FPSC

Overview

The Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), based in Islamabad, recruits staff for the Federal Government and the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan. This page covers its general recruitment (GR) process, which FPSC uses to fill individual posts in BS-16 and above across federal ministries, divisions and departments. Posts in a single 2026 advertisement ranged from computer operators and school teachers to lecturers, engineers, assistant directors, general duty medical officers and BS-20 directors general.

FPSC also runs the CSS Competitive Examination, its flagship annual exam for the federal occupational groups and services. CSS has its own rules, stages and fees and is covered separately. Everything below applies to general recruitment only.

Who can apply

Each post has its own eligibility, set by that post's recruitment rules and printed in the advertisement:

• Qualification and experience: set per post. For example, a 2026 BS-16 computer operator post required at least a second class four-year bachelor's degree in computer science or IT.

• Age: set per post. 2026 advertisements commonly gave ranges such as 20 to 28 or 22 to 30 years, plus five years' general relaxation in the upper age limit. Further relaxation follows the federal rules on upper age limits for initial appointment.

• Domicile and quota: vacancies are split between merit and provincial or regional quotas (such as Punjab, Sindh rural and urban, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Islamabad), with some reserved for women and for minorities.

• Cut-off: eligibility in every respect is counted up to the advertisement's closing date.

• Government servants must get a departmental permission certificate before applying and enter its reference number in the application.

Exam pattern

FPSC tests candidates for every post in BS-16 and above. All tests are made up of MCQs, with 0.25 marks deducted for each wrong answer.

If more than 20,000 people apply for one case, the test is held in batches, with a different paper of the same difficulty for each batch. Assistant Private Secretary posts have a combined typing, shorthand and computer literacy test instead. Candidates must first pass the typing test with 90% accuracy before taking the other two.

Tests are held at Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Gujranwala, Karachi, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Peshawar, D.I. Khan, Quetta, Gilgit and Skardu. FPSC may add or drop centres. The medium is English unless the advertisement says otherwise.

Syllabus

FPSC posts the syllabus for each post's test on its website before the test date. It depends on the post, so check the syllabus page for the case number you applied for.

Marking and results

• Test results: FPSC publishes test results on its website as a merit-ordered list of pass and fail candidates, without marks at that stage. It does not re-check or re-evaluate test marks.

• Shortlisting: only candidates who pass the test are considered. They are called for document verification one day before the interview. For BS-16 and BS-17, five candidates are called per post (three per post for quota posts when a case has more than two posts). For BS-18 and above, five candidates are called per post.

• Interview: worth 200 marks. The qualifying score rises with the pay scale.

• Final merit: test marks plus interview marks. Ties are broken by interview marks, then age (older first), then higher academic qualification, then grade in the required qualification, then the earlier date of qualifying.

Important dates

FPSC issues consolidated advertisements in phases through the year. Consolidated Advertisement No. 3/2026 was published on 11 August 2026 with a closing date of 31 August 2026, and its tests were due to start from 10 October 2026. Admission certificates are posted on the website a couple of weeks before each test.

Fees

Application fees for 2026 general recruitment, in Pakistani Rupees:

The fee is paid online against a PSID generated by the FPSC portal, through 1-Link (ATM, mobile banking, Easypaisa, JazzCash, internet banking or over the counter). Old challan forms, bank drafts, pay orders and cheques are not accepted. A representation or review petition costs Rs 500.

How to apply

1. Read FPSC's General Instructions and the advertisement for the post.

2. Apply online through the FPSC website before the closing date. Manual applications and hard copies are not accepted.

3. Generate the PSID and pay the fee online. The application is only accepted once the fee is paid.

4. Give a valid email address, because FPSC now contacts candidates only by email and SMS. You may edit an application once before the closing date.

5. Download the admission certificate from the website and bring it with your original CNIC to the test.

After the exam

Candidates high enough on the merit list in their quota are asked to submit attested copies of their documents, such as certificates, degrees, CNIC, domicile, experience certificates and the departmental permission certificate where needed. Shortlisted candidates are then interviewed, mainly in Islamabad, though interviews may also be held in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan and Gilgit. FPSC then recommends nominations to the government. The appointing department makes the actual appointment after checking documents, character antecedents and medical fitness.

A candidate unhappy with an FPSC decision can file a representation within 30 days, and then a review petition within 15 days of the decision on the representation. After that, an appeal can go to the High Court.

Preparation tips

• Read the post's own syllabus and recruitment rules. Each test is post-specific, so a general study plan is not enough.

• Practise under negative marking. With 0.25 off per wrong answer, guessing blindly can pull you below the 40% or 50% threshold.

• For interviews, expect questions on your field of study, your experience, Islam (not asked of non-Muslim candidates), Pakistan and general knowledge, and know the job description of the post.

• Keep attested copies of all documents ready, because missing or incomplete documents at the verification stage lead to rejection.