APPSC Departmental Tests at a glance
| Feature | Position | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Current notification | 03/2026, May 2026 session | Chaduvu |
| Sessions per year | Two, styled May and November, written some months after the session name | APPSC portal listings |
| Paper codes offered | About 171 in the May 2026 notification; 65 appeared in the results | APTeachers and FreeJobAlert |
| Mode | Objective papers computer based; language papers and Survey and Settlement conventional | Schools360 |
| Fee | Rs 500 per paper plus Rs 500 processing fee, non-refundable | APTeachers and Schools360 |
| Who may sit | Mainly serving Andhra Pradesh government employees; some paper codes open to all | Schools360 |
Schools360 lists the paper codes that are open to applicants whether or not they are in government service as 5, 8, 10, 18, 19, 27, 28, 36, 43, 45, 49, 62, 67, 77, 98, 108, 127, 136, 137, 141, 142 and 144 to 148. Several departments, including the Divisional Test, Mines and Geology and Sericulture, carry additional eligibility conditions of their own. Registration runs through the one-time profile registration portal at otpr-psc.ap.gov.in before an application can be filed.
Source: Schools360 · APTeachers · Chaduvu
Dates and windows
| What | When | Status |
|---|---|---|
| November 2025 session examinations, Notification 19/2025 | 5 to 10 January 2026 | Closed |
| November 2025 session objective and descriptive results | 13 February 2026 and 20 February 2026 | Closed |
| November 2025 session viva voce admit cards | 26 February 2026 | Closed |
| May 2026 session applications, Notification 03/2026 | 13 May to 2 June 2026, fee payment to 11:59 pm on 2 June 2026 | Closed |
| May 2026 session examinations | 6 to 11 July 2026 | Closed |
| May 2026 session objective results | 17 August 2026 | Closed |
| Memorandum of Marks window for the May 2026 session | Within one month of the result, so to about 17 September 2026 | Closed |
| November 2026 session notification | Not published as of 22 September 2026 | Tentative |
The session label and the examination month do not coincide: the November 2025 session was written in January 2026 and the May 2026 session in July 2026. Plan from the examination dates printed in the notification, not from the session name.
Source: APTeachers · FreeJobAlert · Chaduvu
What this means for your preparation
The recurring error with APPSC Departmental Tests is treating them as one examination with one date. They are a catalogue of separately coded papers, each with its own eligibility rule, its own mode and its own slot in a week-long timetable, and the fee is charged per paper. The second error is assuming the session name tells you when you will sit: the May 2026 session was written in July 2026 and the November 2025 session in January 2026.
Choose paper codes before you choose a session
The May 2026 notification carried roughly 171 paper codes, according to APTeachers, spanning Revenue, Education, Transport, Treasuries and Accounts, Police, criminal and civil judicial services and a long tail of specialised departments. Schools360 sets out a specific list of codes open to applicants outside government service, and flags departments such as the Divisional Test, Mines and Geology and Sericulture as carrying extra conditions. Because the fee at Rs 500 per paper plus a single Rs 500 processing charge is non-refundable and corrections cost Rs 100 each, the selection of codes is the decision that costs money to get wrong. Confirm the code against your service rules before filing, not after.
The mode differs by paper, and so does the preparation
Schools360 records that objective papers are delivered as computer-based tests while language papers, listed as codes 5, 6, 7, 19, 28, 36, 37, 49, 58, 67 and 74, and the Survey and Settlement papers remain conventional pen-and-paper descriptive examinations. APTeachers describes the same split. This matters for two reasons. A descriptive paper is scored by hand and reported later, which is why the November 2025 session produced objective results on 13 February 2026 and descriptive results a week afterwards on 20 February 2026. It also means handwriting speed and answer structuring are live skills for the conventional codes and irrelevant for the rest.
