UPSSSC PET (Preliminary Eligibility Test, conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission) is one objective paper, and it is the first stage of the Commission’s two-stage system for Group C posts. Here’s the shape of it and the topics tested, taken from the PET-2026 advertisement (No. 16-Exam/2026, published in Hindi only), with a link to the advertisement for the exact marks and timing.
Preliminary Eligibility Test (PET)
One objective multiple-choice paper, compulsory for anyone who wants to be selected for posts within the Commission’s purview. There is negative marking for wrong answers, and if the test is held in more than one shift or on more than one day, scores are normalised. The advertisement prints no minimum pass mark: what counts is your score, which is used to shortlist candidates for the main examinations.
Your PET score
The score stays valid for 3 years from the date the Commission issues the result or uploads it on its website, and PET is held every year. If you hold more than one valid PET score when a main examination is advertised, you apply and are shortlisted on the highest valid normalised score.
Main examinations for individual posts
Advertised separately, post by post, for the Commission’s direct-recruitment Group C posts. Each main-examination advertisement sets the essential qualification and age limits for its own posts, and only candidates who hold that qualification and a valid PET score card can apply. Candidates are shortlisted for each main examination on their PET score.
Indian History
The Indus Valley Civilisation, Vedic culture, Buddhism (Gautam Buddha’s life and teachings) and Jainism (Mahavir’s life and teachings), the Mauryas (Emperor Ashoka), the Guptas (Samudragupta and Chandragupta II), Harshavardhana, the Rajput and Sultanate periods, the Mughal empire, the Marathas, the rise of British rule and the First War of Independence, and the socio-economic impact of British rule.
Indian National Movement
The early years of the freedom movement, the Swadeshi and Civil Disobedience movements and the role of Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders, the revolutionary movement and the rise of militant nationalism, legislative reforms and the British India Act, 1935, and the Quit India Movement, the Azad Hind Fauj and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Geography
Physical geography of India and the world (rivers and river valleys, groundwater resources, mountains, hills and glaciers, deserts and arid regions, forests, and mineral resources, especially in India), political geography of India and the world, climate and weather, time zones, and demographic change and migration.
Indian Economy
The economy from 1947 to 1991 (the Planning Commission and Five-Year Plans, the growth of the mixed economy with its private and public sectors, the Green Revolution, dairy development and Operation Flood, and bank nationalisation and reforms), the 1991 economic reforms and the economy since, and reforms after 2014: agricultural, infrastructure, labour and economic reforms, and GST.
Indian Constitution & Public Administration
The main features of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy, Fundamental Rights and Duties, the parliamentary system, the federal system, the Union and Union Territories and Centre–State relations, the judicial structure (Supreme Court and High Courts), district administration, and local bodies and Panchayati Raj institutions.
General Science and Elementary Arithmetic
Elementary physics, chemistry and biology. Arithmetic: whole numbers, fractions and decimals, percentage, simple arithmetic equations, squares and square roots, exponents and powers, and average.
General Hindi and General English
General Hindi: sandhi, antonyms, synonyms, one word for a phrase, gender, words that sound alike but differ in meaning, idioms and proverbs, common errors, and writers and their works (prose and poetry). General English: English grammar and questions on an unseen passage.
Logic & Reasoning
Big and small, order and ranking, relationships, odd one out, calendar and clock, cause and effect, coding-decoding with numbers and letters, and deductive reasoning, statement analysis and decision.
Current Affairs and General Awareness
Current affairs, Indian and global. General awareness: India’s neighbouring countries, countries with their capitals and currencies, the states and Union Territories of India, Parliament (Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha) and the state Legislative Assemblies and Councils, national and international days, world organisations and their headquarters, Indian tourist places, the art and culture of India, sports in India and the world, Indian research organisations, famous books and authors, awards and winners, and climate change and environment.
Unseen Hindi passages, graphs and tables
Interpretation and analysis of two unseen Hindi passages, two graphs and two tables, with five questions on each.
Questions on the first nine academic subjects in the advertisement, from Indian History to General English, are set at NCERT’s secondary / senior secondary level. The advertisement gives current affairs, general awareness and each of the passage, graph and table sections twice the marks of each other subject, but it does not print how many questions each subject has, and the scheme can change between years. Treat the subjects above as the shape to study toward, and check the PET-2026 advertisement (PDF, Hindi).
PET does not recruit anyone and has no vacancies of its own. It leads to the Commission’s main examinations for direct-recruitment Group C posts, which are advertised separately, and candidates are shortlisted for each of them on their valid PET score. Applying for or taking PET, or getting its result or score card, gives no claim to selection for any post.
Free topic-wise lessons and practice for the subjects above, sectional tests by subject, a Mistake Notebook that tracks your weak topics automatically, and dated current-affairs capsules.
Pariksha Saathi