The CCE Group A Mains Syllabus is not a general knowledge exam with some language attached. It is the opposite. In the CCE Group A mains syllabus, 200 of the 350 marks come from the Gujarati and English papers, and only 150 from General Studies.
That one number changes how you should plan for the CCE Group A mains syllabus. A candidate who spends September to December only on polity, economy and current affairs is preparing for 43% of the paper. The other 57% is essay, letter, report, precis, translation and grammar, which are skills you build by writing, not by reading.
Everything below comes from Appendix-G and Appendix-H of the Gujarat Subordinate Services, Class III (Group-A and Group-B) (Combined Competitive Examination) Rules, published in the Gujarat Government Gazette on 22 January 2026. Group B writes a different paper, so this guide stays on the CCE Group A mains syllabus only.
Update: the mains exam date has been announced. See CCE Group A Mains Exam Date 2026 for the official schedule and how many weeks of writing practice you actually have left. Still waiting on the prelims outcome? The CCE Prelims Answer Key 2026 page tracks the response sheet and the objection window.
CCE Group A Mains Syllabus 2026 at a Glance
| Point | Official detail |
|---|---|
| Rules source | GSSSB |
| Papers | Three: Gujarati (100), English (100), General Studies (150) |
| Total marks | 350 |
| Duration | 3 hours per paper, so 9 hours of writing in total |
| Question type | Descriptive, for all three papers |
| Medium | Paper-I Gujarati, Paper-II English, Paper-III Gujarati |
| Standard | Std 12 higher-level Gujarati and English of the Gujarat board (GSHSEB) |
| Negative marking | Not applicable; the 0.25 rule belongs to the objective papers |
| Compensatory time | 20 minutes per hour for candidates with disability, so 1 extra hour in a 3-hour paper |
One clarification before the CCE Group A mains syllabus topic lists. The “Not attempted” option, the 0.25 deduction and the 200-mark two-hour paper that you see on many CCE pages all belong to the objective papers: the Preliminary Exam and the Group B mains. Under the CCE Group A mains syllabus you write answers by hand, and blank space simply scores zero.
CCE Group A Mains Syllabus: Paper-Wise Scheme
| Paper | Subject | Marks | Duration | Medium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Gujarati Language Skill | 100 | 3 hours | Gujarati |
| II | English Language Skill | 100 | 3 hours | English |
| III | General Studies | 150 | 3 hours | Gujarati |
| Total | 350 |
เช เชคเซเชฏเชพเชฐเซ เช เชกเชพเชเชจเชฒเซเชก เชเชฐเซ
CCE Group A Mains Syllabus: Paper-I เชเซเชเชฐเชพเชคเซ (100 Marks)
The topic column is copied exactly as the Gazette prints it in Gujarati. The English column is our translation.
