WBPSC Sub Surveyor Recruitment 2026, Apply Online for 1,145 Posts OPEN

The West Bengal Public Service Commission has opened online applications for 1,145 permanent Sub-Surveyor posts under Advertisement No. 22/2024. The window runs from 20 October to 9 November 2026, 3:00 PM, with a one-time edit window on 11 to 16 November. The exam date, admit card, result and cut-off are not announced.

What has been released

The posts are in the Directorate of Land Records & Surveys, under the Department of Land & Land Reforms and Refugee Relief & Rehabilitation, Government of West Bengal. The advertisement number carries a 2024 date because an indicative advertisement went out on 31 December 2024. The detailed advertisement is dated 14 October 2026, the Commission issued a short press announcement on 17 October, and the detailed PDF went up on psc.wb.gov.in on 20 October.

The WBPSC website blocks automated access, so I could not open the advertisement itself. The details below come from a portal’s section-by-section reproduction of it. The vacancy count, dates and application window agree across three other portals. One older page still describes this as a recruitment for the Municipal Engineering Directorate, which is out of date, since the recruiting department is Land Records & Surveys.

Important dates

There are 19 days left to apply. The deadline is 3:00 PM and not midnight, and it applies to the form and the fee together. A candidate who plans to finish on the last evening will find the portal already closed. The edit window opens two days after the closing date, so it corrects permitted fields only and does not give extra time to apply.

Vacancy and reservation

These entries are not a mutually exclusive breakup of the 1,145 posts. PwBD, sportsperson and ex-servicemen seats sit inside the vertical categories and must not be added on top. The notification gives no labelled unreserved total. If SC, ST, OBC and EWS are the only vertical categories, which is my inference and not a stated figure, the four add up to 482 and about 663 posts would remain open to all.

In share terms, SC is about 20 per cent of the posts, ST about 6, OBC about 7 and EWS about 9. OBC is the smallest of the four large pools, and an OBC candidate should not assume a seat is easy to find.

Reservation benefits apply to candidates from West Bengal who hold the prescribed certificates. SC, ST, OBC and EWS candidates from other states apply against unreserved vacancies, and certificates must be valid by the closing date for applications.

Education qualification and experience

Both routes start with Madhyamik or an equivalent examination. After that:

The experience in Route 2 is specific. It must involve modern surveying techniques such as DGPS or electronic total stations, large-scale mapping and land records preparation. It must come from a government-empanelled organisation, or from an Indian GIS or surveying company recognised under the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme with at least three years’ experience in preparing large-scale maps and land records. It must be full-time and complete by the closing date. A general site-surveying job at a construction firm is unlikely to qualify, so get a certificate from the competent authority that states the employer’s recognition, your dates, field, duties and pay.

You must also read, write and speak Bengali. Candidates whose mother tongue is Nepali are exempt, and the Commission can cancel the candidature of someone whose Bengali proves inadequate.

The routes are not equally easy to prepare for. Half of Paper II is Survey Engineering at diploma standard, so an ITI-route candidate competes on a diploma-level paper with a shorter course behind them.

Age limit

The age limit is 21 to 45 years as on 1 January 2024. That reckoning date is almost three years old, and it is the detail most candidates will trip on. Someone who turned 21 in 2025 was under the minimum age on 1 January 2024 and is not eligible, however old they are today. In round terms, a candidate born after the start of 2003 is out. Check how the advertisement counts completed years before relying on a birthday close to the line.

Relaxations, as reported, are 5 years for SC/ST and 3 years for OBC Non-Creamy Layer, for West Bengal candidates only. Ex-servicemen deduct their Armed Forces service and get a further concession set out in the advertisement. For PwBD candidates the portal summary quotes wording about relaxation “up to 45 years”, which is also the general ceiling, so assume no extra margin until the Commission clarifies. SC, ST and OBC candidates from other states get no category relaxation. Age is taken from the date of birth on the Madhyamik or equivalent certificate, so a corrected or differently dated document will not help.

Application fee

The fee is Rs. 110 plus service charges for General, OBC and EWS candidates. SC and ST candidates of West Bengal and PwBD candidates with 40 per cent or more disability are exempt. SC and ST candidates from other states pay. Fees are not refunded and cannot be adjusted against another examination. Pay only inside the official application portal.

How to apply

1. Open psc.wb.gov.in and find Advertisement No. 22/2024 for Sub-Surveyor.
2. Read the detailed advertisement and eligibility conditions.
3. Register or sign in to your account.
4. Fill in your personal, educational and contact details.
5. Enter the diploma or ITI details and, for the ITI route, your survey experience.
6. Declare your category with the supporting details and enter a valid photo ID.
7. Review the form, pay the fee unless exempt, and submit before 3:00 PM on 9 November.
8. Save or print the submitted application.

Submit one application only, since more than one for the same post can lead to cancellation. The edit option can be used once, for permitted fields, and new category claims are not accepted. If your address needs changing, update it in your profile first and then use Edit.

