Punjab Police Head Constable Syllabus & Exam Pattern

I cleared the Punjab Police Sub Inspector exam with Rank 2, scoring 713 out of 800. The Head Constable paper is built on almost the same lines as SI, so this guide gives you the full pattern from the official notification along with what works.

The latest Punjab Police Head Constable (Investigation Cadre) notification we have is Advt. No. 4 of 2021, published on 4 August 2021. Prepare on this pattern, and we will update this page when a new notification is published.

The 2021 recruitment at a glance

• Posts: 811 Head Constables in the Investigation Cadre: 24 for sportspersons and 787 through this recruitment, of which 257 were reserved for women
• Category-wise: General 332; SC (Balmiki/Mazhbi Sikh) 82; SC (Ramdasia & others) 81; BC 81; EWS 81; ex-servicemen 105; wards of freedom fighters 8; wards of police personnel 17
• Applications: 4 to 25 August 2021
• Pay: Rs 25,500 per month (minimum pay, Level 4) during the 3-year probation
• Fee: Rs 1,000 for General; Rs 550 for SC, BC and EWS; Rs 400 for ex-servicemen of Punjab

Eligibility (2021 notification)

• Education: graduation from a recognised university
• Punjabi: matriculation with Punjabi as a compulsory or elective subject, or an equivalent Punjabi examination
• Age: 21 to 28 years as on 1 January 2021. SC and BC candidates of Punjab and serving government employees get up to 5 years of relaxation. Ex-servicemen deduct their service period as per rules.
• Height: 5 ft 5 in for men and 5 ft 1 in for women

Note the minimum age: it is 21, not 18 as for Constable and SI.

Selection process

1. Stage I: Computer Based Test: two papers on the same day, in Punjabi and English (the English version prevails if there is any doubt)
2. Stage II: document scrutiny, Physical Measurement Test (PMT) and Physical Screening Test (PST)

The merit is made from the total marks of Paper 1 and Paper 2 after normalization. PMT and PST are qualifying. There is no waiting list.

Unlike Constable and SI, there is no separate Punjabi qualifying paper. Punjabi is a 20-question section inside Paper 1.

Exam pattern

Negative marking: each wrong answer costs 1 mark (25% of 4).

Minimum marks (after normalization): 30% in each paper separately for General and other categories, 25% for SC, BC, EWS and ex-servicemen.

Ties: if two candidates have the same total, the older candidate ranks higher. Next comes the higher Paper 1 score, then the higher matriculation percentage.

Official syllabus

Paper 1

• General Awareness:
  1. Indian Constitution and its features; Central and State legislature, executive and local government institutions; judicial institutions
  2. History and culture of Punjab
  3. Science and technology, Indian economy and agriculture, geography of India
  4. National and international current affairs, including current legal developments
• Quantitative Aptitude:
  1. Numbers and their relations, simplification, decimals and fractions
  2. Ratio and proportion, percentage, average (mean, mode, median)
  3. Profit and loss, simple interest
  4. Time and work, speed, time and distance
• Punjabi:
  1. Sentence completion and structuring, error detection
  2. Vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitution), comprehension
  3. English-to-Punjabi translation, precis, fill in the blanks, idioms and phrases

Paper 2

• Reasoning:
  1. Statements and conclusions, number and letter series, sequencing, missing number, pattern completion
  2. Order and ranking, direction and distances, relationship problems
  3. Puzzles, calendars, coding-decoding
  4. Verbal, non-verbal and legal reasoning
• Digital Literacy:
  1. Computer fundamentals, hardware, email basics
  2. MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
  3. Internet and the web, social media, search engines
  4. Mobile phones (basic concepts)
• English:
  1. Sentence completion and structuring, error detection
  2. Vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, one-word substitution), comprehension
  3. Punjabi-to-English translation, precis, fill in the blanks

Physical tests (2021 notification)

You must clear every event for your category; failing any one disqualifies you.

How to prepare

1. Respect the negative marking. With -1 for a wrong answer, a blind guess loses on average. Attempt a question when you can cut it down to two options.
2. General Awareness and Reasoning decide the merit. They are 50 + 50 of the 200 questions, which is 400 of the 800 marks. Give Punjab history and culture extra time.
3. Digital Literacy is 120 marks. It goes up to Excel and PowerPoint. Most candidates under-prepare it, so it is where you can gain the most.
4. Practise translation daily. Punjabi (Paper 1) and English (Paper 2) each carry 80 marks, and both include translation and precis.
5. Clear 30% in each paper separately. A strong Paper 1 cannot rescue a weak Paper 2.
6. Do not ignore the physical test. The 800 m in 4 minutes is easier than the Constable run, but you still need a few weeks of practice.

The pattern is very close to SI, so the Punjab Police SI guide and its preparation tips apply here too.

Free practice sets on House of Aspirants

General Awareness

• DPSP & Fundamental Duties
• Sikhism Part 1
• Five Year Plans

Reasoning

• Number Series Part 1

Digital Literacy

• Fundamentals of Computers
• MS Word Part 1
• Mobile Phones

Current affairs

• July 2026 Part 1

Every set is free, in Punjabi and English, with an explanation for each answer. Sign in once and your score appears on the live leaderboard.

Download the official notification

Read the full guide above first, then keep the original notification for reference.

Download the Punjab Police Head Constable 2021 official notification (PDF, 16 pages)