| No. | เช เชญเซเชฏเชพเชธเชเซเชฐเชฎ เชตเชฟเชเชค (as printed) | In English | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | เชจเชฟเชฌเชเชง : เชคเซเชฐเชฃ เชชเซเชเซ เชเซเช เชชเชฃ เชเช (เชเชถเชฐเซ เซจเซซเซฆ เชถเชฌเซเชฆเซเชฎเชพเช) (เชตเชฐเซเชฃเชจเชพเชคเซเชฎเช / เชตเชฟเชถเซเชฒเซเชทเชฃเชพเชคเซเชฎเช / เชเชฟเชเชคเชจเชพเชคเซเชฎเช / เชธเชพเชเชชเซเชฐเชค เชธเชฎเชธเซเชฏเชพ เชชเชฐ เชเชงเชพเชฐเชฟเชค.) | Essay, any one of three, about 250 words | 15 |
| 2 | เชตเชฟเชเชพเชฐ เชตเชฟเชธเซเชคเชพเชฐ (เชคเซเชฐเชฃ เชชเซเชเซ เชเซเช เชชเชฃ เชฌเซ) เชเชพเชตเซเชฏเชชเชเชเซเชคเชฟเช เชเซ เชเชฆเซเชฏเชธเซเชเซเชคเชฟเชจเซ เชตเชฟเชเชพเชฐ เชตเชฟเชธเซเชคเชพเชฐ (เชเชถเชฐเซ เซงเซฆเซฆ เชถเชฌเซเชฆเซเชฎเชพเช เชชเซเชฐเชคเซเชฏเซเช) | Expansion of an idea, any two of three, about 100 words each | 5 ร 2 = 10 |
| 3 | เชธเชเชเซเชทเซเชชเซเชเชฐเชฃ : เชเชชเซเชฒเชพ เชเชฆเซเชฏเชเชเชกเชฎเชพเชเชฅเซ เชเชถเชฐเซ เซง/เซฉ เชญเชพเชเชฎเชพเช เชคเชฎเชพเชฐเชพ เชถเชฌเซเชฆเซเชฎเชพเช เชธเชเชเซเชทเซเชช. | Precis of a passage in about one-third the length | 10 |
| 4 | เชเชฆเซเชฏ เชธเชฎเซเชเซเชทเชพ: เชเชชเซเชฒเชพ เชเชฆเซเชฏเชเชเชกเชจเชพ เชเชงเชพเชฐเซ เชชเซเชเซเชฒเชพ เชชเซเชฐเชถเซเชจเซเชจเชพ เชเชตเชพเชฌเซ เชฒเชเซ. | Comprehension questions on a given passage | 10 |
| 5 | เชชเซเชฐเชเชพเชฐ เชฎเชพเชงเซเชฏเชฎเซ เชฎเชพเชเซ เชจเชฟเชตเซเชฆเชจเซ เชคเซเชฏเชพเชฐ เชเชฐเชตเชพ (เชเชถเชฐเซ เซงเซฆเซฆ เชถเชฌเซเชฆเซ.) | Press statement for media, about 100 words | 05 |
| 6 | เชชเชคเซเชฐ เชฒเซเชเชจ (เช เชญเชฟเชจเชเชฆเชจ/ เชถเซเชญเซเชเซเชเชพ/ เชตเชฟเชจเชเชคเซ / เชซเชฐเชฟเชฏเชพเชฆ เชตเชเซเชฐเซ) (เชเชถเชฐเซ เซงเซฆเซฆ เชถเชฌเซเชฆเซเชฎเชพเช). | Letter writing, about 100 words | 05 |
| 7 | เชเชฐเซเชเชพเชชเชคเซเชฐ (เชเชถเชฐเซ เซงเซซเซฆ เชถเชฌเซเชฆเซเชฎเชพเช) (เชตเชฐเซเชคเชฎเชพเชจเชชเชคเซเชฐเชฎเชพเช เชชเซเชฐเชเชพเชจเชพ เชชเซเชฐเชถเซเชจเซ / เชธเชพเชเชชเซเชฐเชค เชธเชฎเชธเซเชฏเชพเช / เชตเซเชฏเชเซเชคเชฟเชเชค เช เชญเชฟเชชเซเชฐเชพเชฏ เชฐเชเซ เชเชฐเชคเซเช เชเชฐเซเชเชพเชชเชคเซเชฐ). | Letter to a newspaper on a public issue, about 150 words | 10 |
| 8 | เช เชนเซเชตเชพเชฒ เชฒเซเชเชจ (เชเชถเชฐเซ เซงเซซเซฆ เชถเชฌเซเชฆเซเชฎเชพเช). | Report writing, about 150 words | 10 |
| 9 | เชญเชพเชทเชพเชเชคเชฐ : เช เชเชเซเชฐเซเชเซเชฎเชพเชเชฅเซ เชเซเชเชฐเชพเชคเซเชฎเชพเช เช เชจเซเชตเชพเชฆ (เซงเซฆ เชตเชพเชเซเชฏเซ) | Translation of 10 sentences, English to Gujarati | 10 |
| 10 | เชเซเชเชฐเชพเชคเซ เชตเซเชฏเชพเชเชฐเชฃ (เชธเซเชเชตเซเชฏเชพ เชฎเซเชเชฌ เชเชตเชพเชฌ เชฒเชเซ. เช เชชเซเชฐเชถเซเชจเซเชฎเชพเช เชเชเชคเชฐเชฟเช เชตเชฟเชเชฒเซเชชเซ เชฐเชนเซเชถเซ เชจเชนเซเช) | Gujarati grammar, with no internal options | 15 |
| เชเซเชฒ | Total | 100 |
The grammar block is the one place the Gazette lists sub-points, and it names exactly ten:
- เชฐเซเชขเชฟเชชเซเชฐเชฏเซเชเซเชจเซ เช เชฐเซเชฅ เช เชจเซ เชคเซเชจเซ เชตเชพเชเซเชฏเชชเซเชฐเชฏเซเช
