A. Eligibility Criteria

1. Domicile

To appear in the entrance examination, a candidate must be a permanent domicile of Odisha.

2. Age Limit

The candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 30 years on the 1st day of February, 2026 i.e., the candidate must have been born:

• Not earlier than: 2nd February, 1996
• Not later than: 1st February, 2005

Age Relaxation:

• SC/ST: Up to a maximum of 5 years
• OBC/SEBC: Up to a maximum of 3 years
• PwBD (40%+): Up to a maximum of 10 years as defined under RPwD Act, 2016 (blindness and low vision, hard of hearing, locomotors disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victim and muscular dystrophy, autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness)

3. Minimum Educational Qualification

• A candidate must have attained the minimum educational qualification, i.e., graduation or any equivalent qualification as on the 1st day of February 2026
• Candidates who have appeared at a qualifying examination the passing of which renders them educationally qualified for pre-qualifying entrance examination are also eligible

B. Selection of Candidates & C. Seat Allotment

A total of 200 aspirants will be selected through the Pre-Qualifying Entrance Examination conducted by Utkal University, Bhubaneswar.

• Coaching is only offered in person; online sessions are not available
• 33% of seats in each category shall be earmarked for women candidates
• PwD Reservation: Not followed due to absence of adequate infrastructure and support facilities

Seat Distribution (200 Total):

Total: 100 General (67M+33F) | 32 SC (21M+11F) | 45 ST (28M+17F) | 23 SEBC (15M+8F) = 200

D. Plan of Examination

The Entrance Examination will be conducted offline with the following structure:

E. Syllabus for Entrance Examination – Section-A (General Studies)

As per the UPSC Civil Services Examination syllabus:

• Current Events: Current events of national and international importance
• History: History of India and Indian National Movement
• Geography: Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World
• Polity & Governance: Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues etc.
• Economy: Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• Environment: General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization
• General Science: General Science topics as per UPSC standard

E. Syllabus for Entrance Examination – Section-B (Aptitude Test)

Qualifying nature – minimum 33% required:

• Comprehension
• Interpersonal Skills: Including communication skills
• Logical Reasoning: Logical reasoning and analytical ability
• Decision Making: Decision making and problem solving
• General Mental Ability
• Basic Numeracy: Numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc. (Class X level)
• Data Interpretation: Charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. (Class X level)

F. Centre of Examination (7 Centres)

The entrance examination will be conducted across 5 Regional Directorates of Education (RDE) zones + 2 additional centres for remote areas:

Keonjhar and Bhawanipatna designated to facilitate participation from remote areas

Exam Pattern & Structure

The Entrance Examination consists of one paper of Objective Type (Multiple Choice Questions) with the following structure:

Section-A: General Studies (Merit Based)

This section carries 200 marks and is counted for merit ranking. Syllabus as per UPSC Civil Services Examination:

• Current Events: Current events of national and international importance
• History: History of India and Indian National Movement
• Geography: Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World
• Polity & Governance: Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues etc.
• Economy: Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives etc.
• Environment: General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization
• General Science: General Science topics as per UPSC Prelims standard

Section-B: Aptitude Test (Qualifying Nature)

This section is of qualifying nature with minimum qualifying marks. Candidates must secure the cut-off to qualify:

• Comprehension: Reading comprehension and passage-based questions
• Interpersonal Skills: Interpersonal skills including communication skills
• Logical Ability: Logical ability and analytical ability
• Decision Making: Decision making and problem solving
• General Mental Ability: General mental ability and reasoning
• Basic Numeracy: Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc.) – Class X level
• Data Interpretation: Data Interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc.) – Class X level

Examination Centres (5 Regional Directorates)

The entrance examination will be conducted in each of the 5 Regional Directorates of Higher Education: