ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Civil Service Commission has announced a total of 364 vacancies to be filled in the Senior Central Services Competitive Examination 2024, according to an official notification issued in accordance with the Establishment Division guidelines.
The vacancies have been finalized as per Rule 19 of the CSS Competitive Examination Rules 2019 and include 247 new posts and 117 seats carried over from previous years.
Candidates from Punjab were allotted 179 seats, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 48, Balochistan 31, rural Sindh 32 and urban Sindh 29. Candidates from erstwhile FATA got 15 seats, Azad Kashmir 8 and Gilgit-Baltistan 4.
According to the FPSC, 214 seats are allocated on merit, 32 to women and 118 to minorities. The distribution of vacant positions was carried out according to provincial, regional, women and minority quotas. “The distribution of candidates will be based on merit, preferences and domicile,” it said.
Following the CSS 2024 results, successful candidates will be posted to groups including Pakistan Administrative Service, Police Service, Foreign Service, Income Tax, Office Management and other federal groups.
The FPSC eliminates written tests
In August, the FPSC scrapped written tests for general recruitment, announcing that henceforth only exams based on multiple choice questions (MCQs) would be conducted.
According to a public notice, the new system will come into force on September 21, 2025. The change will, however, not apply to the Higher Central Services (CSS) competitions. Under the revised system, general recruitment for posts from BPS-16 to BPS-21 will be conducted under new rules.
For posts BPS-16 and BPS-17, candidates will face a single MCQ paper of 100 marks, while for posts BPS-18 and above, there will be two MCQ papers. To qualify, candidates must obtain a minimum of 40 to 50 percent marks, and 0.25 marks will be deducted for each incorrect answer.
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CSS exams are conducted to recruit officers (BPS-17) for Pakistan Bureaucracy, Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS), Police, Foreign Service, Customs, etc.
General recruitments aim to fill individual positions announced by the FPSC in the different ministries and departments. The posts thus advertised range from BPS-7 to BPS-19, and not just BPS-17 like CSS. BPS stands for Basic Pay Scale.
Only 395 candidates pass the CSS 2024 written exam
In April, the FPSC revealed that the pass rate for the written results of the CSS 2024 exams was only 2.53%. According to official data, 23,100 candidates submitted their applications for the competition, of which 15,602 took the written phase.
However, only 395 candidates passed the exam, reflecting the rigor and competitiveness of one of Pakistan’s most demanding career exams.
