Rajasthan CET (Common Eligibility Test) Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2026 - 12th Level and Graduation Level

The Rajasthan Common Eligibility Test (CET) is run by the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board (RSSB) as a single qualifying examination that is reused across many Rajasthan government recruitment processes. There are two separate papers: one for candidates holding a Senior Secondary (10+2) qualification, and one for graduates. Both papers share the same basic shape - 150 questions, 300 marks, 3 hours - but the subject content and the academic level differ.

This page reproduces the official exam scheme and the full topic-wise syllabus published by RSSB for both levels. The source documents are the board's own scheme-and-syllabus PDFs, available from the RSSB Syllabus Section.

Exam scheme at a glance

RSSB publishes both CET schemes in the same format. The table below reproduces the official scheme for each level.

Two notes appear on both official scheme sheets and are reproduced here because they shape how the paper is answered:

• All questions are multiple choice, and the marks carry equal weight across the paper. There is no separate section weighting - every question carries the same value.
• The scheme sheet carries a note addressing negative marking for a wrong answer. The exact wording of that line is not reliably legible in the scanned official copies, so this page does not state a deduction figure or confirm whether it applies to each level. Candidates must follow the negative-marking rule printed in the operative CET notification for the cycle they are applying to.

How the two levels differ

The single most useful distinction between the two papers is the subject list. The Graduation paper carries a deeper academic treatment and adds several subjects that do not appear at the 12th level.

Counting the named subject areas in each official scheme gives a second way to see the same difference.

Graduation level - official topic-wise syllabus

The Graduation paper covers the following subjects. The topic lists below follow the official scheme document.

1. History of India and Rajasthan, with special emphasis on the Indian National Movement

• Important events of Indian history; social and religious reform movements in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• The Indian freedom movement - its different stages, and the contribution made by people from different regions of the country.
• Rajasthan's contribution to the Revolt of 1857; the tribal and peasant movements in Rajasthan; the political awakening and Praja Mandal movement.
• Post-independence nation building - national integration and the reorganisation of states; institutional building in the Nehru era; development of science and technology.

2. History, art, culture, literature, tradition and heritage of Rajasthan

• Ancient civilisations - Kalibangan, Ahad, Ganeshwar, Balathal and Bairat.
• Important historical events of Rajasthan's history; major dynasties and their administrative and revenue systems; social and cultural dimensions.
• Principal features of architecture - forts and monuments, arts, paintings and handicrafts.
• Important works of Rajasthani literature and regional dialects.
• Fairs and festivals, folk music and folk dance.
• Rajasthani culture, tradition and heritage; religious movements, saints and folk deities.
• Important historical places; prominent personalities; the integration of Rajasthan.

3. Geography of India

• Physiography - mountains, plateaus, deserts and plains.
• Climate and the monsoon system.
• Major rivers, dams, lakes and the sea.
• Wildlife and sanctuaries.
• Principal crops - wheat, rice, cotton, sugarcane and tea.
• Major minerals - iron ore, manganese, bauxite and mica.
• Energy resources - conventional and non-conventional.
• Major industries and industrial regions.
• National highways, means of transport and trade.

4. Geography of Rajasthan

• Geological structure and physiographic regions.
• Climatic conditions, the monsoon system and climatic regions.
• Drainage system, lakes, the sea, dams and water conservation techniques.
• Natural vegetation.
• Wildlife, fauna and sanctuaries.
• Soils.
• Principal crops of the rabi and kharif seasons.
• Population - growth, density, literacy and sex ratio.
• Principal tribes.
• Metallic and non-metallic minerals.
• Energy resources - conventional and non-conventional.
• Tourist places.
• Means of transport - national highways, rail and air.

5. Indian Political System, with special emphasis on Rajasthan

• Nature of the Indian Constitution, the Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy, Fundamental Duties, the federal structure, Constitutional amendments, emergency provisions and public interest litigation.
• The Constituent Assembly; salient features of the Indian Constitution.
• President, Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Parliament, Supreme Court.
• Union and State executives; Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, Chief Information Commissioner, Lokpal, National Human Rights Commission, local self-government and Panchayati Raj.
• Rajasthan political and administrative system - Governor, Chief Minister, State Legislative Assembly, High Court, Rajasthan Public Service Commission, district administration, State Human Rights Commission, Lokayukta, State Election Commission and State Information Commission.

