CSS MCQ-based Preliminary Test
CSS MPT: format, subject marks and qualifying threshold
Since 2022, nobody reaches the CSS written papers without first clearing the MPT. It is a screening test, not a ranking one: it decides who may sit the written examination that year, and General Abilities and English together make up more than half of it.
Looking for this year's dates?
We deliberately don't publish test dates or registration deadlines — they change every cycle, and a stale date on a page like this does real damage. Check FPSC directly. Everything below is structural and holds across cycles.
At a glance
- Conducted by
- FPSC
- Questions
- One MCQ paper
- Duration
- 200 minutes
- Total marks
- 200
- Mode
- Written MCQ paper, held annually before the written examination
- Negative marking
- The MPT rules provide for none — confirm on the FPSC notice for your cycle
What's in the paper
Section weights decide where your preparation time is worth spending.
Eligibility
- •You must be eligible for that year’s CSS examination itself — degree, age and domicile rules all apply. Passing the MPT does not rescue a candidature that fails them.
- •There is no separate limit on MPT attempts, but a candidate who has already used all three chances at the competitive examination may not apply for or sit the MPT.
- •Registration is online only, by the closing date FPSC announces. Admission certificates and results are issued through the FPSC website, not by post.
Qualifying marks
You must score at least 33% — 66 of 200 marks. The MPT only shortlists: FPSC’s rules describe no other use for the score, and a pass is valid for that year’s examination alone, so a candidate who sits CSS again must clear the MPT again.
Worth knowing
The MPT was added to the CSS rules in November 2021 (S.R.O. 1510(I)/2021) and has gated the written examination since the CSS 2022 cycle. Many circulating guides give a seven-subject split with Pakistan Affairs and Current Affairs as separate sections. FPSC’s rules list five subjects, with both folded into General Knowledge.
Format details checked on against FPSC’s MPT Rules (S.R.O. 1510(I)/2021, Appendix-III). FPSC can amend its rules, so check its notice for the cycle you sit.