APSC CCE all information | APSC CCE eligibility, Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Posts and Services, booklist, best coaching institute, Preparation strategy etc.

What is the full form of APSC CCE

The full form of APSC CCE is Assam Public Service Commission Combined Competitive Examination or APSC Combined Competitive Examination. It means that APSC CCE denotes the Combined Competitive Examination conducted by the APSC (Assam Public Service Commission) to recruit eligible candidates for various officer cadres into various government departments in Assam.

What is APSC

APSC ( Assam Public Service Commission) is a Constitutional body in Assam which recruits the employees to various government services. APSC Conduct Competitive Examinations for the selection of eligible candidates in various departments within the state. APSC is entrusted with the responsibility to conduct free and fair selection processes in the Civil Services and in other allied services within the state. The Office of APSC is situated at Khanapara, Guwahati. The present Chairman of APSC is Shri Bharat Bhushan Dev Choudhury.

History of APSC

The Assam Public Service Commission was established on 1st of April, 1937 as per the provision of Government of India Act 1935.  The first Chairman of APSC was Mr James Hezelett, who was a retired ICS officer from London.

Posts/Services under APSC CCE

APSC CCE recruits candidates for various services/ posts as Assam Civil Services (ACS), Assam Police Services (APS), Superintendent of taxes, Superintendent of Excise, Assam Finance Service, Block Development Officer, Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Inspector of Taxes, Inspector of Labour, Assistant Employment Officer, Sub-Registrar, Assistant Accounts Officer (Assam Accounts Service), Inspecting Auditor, ALRS Assam Land Revenue Services etc. The full form of Posts under APSC CCE are as follows:

• Full form of ACS – Assam Civil Service
• Full form of APS – Assam Police Service
• Full form of ALRS– Assam Land Revenue Service
• Full form of BDO– Block Development Officer

APSC Combined Competitive Examination Eligibility Criteria

APSC sets certain guidelines and norms in terms of eligibility of candidates to appear in APSC Combined Competitive Examination. The terms and conditions regarding the eligibility may be vary in accordance to new amendment and as per any govt. Notifications. As of now (February 2024) the eligibility criteria of APSC Combined Competitive Examination are as follows:

Nationality:

To become a genuine candidate of APSC CCE, a candidate must be Indian citizen.

Age Limit for APSC CCE:

Age Limit for General/ Unreserved Candidate in APSC Combined Competitive Examination is 21 Years to 38 Years (On cut off date decided by APSC time to time)

The upper age limit is relaxable based on category of the candidate as follows:

Category	By	Upto
SC/ STP/ STH Candidate	5 Years	43 Years
OBC/ MOBC	3 Years	Upto 41 Years
Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) irrespective of SC/ST/OBC/General	10 Years	Upto 48 Years
Ex- Serviceman (Unreserved)	–	50 Years
Ex- Serviceman (OBC/MOBC)	–	50 + 3 = 53
Ex- Serviceman (SC/ STP/ STH)	–	50 + 5 = 55

Educational Qualification for APSC CCE

The Candidate has to possess a Degree from a recognized University .

Other Criteria of candidature in APSC CCE

• The Candidate must be able to speak Assamese, or other Associate Official Language or any of the tribal languages of the state.
• The Candidate has to register himself in a District Employment Office Assam.
• The Candidate must be an original inhabitant of Assam.

For detailed information about eligibility and qualifications Click Here.

How many attempts for apsc?

There is no any restriction or maximum limit of attempts in APSC CCE. Unlike UPSC a candiate can appear in all the APSC CCE Examinations within his age limit.

APSC Exam Pattern

APSC Combined Competitive Examination has mainly two stages which can be further divided into three Stages as well

1. Preliminary Examination
2. Mains Examination (Written + Interview)

1. Preliminary Examination:

APSC CCE Prelims has two papers of MCQ Multiple Choice Questions and these are

A. General Studies 1 (GS 1) which decides the cut off.

B. General Studies 2 (GS 2) or CSAT Civil Services Aptitude Test, which is qualifying in nature.

Paper Name	Time	Number of Questions	Mark per Question	Total Marks	Negative Mark for each wrong Answer	Pass Mark
General Studies I	2 Hours	100	2	200	0.50	As decided by Cut Off Mark
General Studies II (CSAT)	2 Hours	80	2.5	200	0.63	33% of 200 i.e. 66

2. Main Examination:

The Main Examination has two components: Written Examinations & b. Interview/ Personality

a. Written Examination

The Candidate qualified in APSC Prelims will appear in the Written (Main) Examination. Generally the number of candidates promoted to written Examination is 11 to 12 times of total number of vacancy on that term / year.