6. Indian Economy

• Budgeting, banking, public finance, goods and services tax, national income - the basic framework of growth and development.
• Fiscal and monetary policy.
• Subsidy and the public distribution system.
• E-commerce.
• Principal sectors of the economy - agriculture, industry, services and trade: current status, issues and prospects.
• Green Revolution, White Revolution and Blue Revolution.
• Five Year Plans and the planning system.
• Principal economic problems and government initiatives; economic reforms and liberalisation.

7. Economy of Rajasthan

• Rajasthan's food and commercial crops, agriculture-based industries.
• Major irrigation and river valley projects; wasteland development and drought-prone area development projects; the Indira Gandhi Canal project.
• Development and location of industries, agriculture-based industries, cottage industries and handicrafts; export-oriented industries and Rajasthani handicrafts.
• Poverty and unemployment - concept, types, causes, diagnosis and current flagship schemes; provisions for social justice and weaker sections.
• Welfare schemes; the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act; development institutions, the cooperative movement, small enterprises and financial institutions; the role of Panchayati Raj institutions in rural development as per the 73rd Constitutional Amendment.

8. Science and Technology

• Information and Communication Technology.
• Space technology, satellite technology and satellites.
• Electric current, heat, work and energy.
• Diet and nutrition, blood groups and clotting factors.
• Healthcare - communicable, non-communicable and zoonotic diseases.
• Environmental and ecological changes and their effects.
• Bio-diversity, conservation of natural resources and sustainable development.
• Economic importance of animals and plants.
• Agricultural science, horticulture, forestry and animal husbandry in the specific context of Rajasthan.
• Science and technology development in the specific context of Rajasthan.
• Physical and chemical changes; acids, alkalis and salts, bleaching powder, baking soda, plaster of Paris, soap and detergents.

9. Logical Reasoning and Mental Ability

The graduation paper treats this section as verbal and non-verbal reasoning rather than heavy quantitative work.

• Series and analogy.
• Figure matrix questions and classification.
• Alphabet test.
• Passage and conclusions.
• Blood relations.
• Coding-decoding.
• Direction sense test.
• Sitting arrangement.
• Input-output.
• Number ranking and time square.
• Making judgements.
• Logical arrangement of words.
• Inserting the missing character or number.
• Mathematical operations, average and ratio.
• Area of triangle, circle, ellipse, trapezium, rectangle, sphere and cylinder.
• Percentage.
• Simple and compound interest.
• Unitary method.
• Profit and loss.
• Average.
• Ratio and proportion.
• Volume of sphere, cylinder, cube and cone.

10. Language knowledge - General Hindi

• Sandhi and Sandhi-vichchhed.
• Noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, karak and avyaya.
• Samas, bhed, construction and vigram of compound words.
• Upasarag and pratyaya.
• Vilom shabd, paryayvachi and anekarthak shabd.
• Dhwani and its classification.
• Paribhashik shabdavali - synonyms of technical terms from the English language.
• Shabd shuddhi - correction of incorrect words.
• Vakya shuddhi - correction of incorrect sentences.
• Muhavare and lokoktlyan.
• Rajbhasha Hindi - constitutional status.
• Letters and their types, with particular reference to the format of official letters.

11. Language knowledge - General English

• Use of articles and determiners.
• Tense and sequence of tenses.
• Voice - active and passive.
• Narration - direct and indirect.
• Use of prepositions.
• Translation of ordinary English sentences into Hindi and vice versa.
• Synonyms and antonyms.
• Comprehension of a given passage.
• Glossary of official and technical terms with their Hindi versions.
• Letter writing - official, demi-official, circulars and notices. The official document notes that questions on letter writing will also be objective, testing the structure of a letter.
• Idioms and phrases.
• One-word substitution.