- เชเชนเซเชตเชคเซเชจเซ เช เชฐเซเชฅ
- เชธเชฎเชพเชธเชจเซ เชตเชฟเชเซเชฐเชน เชเชฐเซ เชคเซเชจเซ เชเชณเช
- เชเชเชฆ เชเชณเชเชตเซ
- เช เชฒเชเชเชพเชฐ เชเชณเชเชตเซ
- เชถเชฌเซเชฆเชธเชฎเซเชน เชฎเชพเชเซ เชเช เชถเชฌเซเชฆ
- เชเซเชกเชฃเซ เชถเซเชฆเซเชงเชฟ
- เชฒเซเชเชจ เชถเซเชฆเซเชงเชฟ / เชญเชพเชทเชพ เชถเซเชฆเซเชงเชฟ
- เชธเชเชงเชฟ โ เชเซเชกเซ เชเซ เชเซเชกเซ
- เชตเชพเชเซเชฏ เชฐเชเชจเชพเชจเชพ เช เชเชเซ / เชตเชพเชเซเชฏเชจเชพ เชชเซเชฐเชเชพเชฐ / เชตเชพเชเซเชฏ เชชเชฐเชฟเชตเชฐเซเชคเชจ
Read the marks column of this CCE Group A mains syllabus table once more and you will see where the paper actually sits: 55 marks are composition (เชจเชฟเชฌเชเชง, เชตเชฟเชเชพเชฐ เชตเชฟเชธเซเชคเชพเชฐ, เชจเชฟเชตเซเชฆเชจ, เชชเชคเซเชฐ, เชเชฐเซเชเชพเชชเชคเซเชฐ, เช เชนเซเชตเชพเชฒ), 20 marks are passage work, 15 is grammar and 10 is translation. The phrase เชเชเชคเชฐเชฟเช เชตเชฟเชเชฒเซเชชเซ เชฐเชนเซเชถเซ เชจเชนเซเช on the grammar block matters too. In those questions you cannot skip a เชเชเชฆ you never learned, because there is no choice inside them.
CCE Group A Mains Syllabus: Paper-II English Language Skill (100 Marks)
| No. | Type of question | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Essay, about 250 words, one topic from a list of three (descriptive, analytical, philosophical or current affairs) | 15 |
| 2 | Letter writing, about 150 words, a formal letter giving an opinion on an issue | 10 |
| 3 | Report writing, about 150 words, on an official function, event, field trip or survey | 10 |
| 4 | Writing on visual information, about 150 words, from a graph, image, flow chart or table | 10 |
| 5 | Formal speech, about 100 words | 05 |
| 6 | Precis writing, about 50 words for a 150-word passage | 05 |
| 7 | Reading comprehension, two passages of about 150 words with short-answer questions | 10 ร 2 = 20 |
| 8 | English grammar, 10 questions of 2 marks each | 20 |
| 9 | Translation of a short passage of about 100 words, Gujarati to English | 05 |
| Total | 100 |
The grammar block is the only part of Paper-II where the CCE Group A mains syllabus lists sub-points, and it names fourteen:
- Tenses
- Voice
- Narration (direct-indirect)
- Transformation of sentences
- Use of articles and determiners
- Use of prepositions
- Use of phrasal verbs
- Use of idiomatic expressions
- Administrative glossary
- Synonyms and antonyms
- One-word substitution
- Cohesive devices, connectives and linkers
- Affixes
- Words that cause confusion, such as homonyms and homophones
Two items here decide a lot of marks. “Writing on visual information” is worth 10 marks and almost nobody practises it, because it asks you to turn a graph or a comparison table into a paragraph. “Administrative glossary” sits quietly inside the grammar list and rewards anyone who has read government circulars in English.