Documents

Keep these ready now:

• Madhyamik or equivalent certificate and marksheet, which also prove date of birth
• diploma or ITI certificate
• experience certificate (ITI route)
• photo ID, which can be a photographed Madhyamik certificate, Aadhaar, PAN, passport, voter ID or driving licence
• SC, ST or OBC-NCL certificate, or an EWS income and asset certificate, as applicable
• PwBD certificate, ex-servicemen service or discharge papers, or a sportsperson certificate with the prescribed form, as applicable

The Commission may ask for more at verification, and original documents are checked then.

Selection process and exam pattern

There are two papers followed by document verification. Paper I is a qualifying Bengali or Nepali test, and the final merit list is built from Paper II marks alone.

Paper II questions carry one mark each, and each wrong answer costs 0.25. Candidates who score under 30 per cent in Paper I do not have their Paper II marks considered, and the Commission may also set a qualifying mark for Paper II. Equal marks go to the older candidate.

If each question has four options, which the summary does not state, a blind guess is worth 0.25 − 0.75 × 0.25, about +0.06 marks. Guessing after eliminating one option is clearly worth it.

Syllabus and preparation

Paper I covers letter writing, report drafting and grammar in Bengali or Nepali at Madhyamik standard. Paper II English covers vocabulary, grammar, composition, synonyms, antonyms and sentence correction. Elementary Mathematics covers arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry and mensuration at Madhyamik level. Survey Engineering follows the standard of a diploma in the subject, and the advertisement gives no chapter list.

For that section, standard diploma topics are a sensible guide, though this list is my suggestion and is not from the notice: chain and compass surveying, plane table work, levelling and contouring, theodolite traversing, tacheometry, curves, total stations, GPS and DGPS, and basic GIS and remote sensing. Because this is a land records directorate exam, it also helps to know land record terms such as mouza maps and plot numbers.

A sensible split is to spend most of your time on Survey Engineering, since it is 100 of 200 marks and the paper where candidates differ most. Mathematics and English are mostly Madhyamik level, so quick revision works. Paper I does not add to your rank, but a poor score removes your Paper II marks, so it needs a few weeks of Bengali writing practice.

Meritorious Sportsperson and PwBD provisions

The advertisement has 23 Meritorious Sportsperson posts. The notified sports include athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, tennis, weightlifting, wrestling, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, judo, rifle shooting, kabaddi, kho-kho and archery. Eligible candidates produce the prescribed certificate and form at document verification.

PwBD candidates with benchmark disabilities and a writing limitation may get a scribe and compensatory time of 20 minutes per hour. They must supply the medical certificate and follow the application-stage rules.

Exam-day rules

Carry the admit card and the original photo ID. Mobile phones, smartwatches, Bluetooth devices and other communication devices are not allowed at the venue.

Cut-off

I found no verified cut-off from any earlier Sub-Surveyor exam, so none is quoted, and no 2026 cut-off exists until the exam is held. Since rank depends on Paper II alone, the number to watch is any Paper II qualifying mark the Commission announces after the exam.

Salary and job profile

Pay is Level 7 under the West Bengal Services (Revision of Pay and Allowance) Rules, 2019, at Rs. 24,700 to Rs. 63,900, plus allowances as admissible. The advertisement states no fixed in-hand salary. The post is a permanent, field-level technical position in land records and survey work. The summary I read lists no duties, so the service rules will define the work.

What happens next

After 9 November, the Commission will publish the exam date and admit card on its website. After the exam come the result, the Paper II merit list and document verification. Experience, category and age claims are checked at that stage against the original certificates, and a claim that does not match your application can end your candidature even after a good score. The notification gives no dates for these steps.

Mistakes to avoid

• Assuming the age is counted from today.
• Applying on the ITI route without an experience certificate that names a recognised employer.
• Leaving the form for the last afternoon, when the deadline is 3:00 PM.
• Claiming SC, ST, OBC or EWS reservation as a candidate from another state.
• Neglecting Paper I because it carries no rank marks.

WBPSC Sub Surveyor Recruitment 2026 Important Links

FAQs

I turned 21 last year. Can I apply?
Probably not. The age limit is 21 to 45 as on 1 January 2024, so you needed to be at least 21 on that date.

Does Paper I count towards my rank?
No. It is qualifying only. You need 15 of 50 marks, and rank is decided by Paper II alone.

I hold an ITI Surveyor certificate. What else do I need?
One year of full-time Survey and Settlement experience with modern techniques such as DGPS or total stations, from a recognised employer, backed by a proper certificate.

I am an SC candidate from Bihar. Do I get the reservation and fee exemption?
No. As reported, reservation, age relaxation and fee exemption apply to West Bengal candidates, and others apply as unreserved.

What time does the application close?
At 3:00 PM on 9 November 2026, for both the form and the fee.