12. Computer knowledge

• Characteristics of computers.
• Computer organisation including RAM, ROM, file system and input devices; computer software and the relationship between hardware and software.
• Operating systems.
• MS-Office - Word, Excel or spreadsheet, and PowerPoint.

13. Current affairs

• Important current events and issues of national and international importance relating to Rajasthan, India and the world.
• Persons, places and institutions under current discussion.
• Sports and sports-related activities.

Senior Secondary (12th level) - official topic-wise syllabus

The 12th level paper drops the Indian National Movement and Indian Economy components and instead carries Everyday Science. The official scheme also states that all questions will be at the Senior Secondary level.

1. History, art, culture, literature, tradition and heritage of Rajasthan

• Ancient civilisations - Kalibangan, Ahad, Ganeshwar, Balathal and Bairat.
• Important historical events, major dynasties, their administrative and revenue systems, and social and cultural dimensions.
• Principal features of architecture - forts and monuments, arts, paintings and handicrafts.
• The freedom movement in Rajasthan, political awakening and the Praja Mandal movement.
• The integration of Rajasthan.
• Local languages (boli) and literature; folk music and folk dance.
• Saints, poets, warriors, folk deities and folk goddesses.
• Fairs and festivals, customs and traditions, dress and ornaments.

2. Geography of India and Rajasthan

• Physiography of India - mountains, plateaus, deserts and plains; major rivers, dams, lakes and the sea; wildlife and sanctuaries.
• Principal physiography of Rajasthan - climatic conditions, vegetation and soils; rivers, dams and lakes.
• Natural resources of Rajasthan - mineral wealth, forest resources, water resources and livestock resources.
• Wildlife, sanctuaries and conservation.
• Population - growth, density, literacy and sex ratio; principal tribes.
• Tourism in Rajasthan.

3. Indian Political System, with special emphasis on Rajasthan

• Nature of the Indian Constitution, the Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties.
• Rajasthan's political and administrative system - Governor, Chief Minister, State Legislative Assembly, High Court, Rajasthan Public Service Commission, State Election Commission, State Information Commission, State Human Rights Commission, Chief Secretary and district administration.
• Local self-government and Panchayati Raj.

4. Economy of Rajasthan

• Agriculture and economic development in Rajasthan - principal crops, agriculture-based industries, major irrigation projects, wasteland development projects, handicraft industry, unemployment, drought and famine.
• Various welfare schemes in Rajasthan; the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act; development institutions, small enterprises and financial institutions; the role of Panchayati Raj institutions in rural development.
• Industrial development - principal industries and industrial sectors, small, cottage and village industries.
• Different energy sources in Rajasthan - hydroelectric, thermal, atomic, wind and solar energy.

5. Everyday Science

• Physical and chemical changes; oxidation and reduction reactions; catalysts.
• Metals, non-metals and their important compounds; some important compounds used in daily life.
• Carbon and important compounds of carbon - hydrocarbons, allotropes of carbon, chloro-fluoro carbon or freon, CNG, polymers, soap and detergents.
• Reflection of light and its laws; dispersion of light; types of lenses; defects of vision and their correction.
• Space and information technology - India's space research programme; information technology.
• General terminology related to genetics; Mendel's law of inheritance; structure of chromosomes; nucleic acids; central dogma of protein synthesis; sex determination in humans.
• Environmental studies - structure of the ecosystem, biological components of the ecosystem, energy flow in the ecosystem, biogeochemical cycles; biotechnology - general information, bio-patents, development of new plant varieties, transgenic organisms.
• Economic importance of animals and plants.
• Blood groups, blood transfusion, the Rh factor; pathogens and human health, malnutrition and human health; disease - causes and cures.

6. Logical Reasoning and Mental Ability

At the 12th level this section is weighted towards mathematics and measurement rather than verbal reasoning.