Preparing for Group B instead? The CCE Group B Mains Paper 2025 with all answer keys is a far better starting point than this descriptive Group A syllabus โ the two papers have nothing in common.
CCE Group A Mains Syllabus: Paper-III General Studies (150 Marks)
| Unit | Topic | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| a | History of India | 15 |
| b | Cultural heritage | 15 |
| c | Geography | 15 |
| d | Science and Technology | 10 |
| e | Events of regional, national and international importance | 30 |
| f | Indian State System and Constitution | 20 |
| g | Public administration and governance | 20 |
| h | Discipline in public service | 10 |
| i | Indian economy and Planning | 15 |
| Total | 150 |
Print this table and keep it beside your notes. Every topic list in the CCE Group A mains syllabus below maps to one of these rows.
Current affairs is the single biggest unit of the CCE Group A mains syllabus at 30 marks, which is 20% of the paper and more than history and geography put together. Polity and administration, units (f) and (g), carry 40 marks between them. History, cultural heritage, geography and the economy sit at 15 marks each, and science and ethics at 10 each.
CCE Group A Mains Syllabus: Unit-Wise Topic List for Paper-III
Eight of the nine units of the CCE Group A mains syllabus come with sub-points in the Gazette. This is the full list, unit by unit.
(a) History of India (15 Marks)
- Indus Valley Civilization: characteristics, places, society, cultural history, art and religion; the Indus Valley Civilization and Gujarat; Vedic Age; Jainism and Buddhism; Nanda dynasty
- Maurya and Gupta empires
- Vijayanagara dynasty and important dynasties of South India
- Important dynasties of Gujarat: their administration, art, architecture, literature, science and technologies
- Educational institutions: Takshshila, Nalanda and Valabhi
- Arrival of Europeans in India; establishment and expansion of British rule from 1757 to 1856; land revenue system; permanent conscription, raiyatwari and mahalwari; education system
- India’s freedom struggle of 1857; religious and social reform movements in India and Gujarat in the 19th century; factors responsible for the rise of nationalism; Indian National Congress
- Rise of Mahatma Gandhi on the national scene and the impact of his ideas, principles and teachings on the political, social, economic, religious and cultural life of India
- Role of Sardar Patel in the independence movement and post-independence integration
- Indian revolutionaries in India and abroad, Azad Indian Army and Subhas Chandra Bose
- Post-independence India: reorganization of states, Mahagujarat movement, important events
Point 6 prints “permanent conscription” in the Gazette, which reads like a slip for the Permanent Settlement, since it sits beside raiyatwari and mahalwari. Prepare all three revenue systems and you are covered either way.