Build the calendar backwards from the examination week
For the May 2026 session the sequence ran: notification, applications from 13 May to 2 June 2026, examinations from 6 to 11 July 2026, objective results on 17 August 2026. That is roughly five weeks from the close of applications to the first paper and about six weeks from the last paper to the result. Chaduvu records individual papers slotted to half-day sessions inside that week, for instance paper code 88 in the forenoon and paper code 97 in the afternoon of 8 July 2026. If you have registered for several codes, check the timetable for clashes and for same-day double sittings as soon as it is published, because the fee will not be refunded if you cannot attend.
The Memorandum of Marks clock is short
FreeJobAlert reports that candidates who do not qualify may apply for a Memorandum of Marks within one month of the result being declared. For the May 2026 session, with results on 17 August 2026, that window has now effectively closed. The document is the only way to see how far short you fell on a specific paper, which is the information you need to decide whether to re-register the same code in the next session or switch. Diarise the one-month deadline on result day rather than waiting to see whether you feel the mark was wrong, because there is no obvious route to reopen it afterwards.
Results are open PDFs, not a login
FreeJobAlert describes the outcome as paper-code-wise PDF lists of qualified register numbers, published directly on the Commission's results dashboard with no credentials required. Practically, that means you look up your own register number in the PDF for your paper code rather than logging in to a personalised result page. Keep the register number from your hall ticket, because the PDFs are indexed by number and not by name, and download the file when it appears: the departmental notifications and results pages on the Commission's portal are reorganised between sessions and older session files are not always easy to retrieve later.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Has the APPSC departmental tests November 2026 notification come out?
Not as far as any source we could reach shows on 22 September 2026. The most recent session with a notification on record is May 2026, Notification 03/2026, whose results were declared on 17 August 2026. Following the earlier pattern, in which the November 2025 session ran under Notification 19/2025 with papers from 5 to 10 January 2026, a November 2026 notification would be expected shortly with examinations in early 2027, but that is an expectation and not a confirmed schedule.
How much do the APPSC departmental tests cost?
APTeachers records the May 2026 session fee as Rs 500 for each paper plus a Rs 500 processing fee, paid online only through the Commission's payment gateway by net banking, credit card or debit card. Schools360 adds that the fee is never refunded or adjusted once remitted, and that each correction made to a submitted application attracts a further Rs 100. Since the per-paper charge applies to every code you register for, the total depends entirely on how many papers you take in a session.
Can someone who is not a government employee sit these tests?
For most paper codes, no. Schools360 describes the tests as primarily for Andhra Pradesh state government employees, but lists a set of codes that are open to any applicant whether or not they are in government service: 5, 8, 10, 18, 19, 27, 28, 36, 43, 45, 49, 62, 67, 77, 98, 108, 127, 136, 137, 141, 142 and 144 to 148. Several departments impose additional conditions beyond that, so check the notification against the specific code.
When were the May 2026 session exams held and when did results come out?
The May 2026 session under Notification 03/2026 was written from 6 to 11 July 2026, according to Chaduvu and FreeJobAlert. Objective paper results were declared on 17 August 2026. FreeJobAlert reports around 49,117 registered candidates for the session and 65 distinct paper codes in the published results. Results are issued as paper-code-wise PDFs of qualified register numbers on the Commission's departmental results dashboard, accessible without any login.
Are the departmental tests online or written on paper?
Both, depending on the code. Schools360 states that objective-type tests are conducted as computer-based tests, while the language papers, listed as codes 5, 6, 7, 19, 28, 36, 37, 49, 58, 67 and 74, and the Survey and Settlement papers remain conventional descriptive papers on paper. The split shows up in the result timetable too: for the November 2025 session objective results came on 13 February 2026 and descriptive results a week later on 20 February 2026.
Where do I apply and what do I need first?
Applications are filed online through the Commission's application portal after completing one-time profile registration. Chaduvu lists the registration site as otpr-psc.ap.gov.in and the application login at applications-psc.ap.gov.in, with the main site at psc.ap.gov.in and the notification listings on portal-psc.ap.gov.in. Complete the one-time registration before the application window opens rather than during it, because the window for the May 2026 session ran only from 13 May to 2 June 2026.