• Vedic method of finding squares, cubes, square roots and cube roots of whole numbers.
• Factors, factors of polynomials, equations, linear equations in two variables, quadratic equations and logarithms.
• Ratio and proportion, percentage, profit and loss, partnership, simple interest, compound interest and discount.
• Angles and lines formed at a point, simple linear figures, congruence of triangles, similar triangles, the Cartesian coordinate system, distance between two points, and internal and external division of the line segment joining two points.
• Area of plane figures; circumference and area of a circle; surface area and volume of the cube, cuboid, sphere, cone and cylinder.
• Measurement of angles and their units; trigonometric ratios of acute angles; trigonometric identities; standard height-and-distance problems.
• Representation of data through graphs, measures of central tendency, standard deviation, birth and death statistics and indices.
• General mental ability.
• Logical reasoning and analytical ability.

7. Language knowledge - General Hindi

• Sandhi and Sandhi-vichchhed.
• Construction of compound words and Samas-vigrah.
• Upasarag.
• Paryayvachi shabd.
• Viparitarthak (vilom) shabd.
• Anekarthak shabd.
• Shabd-yugma.
• Noun, pronoun, adjective, avyaya and verb.
• Shabd shuddhi - correction of incorrect words and the cause of word-level error.
• Vakya shuddhi - correction of incorrect sentences and the cause of sentence-level error.
• One meaningful word for a phrase.
• Muhavare and lokoktlyan.
• Hindi synonyms for English technical terms.
• Knowledge related to official letters.

8. Language knowledge - General English

• Tenses and sequence of tenses.
• Voice - active and passive.
• Narration - direct and indirect.
• Use of articles and determiners.
• Use of prepositions.
• Translation of simple sentences from Hindi to English and vice versa.

How the CET score is used

CET is not a recruitment and carries no vacancy count of its own. RSSB and other Rajasthan departments use the CET score as a qualifying benchmark for a range of advertised posts. That has three practical consequences worth understanding before you sit the paper:

• Choose your level deliberately. The 12th level paper assumes Senior Secondary knowledge; the Graduation paper assumes a bachelor's degree and adds Indian Economy and a deeper Constitution and National Movement treatment. Sitting the wrong level wastes the attempt.
• Mark allocation is uniform. Because every question carries equal weight and there is no separate section cutoff printed on the scheme sheet, consistent accuracy across all subject areas matters more than specialisation in one.
• Read the notification for the cycle. The scheme sheet is the syllabus authority, but dates, fee, reporting centres, admit-card process, identity requirements and the negative-marking rule come from the CET notification published for each cycle.

Preparation guidance

The syllabus is broad but the structure is predictable. A practical allocation of effort follows the way the two papers are actually built.

Weight your preparation by paper structure

• For the Graduation paper: Rajasthan's history, geography and polity are named as "with special emphasis" subjects and carry a large combined share. Rajasthani history and polity together are the highest-yield block, because the same Rajasthan-specific material also feeds the geography and current-affairs sections.
• For the 12th level paper: Everyday Science replaces Indian Economy and the National Movement, and the reasoning section becomes quantitative. Maths and measurement topics - mensuration, trigonometry, coordinate geometry, indices and statistics - are worth more effort than verbal reasoning at this level.
• Language sections are two-sided. Both General Hindi and General English appear, and both include translation and letter-writing elements. The English syllabus explicitly includes objective letter-structure questions, so practice formal letter formats rather than only comprehension.
• Do not neglect Computer Knowledge. It is a short syllabus - characteristics, organisation, RAM/ROM/file system/input devices, hardware-software relationship, operating systems and MS-Office - and is disproportionately cheap to revise relative to the marks it can secure.
• Current Affairs is syllabus-bounded. The official scope is events and issues of Rajasthan, Indian and international importance, persons and places under discussion, and sports. That is a finite, trackable list rather than open-ended news reading.

Sequencing your revision

• Lock the Rajasthan-specific blocks first - history, geography, polity, economy. These are simultaneously the most syllabus-specific and the most examinable, and they overlap with each other.
• Then build the reasoning section around the level-appropriate type. Do not carry Graduation-level verbal reasoning practice into the 12th level paper, or the reverse.
• Run language sections as timed drills rather than study blocks, because both are wide but shallow and reward familiarity with the specific grammatical categories listed.
• Finish with Computer Knowledge and a rolling Current Affairs file. Both are low-effort, and Current Affairs in particular cannot be revised retrospectively.
• Keep one full-length 150-question, 180-minute mock to confirm pacing. Three hours for 150 questions is two minutes twenty seconds per question with no sectional break to exploit.