(b) Cultural Heritage (15 Marks)
- Salient features of Indian culture and its art forms, literature, sculpture and architecture from ancient to modern times
- Indian cinema and theatre and their impact on society
- Arts and crafts of Gujarat
- Gujarati theatre
- Folk culture and oral tradition of Gujarat: significance, characteristics and implications
- Coastal culture and tribal culture of Gujarat
(c) Geography (15 Marks)
- Physical features and resources of Gujarat and India: major landforms, climate, soil, rocks, rivers, reservoirs, vegetation, minerals and water resources
- Economic history: primary, tertiary and quaternary
- Social and demographic geography
- Developmental and environmental issues: sustainable development, globalization and its social and economic impacts, natural disasters, carbon emissions, pollution, disaster management, and the global response to climate change and environmental degradation, including key treaties and conventions
(d) Science and Technology (10 Marks)
- Integrating science, technology and innovation for a better human life; science and technology in everyday life; India’s contribution; challenges and obstacles in application and diffusion; role and scope in nation building
- Information and Communication Technologies (ICT): importance, benefits and challenges, e-governance and policies regarding India, cybercrime and cyber security
- India’s space programmes: past, present and future
- Energy policy and nuclear policy of India: importance, benefits and challenges of technology in defence services
- Achievements of Indians in the field of science and technology
(e) Events of Regional, National and International Importance (30 Marks)
This is the only unit of the CCE Group A mains syllabus that the Gazette leaves without a single sub-point, and it is also the heaviest at 30 marks. Read that as freedom for the paper setter, not as a small topic. Build your own file: Gujarat government schemes and appointments, national policies and bills, budget and economic survey headlines, summits and treaties India joined, sports, awards, obituaries, and science or space milestones. Keep dates and numbers, because a 3-mark answer needs one fact more than a newspaper headline gives you.
(f) Indian State System and Constitution (20 Marks)
- Constitution of India and its salient features
- Functions and duties of the Union and State governments of India
- Issues and challenges related to the federal structure, and the role of the Governor in states
Three sub-points for 20 marks is the widest gap in the CCE Group A mains syllabus. Unit (g) below carries the same 20 marks with twelve sub-points, so treat (f) and (g) as one polity block while you revise.
(g) Public Administration and Governance (20 Marks)
- Meaning, nature and scope of public administration, its evolution in India, legacy of British rule
- Role of civil services in democracy
- Government policies and interventions, implementation issues and problems in the development of various sectors
- Development process: role of civil societies, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders; statutory, regulatory and quasi-judicial bodies
- Good governance and e-governance: transparency, accountability and sensitivity in governance; Bill of Rights, Right to Information, Public Service Act and its implications; surveys and social research
- Division of powers between central and state governments (Central List, State List, Concurrent List): issues and challenges
- Important constitutional amendments
- Constitutional institutions and their role
- Parliament and state legislatures: structure, functioning, governance, powers and privileges
- Judiciary in India: structure and functioning; important provisions and constitutional amendments related to emergency, judicial review and public petitions
- Rights-related issues: human rights, women’s rights, rights of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, rights of children
- Important international organizations and agencies, and their structure
(h) Discipline in Public Service (10 Marks)
- Ethics and human interaction: essence, determinants and implications for human behaviour; dimensions of ethics; ethics in personal and public relations; ethics in public services; truthfulness and accountability; Right to Information Act and Public Services Act
- Attitude: basic elements and functions; effect on thought, behaviour and relationships; character and political attitudes; social influence and the role of persuasion
- Emotional intelligence: concept, usefulness and applications in management and governance
- Human values: role of family, society and education in teaching values to citizens
- Ethics-related issues and challenges: anti-corruption system, Lokpal, Lokayukta
- Case study on matters related to points 1 to 5
Point 6 is the one to notice. A case study inside a 10-mark unit of the CCE Group A mains syllabus means at least one answer where you have to take a position and defend it, not recall a definition.
(i) Indian Economy and Planning (15 Marks)
- Indian economy: emergence and development of planning practice in India; central and state government economic performance, dynamics, challenges, new initiatives and reforms; important events, developments and social sector initiatives; NITI Aayog objectives, constitution and functions; social audit; agriculture, industries, infrastructure sector and service sector
- Regulatory framework for finance and ranking: concepts, structure and role; monetary policy and fiscal policy
- Indian public finance: Indian tax system, public expenditure, public debt, deficit and aid in the Indian economy; centre-state fiscal relations
- Various indicators of the economy; important institutions of India involved in public administration
- Rural development and rural economy: challenges and policies; employment policies and schemes in India
- The economy of Gujarat: an overview; economic and social infrastructure development policies of Gujarat compared with India and other states; the co-operative movement in Gujarat and its impact on socio-economic life
- Infrastructure: power, ports, roads, airports, railways, telecommunications; social impact assessment
Count the Gujarat-specific lines across these nine units of the CCE Group A mains syllabus and you get dynasties of Gujarat, Gujarat’s arts, crafts, theatre, folk and tribal culture, its landforms and resources, and its economy and co-operative movement. That is a Gujarat thread inside four separate units, which is why a state-focused source is worth more here than a national one.
