What is WBCS Exam?
Updated on November 23, 2022 | By Alex

The WBCS stands for West Bengal Civil Services, which is an exam that is held annually to recruit for top positions in the West Bengal Civil Services. Each year, the state government of West Bengal releases a list of positions that are vacant in the administration. Thousands of applications are received for these coveted state positions and only a handful of candidates make it to the final round. The state civil service exam for West Bengal, also referred to as the WBCS, follows the same pattern as the UPSC exam. The WBCS exam is held in three stages-
- Prelims
- Mains
- Personality Test
A candidate needs to qualify for each stage of the exam to be able to be appointed to the West Bengal Civil Services.
What is Included in WBSC Syllabus?
While it is necessary to understand the WBCS syllabus, it is essential to first understand the pattern in which this exam is conducted.
- The Prelims- This is the screening step of the entire examination process, where the serious candidates are filtered from the non-serious ones. This exam is an objective-type question paper that consists of questions related to General Studies, which includes an extensive list of topics that are included in the syllabus. This exam is a two-and-a-half-hour exam and is worth 200 marks. Candidates who are able to qualify for this exam are then invited to sit for the Mains exam.
- The Mains- The Mains are the most critical part of the WBCS examination process. The marks that a candidate secures in this exam are included in the final result. This exam consists of six question papers that are compulsory for everyone to attempt, along with two optional subjects. There are a total of eight papers that must be attempted in the WBCS Mains. The total mark for the entirety of the Mains exams is 1600. The Compulsory papers consist of all objective-type questions and the optional subjects are essay-type in nature.
- The Personality Test- In this part of the exam, candidates are interviewed extensively to understand their personality type and whether or not they would be a good fit for the positions in the West Bengal Civil Services.
How to Prepare for the WBCS Exam?
Now that the exam pattern has become clear, let us talk about some important things to remember about how to prepare for this exam.
- Know the WBCS syllabus- The foremost thing to do once you begin your preparation for this competitive exam is to know the syllabus that must be prepared. It is suggested that you prepare lists that will be useful in helping you stay organized during the preparation.
- Make a timetable- Break down each day into periods of time dedicated to studying different topics for the WBCS exam.
- Know your strength- You must pay attention to which subjects you are already good at. Hone the skills that you already possess and chances are that you will score really well in those sections.
- Recreation- Be sure to take out some time for recreational activities each day. This will keep your mind fresh and prevent it from feeling overwhelmed.
These tips can be very useful for someone who is preparing for a competitive exam such as the WBCS. Additionally, you can find many more resources at BYJU’s Exam Prep and use them to help you sail through the WBCS exam. They provide mentors, book references, mock tests, and many other useful preparation tools.