HAS exam is conducted in 3 stages:
- Preliminary Examination
- Main Examination
- Interview Round
Preliminary Examination
This prelims exam consists of two papers – General Studies Paper-I and General Studies Paper II.
The duration of Papers I (General Studies) and II (Aptitude Test) is of two hours each. Both Paper I and Paper II shall be 200 marks and there shall be 100 multiple-choice type questions.
Paper-I
General Studies
1- History, geography, political, art & culture and socio-economic development of Himachal Pradesh.
2- Current events of national and international importance.
3- History of India and Indian national movement.
4- Indian and World Geography-physical, social, and economic geography of India and the world.
5- Indian polity and governance -Constitution, political system, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights issues, etc.
6- Economic and social development-sustainable development poverty, inclusion, demographics, social sector initiatives, etc.
7- General issues on environmental ecology, bio-diversity and climate Change that do not require subject specialization
8- General science.
Paper-II
Aptitude Test
1- Comprehension
2- Interpersonal skills including communication skills
3- Logical reasoning and analytical ability
4- Decision making and problem-solving
5- General mental ability
6- Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc. (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. Class X level).
7- English Language comprehension skills (Class X level)
This preliminary examination will consist of two objective-type papers (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks.
Mains
The candidates declared qualified in the Preliminary examination will be entitled to admission to the Main written examination, if otherwise found eligible. The number of candidates to be called for the Main written examination will be about 20 times of the total number of vacancies to be filled in on the basis of the aforementioned examination. The candidates who are declared qualified in the (Preliminary) examination shall be required to apply for (Main) written examination separately on the prescribed application form available from the official website.
1. Preliminary examination
Initially, a Preliminary examination consisting of 02 papers based on objective-type (multiple choices) questions on the following pattern will be held.
- Paper-I General Studies (Code No.01). This paper shall be of 200 marks and there shall be 100 objective types (Multiple choices) questions.
- Paper-II Aptitude Test (Code No.02). This paper shall be of 200 marks and in this paper, and there shall be 100 objective types (Multiple choices) questions.
| Papers | Syllabus |
| Paper-I General Studies (Code No.01) |
|
| Paper-II Aptitude Test (Code No.02) |
|
This preliminary examination will consist of two objective-type papers (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about 20 times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year in the Posts / Service. Only those candidates who have been declared to have qualified for the preliminary examination by the H.P. Public Service Commission in a year will be eligible for admission to the main examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Main Examination.
There will be a penalty (Negative Marking) for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the objective-type question papers.
- (i) There are four alternatives for the answers to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as a penalty.
- (ii) If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even if one of the given answers happens to be correct and there will be the same penalty as above for that question.
- (iii) If a question is left blank i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty for that question.
The duration of Papers No. I and II (General Studies and Aptitude Test) will be two hours each.”
2. Main Written Examination
- a) The candidates declared qualified in the Preliminary examination will be entitled to admission to the Main written examination, if otherwise found eligible.
- b) The number of candidates to be called for the Main written examination will be about 20 times the total number of vacancies to be filled in on the basis of the aforementioned examination.
- c) The candidates, who qualify for the Preliminary examination, will have to download the application form for the Main written examination from the above website. No separate call letters will be sent for the Main examination.
3. Interview
The number of candidates to be called for the viva-voce test after the Main written examination by the Commission shall be at its discretion on the basis of marks obtained by them in the Main written examination only. As far as possible this number will be three times the total number of vacancies.
Marks obtained by the candidates in the (Preliminary) examination will not be counted for the purpose of the final order of merit. However, marks obtained in the Main written examination as well as in the viva-voce test would determine their final merit for selection.
The option exercised by the candidates will be taken into consideration while determining their order of merit for selection to the various posts/services.