The 56-Question Table Most Pages Skip
Appendix-G also fixes how Paper-III is built, and this is the most useful table in the whole document:
| Marks per question | Approximate words | Number of questions | Total marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10-20 | 10 | 10 |
| 2 | 20-30 | 10 | 20 |
| 3 | 30-50 | 30 | 90 |
| 5 | 100 | 06 | 30 |
| Total | 56 | 150 |
Do the arithmetic and this part of the CCE Group A mains syllabus stops being vague. Fifty-six questions in 180 minutes gives you about 3.2 minutes each. Using the Gazette’s own word bands, the paper asks for roughly 2,200 words in three hours, which is about 12 words a minute for three hours without a break.
The 3-mark block alone carries 90 marks, 60% of Paper-III, in 30-to-50-word answers. That is the shape you should practise most: one definition, one example, one line of significance. Long UPSC-style answers will cost you the paper.
What the CCE Group A Mains Syllabus Rewards
- Language over GK: Papers I and II are 200 of 350 marks, or 57% of the CCE Group A mains syllabus.
- Grammar: 15 marks in Gujarati plus 20 in English is 35 marks, a tenth of the whole CCE Group A mains syllabus, from rules you can finish in a month.
- Report writing twice: เช เชนเซเชตเชพเชฒ เชฒเซเชเชจ in Paper-I and report writing in Paper-II, 10 marks each. One format, two languages, 20 marks.
- Translation both ways: 10 marks English to Gujarati, 5 marks Gujarati to English.
- Essay twice: 250 words in each language, 15 marks each, both allowing a choice of three topics.
Write one Gujarati and one English answer every day and you will have covered the format list twice over before the mains date is announced.
Where the CCE Group A Mains Syllabus Fits in the Selection Process
The CCE Group A mains syllabus is stage two of the process. The Preliminary Exam before it is a 150-mark objective CBRT paper of 120 minutes, common to Group A and Group B. It is a screening test, so its marks do not go into the final merit list. Several syllabus sites report from the advertisement that candidates up to seven times the category-wise vacancies are called to the mains and that 40% is the qualifying standard at each stage. Those two rules are not part of Appendix-G or Appendix-H, so treat them as the advertisement’s terms and confirm them in your own copy.
If the 1:7 ratio holds for this cycle’s 7,338 vacancies, roughly 51,000 candidates would sit the mains stage. For practice on the prelims paper itself, our GSSSB CCE question paper collection has the shift-wise PDFs.
Three Things Other CCE Group A Mains Syllabus Pages Get Wrong
- 450 marks. One popular page lists Group A as English 150, Gujarati 150 and GS 150, totalling 450 marks in 9 hours. The Gazette says 100, 100 and 150, totalling 350.
- Old prelims pattern. Another still shows 100 questions in 60 minutes. The current CCE prelims is 150 marks in 120 minutes.
- Negative marking in Group A. Pages copy the 0.25 rule and the “Not attempted” option into the mains. Both belong to the objective papers, not to three descriptive papers you write by hand.
A fourth gap is quieter: almost no page carries the Paper-I Gujarati question list at all, and none carries the 56-question table for Paper-III.
