The Kerala Public Service Commission’s (PSC) recent Plus Two-level main exam for appointment of police constables was conducted recently. As the questions had very high standards, candidates who took the exam are now anxious over the cut-off marks to be announced by the authorities.
A cursory assessment revealed 46 out the 100 questions in the paper were very difficult.
Candidates who carried out elaborate preparations can score at least 50 marks out of the total 100. Average candidates may have to settle for around 50 marks. So, the cut-off mark is likely to be between 30 and 40.
As appointment takes place only after a physical test also, the cut-off mark in the written exam is normally not high for such selections.
The question paper included special topics for 20 marks, apart from the common subjects of the PSC tests such as General Knowledge, Malayalam, English and Maths and Mental Ability. The questions in the special topics section related to duties of police officers, facts which they should be aware of, various laws, Indian Penal Code (IPC), Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), Evidence Act, Kerala Police Act, POCSO Act, Right to Information Act and IT Act. Candidates who score at least 10 marks out of 20 in this section could be considered to have performed well.
These questions indicate that candidates preparing for the Main PSC tests in future should focus thoroughly on the special topics related to the respective posts.
In addition to the 10 marks in special topics, an average candidate can score 5 marks each in English and Malayalam, 6 marks in Maths & Mental Ability and 24 marks in General Knowledge, taking the total to 50 marks.