Nayab Subba or Section Officer: choosing before you start
The two papers look similar and reward different preparation. Deciding late costs you weeks, and most candidates decide late.
Candidates often begin general preparation and postpone the choice of post, on the reasonable-sounding theory that the syllabus overlaps and the decision can wait. The syllabus does overlap. The papers do not feel the same to sit, and the difference shows up in the last four weeks when there is no longer time to adjust.
| Nayab Subba, first paper | Section Officer, objective paper | |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | 50 | 100 |
| Marks per question | 2 | 1 |
| Total marks | 100 | 100 |
| Time allowed | 45 minutes | 1 hour 30 minutes |
| Time per question | About 54 seconds | About 54 seconds |
| Pass mark | 45 | 45 |
| Deduction per wrong answer | 20% of the question, so 0.4 | 20% of the question, so 0.2 |
| Composition | General knowledge and general mental ability | General knowledge 50, aptitude and IQ 30, English 20 |
The time per question is nearly identical, which is the first thing worth noticing. What differs is the cost of a single error and the presence of a defined English section.
Section Officer objective paper composition
- General knowledge · 5050%
- Aptitude and IQ · 3030%
- English · 2020%
One hundred marks divided into general knowledge worth fifty, aptitude and IQ worth thirty, and English worth twenty.
What the difference means in practice
One mistake costs twice as much on Nayab Subba
A wrong answer on a two-mark question deducts 0.4. On a one-mark question it deducts 0.2. The percentage is identical and the absolute effect on a hundred-mark paper is not, because there are half as many questions to absorb it. On the Nayab Subba paper, ten wrong answers cost four marks against a pass mark of forty-five. Being decisive matters more.
Section Officer rewards a specific English preparation
Twenty marks of English is a fifth of the paper and it is the section candidates most often leave to look after itself. It is also the most improvable block on either paper, because it is a bounded skill rather than an unbounded body of facts.
Forty-five minutes is a different kind of pressure
Ninety minutes lets you run a first pass and a second pass with room to think. Forty-five minutes barely does. Candidates who practise only on ninety-minute papers and then sit a forty-five-minute one describe the same experience: the content was familiar and the clock was not.
Deciding, if you genuinely have not
- 1
Check eligibility first
The two posts have different educational requirements. This resolves the question outright for some candidates and should be checked before anything else.
- 2
Sit one timed paper of each
Not for the score. For the experience of forty-five minutes against ninety. Candidates usually know within one attempt which pressure suits them.
- 3
Look honestly at your English
Twenty defined marks of English on the Section Officer paper is either your strongest block or a fifth of the paper you will be carrying.
- 4
Commit, then build the plan around it
Shared general reading, post-specific timed practice. Do not run two timed schedules at once.
Frequently asked questions
- How many questions are in the Nayab Subba first paper?
- Fifty multiple-choice questions of two marks each, giving one hundred marks in forty-five minutes, with a pass mark of forty-five.
- How many questions are in the Section Officer objective paper?
- One hundred questions for one hundred marks in one hour and thirty minutes: general knowledge fifty, aptitude and IQ thirty, English twenty. The pass mark is forty-five.
- Can I prepare for both at once?
- You can share the general reading. You should not share the timed practice, because the pacing differs and the pacing is what timed practice trains.
- Which has harsher negative marking?
- The percentage is the same at twenty per cent of the question's marks. On Nayab Subba each deduction is 0.4 rather than 0.2, so individual errors weigh more.