Alerts and Updates for BPSC TRE Higher Secondary Psychology

The class 11-12 Psychology paper at a glance

Psychology appears only in Part III, as 80 of the 150 questions. Against the reported TRE 3.0 unreserved cut-off of 48, a candidate who converts the Psychology block competently is already close to the historic line before General Studies is counted. Reporting describes the Part III standard as graduation to post-graduate level in the concerned subject, not the level of the class 11-12 Psychology textbooks the post teaches. Read the structure below as the pattern for the written examination, not as a settled number of stages. BPSC's calendar of 14 August 2026 places TRE 4.0 under two-phase PT plus Mains exams; the Chief Minister announced a single-phase exam on 27 August 2026; and BPSC has published no corrigendum resolving the two as of 22 September 2026. The question paper described here is the one candidates must prepare for either way, because a single-phase exam would use it and a two-phase exam would use it as the main paper.

Dates and windows

This schedule is common to every subject and class level in BPSC TRE 4.0 — Psychology has no separate notification, application window or examination date of its own. Only the advertisement date is firm; everything after it is reported and awaits the revised advertisement BPSC has said it will issue.

What this means for your preparation

Psychology candidates most often misread the subject's reputation for a soft cut-off. The reported TRE 3.0 unreserved figure of 48 out of 150 was low because the specialist pool is shallow, not because the paper is easy, and the 1,030 posts are spread across the whole state so the district-wise picture is thinner than the headline. The second frequent error is neglecting General Studies: with the language part only qualifying, 40 of the 110 merit-bearing marks come from a block that has nothing to do with Psychology.

Why 1,030 posts changes the strategy

Psychology is reported at 1,030 higher secondary posts, the largest of the four small humanities subjects and close to four times Sociology's 266. Bihar's higher secondary schools have been adding Psychology as an elective faster than postgraduate Psychology output in the state has grown, which is the standard explanation for a large allocation sitting alongside a low cut-off. For a candidate this means the marginal value of each extra mark is higher than in a subject like Sanskrit: the selection line sits in a densely packed part of the score distribution, so a handful of additional correct answers moves a rank far more than it would where the line is at 81. It also means a genuine Psychology postgraduate is competing mainly against other Psychology postgraduates rather than against a flood of general arts candidates.

The cut-off is low but the qualifying floor still binds

Reported TRE 3.0 class 11-12 Psychology cut-offs were 48 unreserved, 41 EBC and 40 SC out of 150, with EWS and ST not listed in the tables seen. Separately, the reported category minimum qualifying percentages for TRE are 40 per cent for unreserved, 36.5 per cent for BC and EBC and 32 per cent for SC, ST and PwD candidates. On a 150-mark paper 40 per cent is 60 marks, which is above the reported unreserved Psychology cut-off of 48. Where a subject's merit line falls below the category floor, it is the floor that decides, and candidates who plan only against the historic cut-off risk clearing the subject line but not the qualifying requirement. Treat 60 as the working target for unreserved candidates.

What the 80-question Psychology block actually asks

BPSC has not, in the material available, published a weighted topic list for Psychology. What the syllabus reporting does establish is the level: Part III is described as graduation to post-graduate standard in the concerned subject, so the sensible reading is a postgraduate spread — foundations and schools of psychology, developmental and cognitive psychology, learning and memory, personality and intelligence with the standard tests, social psychology, abnormal psychology and the psychological disorders framework, and research methodology with elementary statistics. The statistics and methodology segment is the one Psychology candidates most often skip and the one that separates scores, because it is objectively checkable and rewards drilling rather than reading.

Eligibility: the STET Paper-II subject must match

For class 11-12 posts reporting states a postgraduate degree in the relevant subject with 50 per cent marks, a B.Ed, and Bihar STET Paper-II in the relevant subject, with ages of 21 to 37 for unreserved men, 21 to 40 for women and BC or EBC candidates and 21 to 42 for SC and ST candidates. Psychology candidates hit a specific problem here more often than most: a postgraduate degree titled Applied Psychology, Clinical Psychology or Counselling Psychology may not map cleanly onto the STET Psychology subject code or onto BPSC's relevant-subject list. Check the degree nomenclature against the revised advertisement's subject list before selecting Psychology on the form.

Using an open calendar rather than waiting on it

The application window has slipped twice and no examination date exists; the expectation of December 2026 or January 2027 is a coaching-portal projection. The practical response is to front-load the block that is shared with every other subject and decays fastest. General Studies is reported as Indian history, geography, polity, economics, general science, Indian national movement and Bihar-specific awareness with current affairs, and current affairs in particular needs continuous upkeep. Psychology theory holds. A defensible allocation while the date is open is the larger share to General Studies, methodology and statistics drilling, with theory revision cycling weekly, tightening onto Part III once BPSC announces a date.

Common questions

How many Psychology posts are there in BPSC TRE 4.0 at higher secondary level?

Coaching portals reading the Advertisement 14/2026 vacancy tables report 1,030 Psychology posts for class 11-12, out of 16,101 higher secondary vacancies and 32,388 posts across all levels. That makes Psychology the largest of the small humanities subjects at this level, ahead of Sanskrit at 746, Political Science at 665 and Sociology at 266. BPSC's own subject table in the revised advertisement is the document to confirm against before relying on the figure.

What was the BPSC TRE Psychology cut-off for class 11-12?

For TRE 3.0 the reported class 11-12 Psychology cut-offs were 48 for unreserved, 41 for EBC and 40 for SC out of 150 marks; EWS and ST figures were not listed in the tables seen. This is the lowest reported line among the arts subjects at this level, against 81 for Sanskrit and 66 for Sociology. The figures come from cut-off tables published by coaching portals rather than from a BPSC release quoted verbatim, and they benchmark TRE 4.0 rather than set it.

How much of the BPSC TRE higher secondary paper is Psychology?

Eighty of 150 questions. The paper runs 2 hours 30 minutes with Part I language of 30 questions and 30 marks, qualifying at 30 per cent and excluded from merit, Part II General Studies of 40 questions and 40 marks, and Part III in the chosen subject of 80 questions and 80 marks. One third of a mark is deducted per wrong answer. Psychology therefore accounts for 80 of the 110 marks that build the merit list.

Is the Psychology paper post-graduate level or class 11-12 level?

Reporting on the TRE 4.0 syllabus describes the higher secondary Part III subject paper as graduation to post-graduate standard in the concerned subject, not at the level of the class 11-12 textbooks the post teaches. BPSC has not, in the material available, published a weighted topic list for Psychology. Preparing from postgraduate material, including research methodology and elementary statistics, and treating the school textbooks as revision is the approach the available sources support.

Do I need Bihar STET Paper-II in Psychology to apply?

Reporting on class 11-12 eligibility states a postgraduate degree in the relevant subject with 50 per cent marks, a B.Ed, and Bihar STET Paper-II in the relevant subject. On that reading the STET qualification must be in Psychology itself. Candidates holding degrees named Applied, Clinical or Counselling Psychology should check how the revised advertisement's relevant-subject list treats that nomenclature before choosing Psychology on the form, since the subject choice is not ordinarily editable later.

When does the BPSC TRE 4.0 application open and when is the exam?

It has not opened. BPSC moved the start from 1 September 2026 to 21 September 2026, and on 20 September it was reported that the Commission cited required changes in the recruitment process and the online application system, so 21 September will not hold and a revised advertisement is awaited. A 21 October 2026 last date and a 29 September 2026 fee deadline were reported before that deferral. No examination date is confirmed; December 2026 to January 2027 is an expectation.