MPT: MCQ-Based Preliminary Test
The screening stage of the CSS examination. Everything here is free: no account needed.
The CSS 2027 MPT has concluded
The test was held on Saturday, 10 October 2026. The free practice test, mock paper downloads and MPT articles below remain available for practice.
What the MPT is
The MPT is FPSC's written screening test. You must qualify it to sit the CSS written examination, and nothing more: the score is valid for that cycle only, it does not count toward your final merit, and appearing in the MPT does not consume one of your CSS attempts.
- Questions
- 200 MCQs
- Duration
- 200 minutes
- Qualifying marks
- 66/200 (33%)
- Negative marking
- None
How the 200 marks are split
- Islamic Studies (Civics and Ethics for non-Muslim candidates): 20 marks
- Urdu: 20 marks
- English: 50 marks
- General Abilities (arithmetic, algebra, geometry, logical and analytical reasoning): 60 marks
- General Knowledge (everyday science, current affairs, Pakistan affairs): 50 marks
Note where the weight sits. General Abilities and English together carry 110 of the 200 marks; Islamic Studies and Urdu together carry 40. Aspirants routinely invert this, spending weeks on Islamiat because it feels tractable and days on quantitative reasoning because it does not.
Never leave a question blank
With no negative marking, a wrong answer and a blank are both worth zero. A blind guess on a four-option question is worth 0.25 marks on average; across twenty unanswered questions that is about five marks, and people miss the qualifying line by two. Keep the last five minutes to fill every remaining bubble.
If you fall short
Falling short of 66costs you that cycle, with no re-sit and no compensatory route, but not one of your three attempts, which are spent only at the written stage. Whether you can return next cycle depends on your age and remaining attempts, judged against that cycle's own cut-off date. The CSS 2027 eligibility guide covers how attempts and the age limit interact.
What did it cost, and how was it paid?
For CE-2027 the fee was Rs 250, paid by generating a 16-digit PSID and settling it through 1-Link: at an ATM, in a mobile banking app including Easypaisa and JazzCash, by internet banking, or over the counter at a 1-Link member bank. The old FPSC Challan Form TR-6 was not accepted, and neither were cheques, bank drafts or pay orders. The CSS 2027 MPT application guide has the full procedure. Check each new cycle's notice for its own fee.
The fee procedure is from FPSC public notice No.F.2/1/2026-CE, issued 2 August 2026, and the five-area split follows FPSC's MPT syllabus. The competition is governed by the CSS Competitive Examination Rules 2019. Where this page and FPSC differ, FPSC governs.
How much preparation the MPT deserves
The MPT is a gate, not a race. A whole industry of MPT courses, books and test series is priced as though the screening test were the exam itself, because a near-term, high-anxiety event is easy to sell against. Your career is decided by the twelve written papers, marked by examiners who judge your argument, structure, English and judgement, and by the interview that follows. Writing that well is a slow skill, built over months of writing and being marked. The MPT asks you to recognise 66 correct options out of 200, with no penalty for a wrong guess. The two do not deserve equal shares of your calendar.
If you are a competent graduate with reasonable English and functional arithmetic, the MPT needs perhaps two to four weeks of targeted work, most of it on General Abilities. Sit a full-length mock early to see where you stand, fix whichever section is dragging you down, sit another, and stop: your remaining hours belong to the written papers. If a diagnostic mock puts you below 66, take that seriously and build a structured plan for the weak sections, because the bar is low but real, and missing it ends the cycle.
You cannot tell which case you are in by guessing. Take a full-length diagnostic before you commit any time, and let your score decide your plan.
Practice test
Take the 200-question practice test
Full MPT format under a real 200-minute clock: all five sections in FPSC's weighting, answers locked until you submit, then a section-by-section diagnosis of where you stand.
Start the practice testDownloads
Prefer paper? The same mock paper as a printable PDF, plus a 200-question OMR sheet to practise bubbling under time.
For repeated full-length practice, the CSS MPT Exam Special: 10 full-length practice papers is a free 220-page book of ten complete papers in the same five-section format, with answer keys and selected explanations.
Key dates for CE-2027
| MPT public notice | 2 August 2026Passed |
|---|---|
| MPT rescheduling notice | 19 August 2026Passed |
| MPT applications close | Before 20 August 2026Passed |
| MPT held | Saturday, 10 October 2026Passed |
| Written advertisement | 8 November 2026 (not yet confirmed) |
| Written applications | 10 to 25 November 2026 (not yet confirmed) |
| Written examination begins | 27 January 2027 (tentative) |
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MPT dates are confirmed by FPSC public notice No.F.2/1/2026-CE, issued 2 August 2026, as amended by public notice No.F.2-2/2027(MPT)/CE-II, issued 19 August 2026, which moved the test to Saturday, 10 October 2026 and left the application deadline unchanged. Written-stage dates come from an earlier advance notice and are marked where they are not yet confirmed. Confirm against fpsc.gov.pk before applying.