CCE Group A Mains Syllabus PDF Download
The syllabus is not a separate booklet. It sits inside the Rules notified in the Gazette, in Appendix-G (scheme) and Appendix-H (paper-wise syllabus).
| Document | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| CCE Group A Main Syllabus official PDF | GSSSB | Download |
| Advertisement, syllabus notices, call letters and results | GSSSB | Visit |
| Advt. No. 378/202526 and candidate login | OJAS | Visit |
Looking for a Gujarati PDF? The Gazette prints Paper-I in Gujarati and Papers II and III in English, and this page keeps each one in the language the Board used. There is no separate Hindi version.
FAQs on CCE Group A Mains Syllabus
What is the CCE Group A mains syllabus 2026?
The CCE Group A mains syllabus has three descriptive papers worth 350 marks: Gujarati Language Skill (100), English Language Skill (100) and General Studies (150). Each paper runs three hours. Gujarati and English test essay, letter, report, precis, translation and grammar, while General Studies covers nine units from history to the economy.
How many marks is the CCE Group A mains exam?
The CCE Group A mains syllabus carries 350 marks in total, spread over three papers of 100, 100 and 150 marks. That is nine hours of writing. Preliminary exam marks are not added to this total, because the prelims is only a screening test for shortlisting candidates.
Is there negative marking in the CCE Group A mains?
No. The CCE Group A mains syllabus has three descriptive papers, so you write answers instead of marking options. The 0.25 deduction and the “Not attempted” option apply to the objective papers, which are the Preliminary Exam and the Group B mains paper.
Where can I download the CCE Group A mains syllabus PDF?
The syllabus is published inside the CCE Rules 2026 in the Gujarat Government Gazette of 22 January 2026, as Appendix-G and Appendix-H. Use the download table on this page, or check the syllabus and advertisement notices on gsssb.gujarat.gov.in for Advt. No. 378/202526.
Is the CCE Group A mains syllabus available in Gujarati?
Partly. The Gazette prints the Paper-I syllabus in Gujarati and prints Paper-II and Paper-III in English. This page keeps each list in the language the Board used and adds an English translation beside the Gujarati table, so nothing is lost in either direction.
What is the medium of the CCE Group A mains exam?
The CCE Group A mains syllabus sets Paper-I in Gujarati and Paper-II in English. Paper-III, General Studies, is in Gujarati. The standard for both language papers is the higher-level Gujarati and English of Std 12 of the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board.
How many questions are there in CCE Group A mains General Studies?
The CCE Group A mains syllabus gives Paper-III 56 questions for 150 marks: ten of 1 mark, ten of 2 marks, thirty of 3 marks and six of 5 marks. Answer lengths run from 10-20 words for a 1-mark question up to about 100 words for a 5-mark question, all within three hours.
Which section carries the most marks in Paper-III?
In the CCE Group A mains syllabus it is events of regional, national and international importance, including current affairs, at 30 marks. Next come Indian State System and Constitution and Public administration and governance at 20 marks each. History, cultural heritage, geography and the economy carry 15 marks each.
Is the CCE Group A mains syllabus the same as Group B?
No. Group A writes three descriptive papers for 350 marks. Group B writes one objective paper of 200 marks in two hours with ten topics and 0.25 negative marking. Only the Preliminary Exam, of 150 marks, is common to both groups.
When is the CCE mains exam 2026?
GSSSB has not announced a mains date. The Preliminary Exam for Advt. No. 378/202526 is being held between 16 and 29 September 2026, and the mains schedule usually follows the prelims result. Watch gsssb.gujarat.gov.in and your candidate login for the notice.
Final Word on the CCE Group A Mains Syllabus
The CCE Group A Mains Syllabus is unusually honest about what it wants. It tells you the word count of nearly every answer, the number of questions in General Studies and the marks for each format. Very few state exams hand you that much detail.
Your next step: print the Paper-I and Paper-II tables above, pick one format from each list, and write those two answers today in the exact word limit the Gazette gives.
Source: Gujarat Subordinate Services, Class III (Group-A and Group-B) (Combined Competitive Examination) Rules, Gujarat Government Gazette, Extraordinary, 22 January 2026, Appendix-G and Appendix-H. Notices and updates: GSSSB official website.
