Kerala PSC Guide
Kerala PSC LDC 2026: Syllabus, Exam Pattern and a 90-Day Study Plan
The complete Kerala PSC LDC 2026 syllabus, the exact 100-mark exam pattern, and a realistic 90-day study plan written for people preparing while working or studying.
The exam pattern, mark by mark
LDC is a single objective paper. 100 questions, 100 marks, 75 minutes. That is 45 seconds per question, and that single number should shape everything about how you prepare. There is negative marking of one-third of a mark for every wrong answer.
| Section | Questions | What it really tests |
|---|---|---|
| General Knowledge & Current Affairs | 40 | Recall. Fast, or not at all. |
| Quantitative Aptitude & Mental Ability | 20 | Speed, not cleverness. |
| General English | 20 | Grammar rules, not vocabulary luck. |
| Malayalam / Regional Language | 20 | The section most people throw away. |
Note what that table is telling you. GK is 40 marks and it is pure recall — you either know it or you do not, and no amount of exam-hall thinking will save you. Maths and English are only 20 marks each, but they are the two sections you can most reliably train. And Malayalam, 20 marks, is the section Kerala candidates routinely neglect because they assume speaking a language means knowing its grammar. It does not.
The full syllabus
General Knowledge (40 marks). Indian history with a heavy emphasis on the freedom struggle; Kerala history and the Renaissance movement — Sree Narayana Guru, Ayyankali, Chattampi Swamikal, Vaikom Satyagraha, the Temple Entry Proclamation; Indian and Kerala geography; the Constitution, fundamental rights, directive principles, the panchayati raj system; general science; and current affairs from roughly the last twelve months.
Quantitative Aptitude (20 marks). Numbers, HCF and LCM, percentage, profit and loss, simple and compound interest, ratio and proportion, average, time and work, time and distance, mensuration. Mental ability: series, coding-decoding, blood relations, direction, odd-one-out, analogy, calendar and clock.
General English (20 marks). Parts of speech, tense, voice, articles, prepositions, subject-verb agreement, degrees of comparison, direct and indirect speech, question tags, phrasal verbs, idioms, one-word substitutes, correction of sentences, and spotting errors.
Malayalam (20 marks). Grammar, translation both ways, idioms and proverbs, vocabulary, sandhi and samasam, and word usage.
The 90-day plan
This assumes about three hours on weekdays and five at the weekend. If you have less, stretch the plan — do not compress it.
Days 1–30: build the base. Take one full mock test on day one, before you study anything. Your score will be bad. That is the point — it tells you which of the four sections is actually bleeding marks, and it stops you from studying what you already know, which is what nearly everybody does. Then: Kerala Renaissance and modern Indian history in week one, geography and polity in week two, general science in week three, and the arithmetic chapters through week four. Thirty minutes of Malayalam grammar every single day, without exception.
Days 31–60: convert knowledge into speed. Now you start solving under a clock. One sectional test a day, one full mock test each weekend. After every mock, spend more time on the review than you spent on the test itself. A question you got wrong and did not understand why is a question you will get wrong again.
Days 61–90: exam simulation. Three full mock tests a week, always at the same time of day as your actual exam slot, always with the full 75-minute clock, always with negative marking applied. Keep a single notebook of every question you have ever got wrong. In the last week, that notebook is your only study material.
Five mistakes that cost people the job
Chasing current affairs. Current affairs is a small slice of the GK section and it is the part that goes stale fastest. Static GK — history, geography, polity, science — is worth far more marks and it never expires. Get the static part to near-perfect before you touch a single monthly current affairs magazine.
Ignoring Malayalam. Twenty marks. Free marks, for anyone willing to spend half an hour a day on grammar they assume they already know. Most candidates lose eight to twelve of them.
Guessing everything. With one-third negative marking, blind guessing across the whole paper is mathematically break-even at best and usually worse. Guess when you can eliminate two options. Otherwise, leave it.
Never sitting a timed paper. Forty-five seconds a question is brutal, and it is a skill entirely separate from knowing the answer. People who have never practised against a clock walk out having attempted 70 questions.
Studying without measuring. If you cannot say what you scored last week and what you scored this week, you are not preparing. You are reading.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are in the Kerala PSC LDC exam?
100 questions for 100 marks in 75 minutes: 40 General Knowledge and Current Affairs, 20 Quantitative Aptitude and Mental Ability, 20 General English, and 20 Malayalam.
Is there negative marking in Kerala PSC LDC?
Yes. One-third of a mark is deducted for every wrong answer, so blind guessing across the whole paper will usually lose you marks rather than gain them.
How many months does it take to prepare for LDC?
Three focused months is enough for most candidates who already have a school-level foundation. What matters more than the number of months is whether you are sitting full-length timed mock tests and reviewing every wrong answer.
Which section should I study first?
Take one full mock test before you study anything. The section where you lose the most marks is the section you start with. Most people study what they already enjoy, which is why their scores stop improving.
Next step
Reading about an exam is not preparing for one. Sit a full-length timed paper this week, see your real score, and work from there. Take a free mock test →