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PSSSB Patwari 2026 — Syllabus

Complete paper-wise and section-wise syllabus with every topic, sub-topic and the marks each section carries — straight from the official notification.

Papers

2 papers

Merit paper

100 marks · 6 sections

Duration

2 hr 30 min

The syllabus below is PSSSB's own 'Final Plan of Written Examination' for Patwari, notified on 24 February 2023 with the approximate weightage of each Part-B area. The board notes that the split is indicative and may vary slightly.

Paper 1

Part-A — Punjabi Language (Qualifying, Matric standard)

50 questions50 marks2 hr 30 minNo negative marking

Punjabi (qualifying, minimum 25/50)

50 Q50 marks

Life and works of the Sikh Gurus

Guru Nanak Dev JiGuru Angad Dev JiGuru Ramdas JiGuru Arjan Dev JiGuru Tegh Bahadur JiGuru Gobind Singh Ji

Vocabulary

Antonyms (virodhi shabad)Synonyms (samanarthak shabad)Idioms (muhavare)Proverbs (akhaan)Word classes (shabad de bhed)

Grammar

Prefixes and suffixes (ageter / pichheter)Number change and gender change (vachan / ling)Punctuation (vishram chinh)Correct spelling of words and sentences (shudh roop)

Usage

Correct Punjabi forms of English wordsCorrect Punjabi forms of numbers, months and days

Punjabi language, Punjab history and Punjab culture

Paper 2

Part-B — Merit Paper

100 questions100 marks2 hr 30 min−0.25

General Knowledge & Current Affairs

25 Q25 marks

Political issues

Environment issues

Current affairs of national and international importance

Science and technology

Economic issues

History of Punjab — 14th century onwards

History of India with special reference to the freedom struggle

Sports

Cinema and literature

Logical Reasoning & Mental Ability

25 Q25 marks

Verbal reasoning

Coding–decodingAnalogyClassificationSeriesDirection senseBlood relationsMathematical operationsTime testOdd man out

Non-verbal reasoning

SeriesAnalogyClassification

Basic numerical skills

PercentageNumber systemLCM and HCFRatio and proportionNumber seriesAverageProblems on agesProfit and lossPartnership and mixtureSimple and compound interestWork and timeTime and distanceMensurationData interpretation

English

12 Q12 marks

Grammar

Subject and verbAdjectives and adverbsArticlesPrepositionsDirect and indirect speechActive and passive voiceCorrection in sentences

Vocabulary

SynonymsAntonymsOne-word substitutionIdioms and their meaningsSpell checksFill in the blanks

Punjabi

13 Q13 marks

Shudh–ashudh (correct forms), shabad-jod (spelling)

Prefixes and suffixes; synonyms and antonyms

Kinds and correct use of nouns, pronouns and verbs; gender and number

Punjabi proverbs and idioms

English-to-Punjabi translation; one word for many

ICT

9 Q9 marks

Basics of computers

Network and the internet

Office productivity tools — Word, spreadsheet and PowerPoint

Punjab History & Culture

16 Q16 marks

Physical features of Punjab and its ancient history

Social, religious and economic life in Punjab

Development of language, literature and arts in Punjab

Society and culture of Punjab during Afghan / Mughal rule

Bhakti movement and Sufism

Teachings and history of the Sikh Gurus and saints; the Adi Granth

Sikh rulers

Freedom movements of Punjab

Source: official PSSSB notification. View the official syllabus to confirm the latest topics.

Strategy

How to prepare

  • 1Treat Part-A as a gate, not a formality: below 25/50 in Punjabi, Part-B is never evaluated. The 2023 Part-A drew heavily on the Gurus' lives, idioms, proverbs and spelling.
  • 2Half of Part-B is General Knowledge and Reasoning (25 + 25). In 2023 the GK block leaned on current affairs, Indian polity and modern history rather than static trivia.
  • 3Punjab History & Culture (16) and Punjabi (13) together are nearly 30 marks — the largest region-specific weightage in any PSSSB paper.
  • 4Reasoning and the numerical questions in 2021 and 2023 were textbook-level (series, coding, calendar, simple arithmetic). Accuracy matters because of the one-fourth deduction.
  • 5Work through every past paper on this site in order — 2016, 2021 prelim, 2021 main, 2023 — the question style has been remarkably stable.

Answers

Frequently asked questions

What is the PSSSB Patwari exam pattern?

A single OMR paper of 150 questions in 2 hours 30 minutes. Part-A is 50 Punjabi questions at Matric level, qualifying with a minimum of 25 marks and no negative marking. Part-B is 100 merit questions — GK & Current Affairs (25), Reasoning & Mental Ability (25), English (12), Punjabi (13), ICT (9) and Punjab History & Culture (16) — with 0.25 deducted per wrong answer.

Is there negative marking in the PSSSB Patwari exam?

Only in Part-B: one-fourth of a mark is deducted for each wrong answer. Part-A (Punjabi) has no negative marking, but scoring below 25 out of 50 in it means Part-B is not evaluated at all.

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