 02-07-2000 and no later than 01-07-2007 (para 5). Both boundary dates are inside the window, which is the point to remember when a birth date falls exactly on one. The date of birth typed on the form, matched to the matriculation or secondary certificate, is accepted, and no later change is considered (para 5.2), so a mismatch cannot be corrected afterwards.
A candidate born on 01-01-2003 falls outside the CAPF window by one day, because the earliest allowed birth date is 02-01-2003. That candidate is exactly 23 on 01-01-2026, and without a relaxation the window excludes them. Relaxations extend the upper limit only (para 5.1 lists no lower-age relaxation), so the minimum of 18 applies to every category. Delhi prints race standards in three age rows: up to 30, above 30 to 40, and above 40 (paras 12.13 and 12.16). Without a relaxation a candidate must be no older than 25, so anyone in the rows above 30 holds a relaxation. The notice gives no reference date for those rows (chapter 2).
- CAPF code 1, SC or ST: 5 years
- CAPF code 2, OBC: 3 years
- CAPF code 3, ex-servicemen: 3 years after the military service rendered is deducted from the actual age on the reckoning date
- CAPF code 4, children and dependants of 1984 riot victims, UR or EWS: 5 years
- CAPF code 5, the same group, OBC: 8 years
- CAPF code 6, the same group, SC or ST: 10 years
| Delhi code | Delhi category (paras 5.1 and 5.5) | Relaxation or limit printed |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | SC or ST | 5 years |
| 02 | OBC | 3 years |
| 20 | Sportsperson of distinction, not SC or ST | 5 years |
| 21 | Sportsperson of distinction, SC or ST | 10 years |
| 22 | Departmental, UR or EWS (3 years’ regular service) | Up to 40 years |
| 23 | Departmental, OBC (3 years’ regular service) | Up to 43 years |
| 24 | Departmental, SC or ST (3 years’ regular service) | Up to 45 years |
| 25 | Son or daughter of serving, retired or deceased Delhi Police or Multi-Tasking Staff | Up to 29 years |
| 26 | Ex-servicemen, UR or EWS | 3 years, after military service is deducted |
| 27 | Ex-servicemen, OBC | 6 years (3 + 3), after deduction |
| 28 | Ex-servicemen, SC or ST | 8 years (3 + 5), after deduction |
| 29 | Widows, divorced or judicially separated women, not re-married | 5 years |
Education and the male driving-licence rule
The CAPF notice requires Matriculation or 10th class passed from a recognised board or university on or before 01-01-2026 (para 7.1). Any recognised pass counts only if it was passed on or before that cut-off, and a candidate without it by then is not eligible and need not apply (para 7.2). A later certificate does not satisfy the rule, however recent it is, and the notice prints no education relaxation in paragraphs 7.1 and 7.2. Delhi uses a different date and rule, explained in the next paragraph.
Delhi requires 10+2 (Senior Secondary) passed from a recognised board as on 21-10-2025, the closing date for online applications, so the qualification is checked against the closing date and not the physical test date (para 7.1). Para 7.6 adds that the Board must have declared the result by that date, because processing alone does not satisfy the rule. It is relaxable to 11th pass for sons and daughters of serving, retired or deceased Delhi Police personnel or Multi-Tasking Staff (para 7.1.1), and for bandsmen, buglers, mounted constables, drivers and dispatch riders of Delhi Police (para 7.1.2). Para 5.4 withholds the ward relaxation from wards of personnel dismissed, removed, terminated or compulsorily retired as a penalty.