The Written Examination has total Six paper as follows (on 2024)

1. Essay
2. General Studies 1
3. General Studies 2
4. General Studies 3
5. General Studies 4
6. General studies 5

All the Papers are of 250 Marks and time allowed is 3 hours per Paper. Total Marks in APSC CCE Mains (written) Exam is 1500

(b) Interview/ Personality Test

Generally the number of candidates who get the chance to  appear in apsc cce interview is 3 times the number of the vacancy. The final rank of the candidates will be decided by combining the marks of written examination with the marks of the interview/ personality test. According to the new amendment the total marks in APSC CCE Interview is fixed as 180, which was revised from the earlier interview marks 275.

Hence total marks in apsc cce main examination (written + interview) is 1500 + 180 = 1680

Syllabus of APSC CCE

Syllabus of APSC Combined Competitive Examination prelims

Syllabus of APSC Prelims GS1 Paper: The 1st Paper of APSC Combined Competitive Prelims Examination i.e. GS1 cover the topics from a broad area including Indian History, Indian Geography, Indian Polity, Indian Economy,  according to official sources of APSC the General Studies 1 paper of prelims will consist of 30% of Assam related questions including Assam Gk, Assam Current Affairs etc. So Assam History, Assam Geography, Assam Polity, Assam Culture, Assam related Current Affairs are important topic in GS1 of APSC Combined Competitive Examination Prelims GS 1 Paper.

Syllabus of APSC Prelims GS 2 (CSAT): The main part of the syllabus of APSC CSAT can be broadly divided into five Parts.

These are

• Reading Comprehension
• Math & Basic Numeracy
• Logical & Analytical Reasoning
• Data Interpretation
• Decision Making

You can visit Assamese Online Education for detail strategy to prepare specific parts.

Syllabus of APSC Combined Competitive Examination Mains/ Written Examination:

The APSC Mains (Written Examinations consists of 6 (six) papers and all the Papers will have 250 marks. The time allowed for each paper is 3 Hours. The details of the syllabus of APSC CCE Mains Papers are as follows:

Syllabus of APSC CCE Mains Essay Paper:

The Essay paper of APSC CCE will have two essays 125 marks each. One of the essay will from a static gk or current affairs related topic or any such random topic where quoting of facts and figure enhnce the quality of the essay and will help to grab more marks, and the another essay will philosophical, which demands the expression of own viewpoint and own writing skills.

Syllabus of APSC CCE Mains GS1 Paper:

The GS1 Paper of APSC CCE Mains covers the topic of Indian History, Indian Heritage, Indian Culture, Indian Society, Indian Geography and World Geography etc. Apart from these Assam related knowledge on such specific topics as Assam History, Assam Geography, Assam Society and Culture is essential to tackle any questions from Assam related topic under GS1.

Download the syllabus of APSC CCE Mains General Studies 1

Syllabus of APSC CCE Mains GS2 Paper:

The GS2 Paper of APSC CCE Mains covers the topic of Governance, Polity, Indian Constitution, Social Justice in India, International relations and interests of India in global scenario etc. Apart from these Assam related knowledge on such specific topics as Assam Polity, governance in Assam, various constitutional and statutory body/ organization in Assam is essential to tackle any questions from Assam related topic under GS2.

Download the syllabus of APSC CCE Mains General Studies 2

Syllabus of APSC CCE Mains GS3 Paper:

The GS3 Paper of APSC CCE Mains covers the topic of Economic development, Economic planes and measures, biodiversity, disaster management and securit. Again GS3 paper of APSC Mains also covers the topics related to Assam economy, Development of Science & technology in Assam and about the disaster and disaster mitigation strategy in the state.

Download the syllabus of APSC CCE Mains General Studies3

Syllabus of APSC CCE Mains GS4 Paper:

The GS4 Paper of APSC CCE Mains checks the mindset and viewpoint of the candidates and also check the approach in various situation. There will be some theoretical questions on the topics as integrity, probity, sympathy, ethics etc. The Paper will also some questions in the form of case study related to some daily life problems/ situations of governance system.

Download the syllabus of APSC CCE Mains General Studies 4

Syllabus of APSC CCE Mains GS5 Paper:

The GS4 Paper of APSC CCE Mains is completely based on Assam related topics. The GS5 Paper/ Paper 6 of APSC CCE Mains covers a broad area including Assam history, Assam geography, Assam Polity, Culture of Assam, Bio-diversity, environment and economic development of Assam etc.

