RAS Exam Pattern- Overview, Prelims, Mains, Interview

Rajasthan Public Service Commission has released a recruitment notification on its website. It has declared 988 vacancies in the notification, out of which 363 are for state services, and 625 are for insubordinate services. The aspirants who want to serve their country through these jobs have little time left for preparation. We advise all aspirants to prepare hard as per the RAS Exam Pattern 2021 and syllabus to crack this tough exam. Read further to get the detailed information regarding the RAS Exam Pattern for the year 2021.

RAS Exam Pattern 2021: Overview

RPSC sets the RAS Exam Pattern and syllabus. They have uploaded the updated exam pattern and syllabus for 2021 on its official website. The aspirants may download it from there and plan their preparation strategy accordingly. As thousands of applicants appear in this exam, it is tough to crack. However, if you practice thoroughly according to the prescribed exam pattern and syllabus, you can ace this exam on the first attempt. 

RPSC conducts the RAS Exam in three stages: 

• Preliminary Exam
• Main Exam 
• Personal Interview

The aspirants have to clear all three stages to secure advertised posts. The preliminary exam consists of one objective type paper, whereas the main exam comprises four papers of subjective types. The question papers test the knowledge of applicants in different subjects, as mentioned in the syllabus. The Interview and Personality Test checks the applicants’ physical, mental, general awareness, psychological, and other characteristics. The commission declares the final merit list based on the marks scored in the Main and Personal Interview rounds. 

We advise all aspirants to follow the RAS Exam Pattern to understand the marking scheme and prepare diligently accordingly. Read further to know the precise RPSC RAS Exam Pattern for Prelim Exam, Main Exam, and Personal Interview. 

RAS Exam Pattern 2021: Prelims 

• The Prelim Exam is the qualifying stage for the RAS Exam. 
• It includes one paper based on General Knowledge and General Science. 
• It has graduation-level questions. 
• It comprises objective-type questions (MCQs) of 200 marks
• It is of 3 hours duration.
• It follows the negative marking system, in which applicants lose 1/3rd marks for every wrong answer. However, applicants do not get or lose any mark for unattempted questions.

RPSC declares the first merit list of all qualifying applicants who clear the prelim exam and call them for the next mains exam round. They do not consider the marks scored in the prelims while preparing the final merit list.

Subject	No. of Questions	Marks	Duration	Negative Marking
General Knowledge and General Science	150	200	3 Hrs	1/3rd

RAS Exam Pattern 2021: Mains

RPSC calls only those applicants for this round who get the cut-off marks in the Prelims Exam. It will call almost 15 times more applicants than the vacancies available. 

• This round consists of four papers based on General Studies, General Hindi, and General English.
• All four papers are of descriptive/analytical types.
• The first three papers comprise questions of graduation level, whereas the fourth paper comprises questions of senior secondary level.
• Paper-1 carries a weightage of 200 marks and comprises questions based on General Studies-I. It includes questions relating to history (both Indian & World), economy (both Indian & World), sociology, management, accounting, and auditing.
• Paper-2 has questions based on General Studies-II. The weightage for this paper is also 200 marks. This paper has questions related to Administrative Ethics, General Science & Technology. It also tests the applicant’s understanding of the Geography & Geology of the World, India, and Rajasthan.
• Similarly, Paper-3 tests the General Studies III’ knowledge of the applicants. It again carries the weightage of 200 marks. This paper includes questions based on politics (Indian & World), current affairs. It also tests the applicant’s knowledge about the current events happening in Rajasthan and on the national level.
• Paper-4 has the questions of senior secondary level and tests the applicant’s grip on English and Hindi languages. It again carries a weightage of 200 marks and consists of questions related to basic comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and précis writing.
• Applicants have to appear and clear all four papers to reach the last round of personal interviews.

We advise all aspirants to prepare for these four papers according to the syllabus mentioned on the RPSC’s official website. The scores of these papers decide whether the applicant will go for the next round or not. RPSC declares another merit list based on the total score of the mains exam and calls those students for the personal interview who get the cut-off marks in this round.

Paper	Duration	Total Marks
Paper-1: General Studies-I	3 hrs	200 marks
Paper-2: General Studies-II	3 hrs	200 marks
Paper-3: General Studies-III	3 hrs	200 marks
Paper-4: General Hindi and General English	3 hrs	200 marks
Total		800 marks

RAS Exam Pattern 2021: Personal Interview

This is the last round of the RAS Exam’s selection process. 

• The RAS Interview or Personality test round carries a weightage of 100 marks.
• The examiners test the applicant’s personality, physique, mental awareness, and knowledge about current affairs and Rajasthan’s culture.
• RPSC declares the final merit list based on the marks of the mains exam and the interview round. 
• The applicants who clear the interview round need to come for the document verification and medical examination too.

Conclusion

We have included the detailed RAS Exam Pattern in this guide and recommend all aspirants to check out the RAS Syllabus on the RPSC’s official website to prepare thoroughly. Also, we advise aspirants to refer to some reference books, previous year’s question papers, and online mock test series. It will help them prepare according to the trends followed in the RAS Exam.

FAQs

• RAS Syllabus -Topics to Prepare for Prelims & Mains
• RAS Exam Pattern- Overview, Prelims, Mains, Interview
• RAS Eligibility- Overview, Age Limit, Education
• RAS Cut off Marks – Check Previous Year cutoffs
• RAS Answer Key- Important Dates, Objection form, Steps to check Answer