APPSC Group-I 2026 Practice: OTPR, 50 Times, DSP Age

Posts, pay scales and the 13 October addendum are on the recruitment page. Screening and mains paper lists are on the syllabus page. This page is twelve questions on Notification 07/2026, dated 6 October 2026. The live screening deducts one-third. This set does the same. Keep 15 minutes free.

How this set is built

The live screening is offline OMR on 24 January 2027: two papers of 120 questions and 120 minutes each, degree standard. You must sit both. Absence in one disqualifies you. Negative marking is one-third of the mark for the question, G.O.Ms. No.235, Finance, 6 December 2016.

This set is notice rules, not a fake GS booklet. It tests the apply window, OTPR, the 50-times mains call, DSP age and physical, the 825-mark merit, and the fact that screening marks do not join that total.

On 166 posts, 50 times is about 8,300 mains seats if the table holds. That is a large room. It is still only the room after OMR. Final selection is mains papers I to V plus a 75-mark interview. Telugu and English mains papers are qualifying.

What the live screening actually is

Paper I is General Studies in four parts of 30 marks: History and Culture; Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations; Indian and Andhra Pradesh Economy and Planning; Geography.

Paper II is General Aptitude: General Mental and Psychological Abilities (60 marks), then Science and Technology (30) and current events of regional, national and international importance (30).

The AP row after 2014, the Reorganisation Act names (Vizag railway zone, Kadapa steel, Dugarajapatnam, special status), and the emotional and social intelligence items are the lines an all-India GS book skips. Until 24 January, those are the rows to own.

Hall tickets appear only on psc.ap.gov.in. After the test, initial keys go on the same site. Objections run three days. If you fail to bubble the booklet series, or you use whitener, the sheet is invalidated. There is no reconsideration request.

Mains dates are announced later. Medium and post, Multi-Zone and Zone preferences for mains are collected online before mains, not in the October form.

Traps this set is built to catch

OTPR is a profile. Para 1.4 says it is not an application. You must open Online Application Submission, fill 07/2026, then Save and Submit. Save without Submit never builds a payment link. A later OTPR edit does not flow into an already submitted form. Keep the same mobile and email for OTP.

DSP age is not 18 to 44. Code 03, DSP (Civil), is 21 to 30 on 1 July 2026. Code 04, DSP (Communications), is 18 to 30 and needs the listed BE or BTech. Most other codes run 18 to 44. A 31-year-old who ranks code 03 first has wasted a preference.

DSP physical. Men 167.6 cm (ST 164 cm) with the printed chest and 5 cm expansion. Women 152.5 cm and 45.5 kg. Civil vision is without contact lenses. Communications adds colour blindness and the listed bodily disqualifications. PBD reservation does not apply to codes 03 and 04.

Fee. Processing is Rs 250, not refunded. The examination-fee figure in para 9 of the extract is incomplete. Read para 9 on the live PDF before you pay. Do not invent Rs 80 from another APPSC notice. Exemptions from the examination fee are listed for Andhra Pradesh SC, ST, BC, PBD, Ex-Servicemen, white-card families and unemployed youth under G.O.Ms.No.439. Other-State applicants, except PBD and Ex-Servicemen, pay both.

Certificates. BC (NCL) and EWS must be issued on or after 1 April 2026 and not later than 27 October 2026. EWS is digital, Tahsildar, family below Rs 8 lakh, FY 2025-26 income.

Corrections. Seven days after 27 October, Rs 100 a field. Name, fee and age relaxation stay locked.

Addendum. A note covering 07/2026, 08/2026 and 19/2026 went on the commission site on 13 October 2026. Read it before you lock preferences. This exam is not ASO 20/2026.

Carried-forward vacancies in the table are filled first. Annexure-I has the community, State-wide, Multi-Zone and Zone break-up. The commission can add vacancies only before the screening test, by addendum.

Practice

Loading the practice paper.

Reading your score

Twelve marks, one-third off a wrong answer. Below 8, re-read the recruitment page. A candidate who still thinks OTPR is the application, or that screening joins the 825, or that DSP Civil runs to 44, is preparing the wrong week.

Nine or more means the notice is in your head. Then sit two 120-minute OMR mocks. Practise bubbling a booklet series. Build the daily AP block. Do not start mains essay notes until screening is under you.

This week

1. Open the filled-application PDF the site generated after payment. If you have no payment reference and no SMS, you are not in. Submit before 27 October 2026, 11:59 pm.
2. If you ranked DSP first, measure height, chest or weight, and read Annexure-V this week, not in January.
3. If BC (NCL) or EWS is dated before 1 April 2026, get the new certificate before the close.
4. Read the 13 October addendum on psc.ap.gov.in.
5. Download the notification PDF from the commission site as well. Para 9 is the fee line. Do not guess the missing rupees.

Women get 33 1/3 percent horizontal reservation. Meritorious sports persons get 3 percent. Code 02 is restricted to HH and OH, code 06 to HH, code 10 to OH. BC, SC, ST and EWS from other States do not get Andhra Pradesh reservation. BC-E remains subject to the court cases cited in para 4.8.

Notice walk-through

Notification 07/2026 invites online applications from 06/10/2026 to 27/10/2026, 11:59 pm on psc.ap.gov.in. The vacancy table totals 166, including carried-forward rows marked CF. Those CF vacancies are filled first. Annexure-I has the community, State-wide, Multi-Zone and Zone break-up. An addendum covering 07/2026, 08/2026 and 19/2026 was published on 13 October 2026. Read it.

OTPR is not an application. Log in, open Online Application Submission, fill 07/2026, Save and Submit, pay. Save without Submit does not generate a payment link. Corrections run 7 days after the close, Rs 100 a field. Name, fee and age relaxation stay locked. Keep the OTPR mobile and email.

Screening is 24/01/2027, offline OMR, two papers. You must sit both. Negative marking one-third. Invalidation: wrong or missing booklet series, whitener, damaged barcode. Initial keys, then three days of objections. The commission takes 50 times the vacancies, irrespective of community, to mains. Screening marks do not join the 825.

Mains: Telugu and English qualifying (150, 180 minutes each). Papers I to V merit (150, 180 each). Interview 75. Total merit 825. Appearance in all mains papers is compulsory. Medium and post preferences are collected online before mains.

Most posts: bachelor's degree on 6 October 2026, age 18 to 44 on 1 July 2026. DSP Civil: 21 to 30, physical and vision in para 3. DSP Communications: 18 to 30, listed BE or BTech, physical and vision in para 3. PBD reservation does not apply to those two codes. Men 167.6 cm (ST 164), printed chest and 5 cm expansion. Women 152.5 cm, 45.5 kg.

Processing fee Rs 250. Read para 9 on the live PDF for the examination fee. The extract of that rupee figure is incomplete. Do not invent it. BC (NCL) and EWS certificates: on or after 1 April 2026, not later than 27 October.

The verified copy is at files.govtjobsalert.in. Download the same file from psc.ap.gov.in when you apply. Hall tickets for screening and mains appear only there. A later OTPR edit does not rewrite a submitted 07/2026 form. If you changed your mobile after paying, the OTP for hall ticket will still go to the number on the form. Use the filled-application PDF as the record, not a screenshot of the Save screen. Payment reference and SMS are the proof you are in. No payment, no form. Save is not Submit on 07/2026.

The crucial date for the degree is 6 October 2026. A result after that day does not count. Prefer DDO (35 posts) or Cooperative (16) only if you would actually serve those jobs. Preferences for mains come later. A form that claims a degree you cannot produce is cancelled at verification.