Download the syllabus of APSC CCE Mains General Studies 4

Pay Scale of various posts under APSC Combined Competitive Examination

Pay Scale of ACS (Assam Civil Service) is 30,000 – 1,10,000/- and Grade Pay of ACS is 13,300/- (PB-4)

Pay Scale of APS (Assam Police Service) is 30,000 – 1,10,000/- and Grade Pay of APS is 13,300/- (PB-4)

Pay Scale of BDO (Block Development Officer) is 30,000 – 1,10,000/- and Grade Pay of ACS is 12,700/- (PB-4)

Pay Scale of Superintendent of Taxes is 30,000 – 1,10,000/- and Grade Pay is 12,700/- (PB-4)

Pay Scale of Superintendent of Excise is 30,000 – 1,10,000/- and Grade Pay is 12,700/- (PB-4)

Pay Scale of Assam Finance Service is 30,000 – 1,10,000/- and Grade Pay is 12,700/- (PB-4)

Pay Scale of Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies is 30,000 – 1,10,000/- and Grade Pay is 12,700/- (PB-4)

The Pay Scale of Assistant Employment Officer  is 22,000 – 97,000/- and Grade Pay is 9,400/- (PB-3)

The Pay Scale of Sub Registrar is 22,000 – 97,000/- and Grade Pay is 9,100/- (PB-3)

The Pay Scale of Assistant Accounts Officer (Assam Accounts Service) is 22,000+97,000/- and Grade Pay is 9,100/- (PB-3)

The Pay Scale of the Inspector of Labour is 22,000 – 97,000/- and Grade Pay is 9,100/- (PB-3)

The Pay Scale of Inspector of Taxes is 22,000 – 97,000/- and Grade Pay is 9,100/- (PB-3)

Examination Centres of APSC CCE

For all the phases of APSC Combined Competitive Examinations APSC sets Examination Centres as per the needs and feasibility. As in the Preliminary Examinations the number of candidate is very high, the APSC CCE Preliminary examination held in decentralized manner. In almost all the districts of Assam centres are allocated according to the number of candiate in the districts.

Examination Centres for APSC Combined Competitive Preliminary Examination

The Centres for the APSC Combined Competitive (Prelims) Examinations are allocated in almost all the districts of Assam. Centres are allocated in various educational institutions within a district for APSC CCE preliminary Examinations with respect to the number of candidates opted for that district in their online form submission. The Examination Centres for the Combine Competitive Preliminary Examination are Amingaon, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Biswanath Chariali, Dehamji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Diphu, Goalpara, Golaghat, Guwahati, Haflong, Hamren, Hatsingimari, Hojai, Jorhat, Kajalgaon, Karimganj, Kokrajhar, Majuli, Mangaldoi, Morigaon, Mushalpur, Nagaon, Nalbari, North Lakhimpur, Silchar, Sivasagar, Sonari, Tezpur, Tinisukia and Udalguri

Examination Centres for APSC Combined Competitive Main Examination

The APSC CCE Main(Written Examination) Genraly held in Guwahati Centres only. Means various centres allocated within Guwahati according to the number of candidates. But in some special circumstances the Centres of APSC CCE Mains can be allocated zone wise as well (As in case of APSC CCE 2022, the Main Examination cetres were not in only Guwahati but also various zone wise centres were allocated).

The interview of APSC Combined Competitive Examination is generally organised in the APSC Office Building in Khanapara, Guwahati.

APSC CCE Preparation

To start the preparation of APSC Combined Competitive Examination the candidates must try to figure out a strategy according to their strength and weakness and according to their own interests. The candidate must prepare a time table, sort out the study materials as per his need and interests and has to start the preparation with a pre planned strategy. As the competition in this examination is very tough navigating the preparation with a proper strategy will increase the chance of selection in the desired service/post. There are various means of preparation for APSC Combined Competitive Examination

Booklist for APSC CCE:

Sub Topic/ Topic	Book Name
Assam History, Assam Geography, Assam Economy,	Assam General Knowledge by Sailen Baishya Assam Year Book by Shantanu Kaushik Boruah General Study Manual by Biswajit Dutta and Rajkumar Das
Indian History (All in a concise manner)	Tamil Nadu History Book of Class XI and XII
Indian History Ancient	R.S. Sharma
Indian History Medieval	Satish Chandra
Indian History Modern	History of Modern India by Bipin Chandra Spectrum by Rajiv Ahir
Indian Economy	Indian Economy by Nitin Singhania
Indian Geography	NCERT Class XI XII Geography Books
Ethics for GS IV	Lexicon for ethics
Essay Book for the Essay Paper	151 Essays
Indian Polity	M. Laxmikant Indian Polity
For GK	Luscent’s GK
For Mathematics part of CSAT	Fasttrack Objective Arithmetic
For Reasoning part of APSC CSAT	Verbal & Non Verbal Reasoning by R S Agarwal
For English Part of APSC CSAT	S P Bakshi Objective General English

Best APSC Coaching institute in Assam:

To prepare for APSC CCE a fresh candidate always has the urge to seek guidance to channelize his/ her efforts in the right direction. The Coaching institute for APSC CCE plays an important role in the journey of the aspirants by putting them in the right track towards success. In Assam the leading coaching institution for APSC is basically situated in Guwahati and some branches of such institution also exist in towns as Dibrugarh, Jorhat etc. Some best Coaching institution for APSC CCE preparation are

• SPM IAS Academy
• Bhadra IAS Academy
• Borthakur’s IAS Academy
• Luscent IAS
• Competition Care
• CSAP Academy

Frequently asked questions