Official sources

• RSSB Syllabus Section - the official scheme-and-syllabus library, filterable by exam year and exam name. Both CET level documents are listed here under "Common Eligibility Test (Graduation Level)" and "Common Eligibility Test (Senior Secondary Level)".
• Official CET Graduation Level - Scheme and Syllabus (PDF) - the board's published scheme and topic-wise syllabus for the Graduation level paper.
• Official CET Senior Secondary Level - Scheme and Syllabus (PDF) - the board's published scheme and topic-wise syllabus for the 12th level paper.
• RSSB Downloads - current notifications, including the operative CET notification for each cycle.
• RSSB official website.

The scheme and topic-wise syllabus above are reproduced from the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board's own published scheme-and-syllabus documents, retrieved from the board's official Syllabus Section. The published PDFs are scanned images; the text here was recovered by optical character recognition and checked against the page images, and the exam scheme figures (150 questions, 300 marks, 3 hours) were confirmed directly from the scheme table. Where the scanned wording of the negative-marking note could not be read reliably, this page says so rather than state a figure.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the RSSB CET 12th level and Graduation level papers?

Both are 150 questions, 300 marks and 3 hours. The 12th level paper is set entirely at Senior Secondary level and includes Everyday Science and a mathematics-heavy reasoning section. The Graduation paper adds the Indian National Movement, Indian Economy, a detailed treatment of the Indian Constitution and a verbal/non-verbal reasoning section, and includes Science and Technology instead of Everyday Science.

How many questions are there in the Rajasthan CET?

150 questions for 300 marks in both levels, with 3 hours (03:00 HRS) allotted. Because the marks carry equal weight across the paper, each question is worth the same.

Is there negative marking in the RSSB CET?

Both official scheme sheets carry a note addressing negative marking for a wrong answer, but the wording in the scanned copies is not legible enough to state the deduction or to confirm how it applies to each level. Check the negative-marking rule in the current CET notification published by RSSB for the cycle you are applying to.

Is Rajasthan CET a recruitment exam?

No. CET is a qualifying test whose score is used across multiple Rajasthan recruitment processes. Vacancies belong to the individual advertisements, not to CET itself. Refer to the RSSB Downloads section for the notifications of the cycle you need.

Which level should I choose - 12th or Graduation?

Choose the level that matches your highest published qualification. The 12th level paper is for Senior Secondary (10+2) holders and the Graduation paper is for degree holders. The official scheme for the 12th level states that all its questions will be at Senior Secondary level, so a graduate sitting the 12th level paper will not face graduate-level questions on it.

Is there a separate sectional cutoff in the CET?

The published scheme sheets do not print sectional cut-offs. They state that all questions are multiple choice and that marks are equal for all questions. Any aggregate or stage requirement comes from the notification for the specific cycle.

Does Computer Knowledge carry separate marks in CET?

No separate allotment is published. Computer Knowledge is listed as a subject in the scheme, and because all questions carry equal marks, its weight is proportional to the number of questions set on it. Its syllabus is short - characteristics, organisation, RAM, ROM, file system, input devices, hardware-software relationship, operating systems and MS-Office.

How should I prepare for the Rajasthan-specific part of the CET?

Treat Rajasthan's history, geography, political system and economy as one linked block rather than four separate subjects, because the scheme names them as areas of "special emphasis" and they draw on the same underlying material. Add Rajasthan's current affairs to the same block, since the official current-affairs scope explicitly includes events of Rajasthan.

Where do I get the admit card and exam date?

RSSB publishes exam dates in press notes and the admit card through its official website and Downloads section. Neither the scheme sheet nor this page carries cycle-specific dates, so always confirm against the current notification.