APPSC · Notification No. 12/2026

APPSC District Probation Officer 2026

15 posts, one 300-mark exam, no screening test

  • 15 posts
  • Apply by 5 Nov 2026
  • 2 papers · 300 marks
  • 150 min per paper
  • Paper I and Paper II ready
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Official notification 12/2026 (PDF)

At a glance

Important dates

Notification
16 October 2026
Apply from
16 October 2026
Last date
5 November 2026, 11:59 PM
Exam date
Not announced yet

Vacancies

15 posts · provisional

District Probation Officer exam pattern

PaperQsMinMarks
Paper I: General Studies & Mental Ability 150 150 150
Paper II: Social Work and Criminology, or Psychology 150 150 150
Total300

Paper I + Paper II: Social Work & Criminology, or Psychology

District Probation Officer: full course · ₹1,099₹599

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  • 30 sectional tests
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What District Probation Officer really tests

Biggest block: Unit III: Crime in India, punishment & prisons (32%). How questions are asked.

APPSC notification 12/2026 fills 15 District Probation Officer Grade-II posts: 9 in Contiguous Zone-I and 6 in Zone-II. One 300-mark computer-based exam decides merit, with no screening: Paper I General Studies & Mental Ability and Paper II in Social Work and Criminology or Psychology.

Based on DPO Paper II 2023 (notification 11/2022), same syllabus as 2026; chart shows Social Work & Criminology. Paper I from the common APPSC Paper I, 2022 and 2025.

  1. Unit III: Crime in India, punishment & prisons32%
  2. Unit V: Criminal justice, probation & parole26%
  3. Unit IV: JJ Act homes, Borstals, open prisons15%
  4. Unit I: Social work14%
  5. Unit II: Criminology, deviance & crime13%
Share of questions by topic in the real papers.

Difficulty in the real papers

  • Easy 48%
  • Medium 41%
  • Hard 11%
  • In SWC, Units III and V gave 87 of 150 questions (58%): punishment and prisons, then probation, parole and criminal procedure. Start there.
  • 60 SWC questions (40%) named a Section, Article, Act, Code or case: JJ Act 2015, Probation of Offenders Act 1958, CrPC 360/361.
  • 34 SWC questions (23%) asked who defined or proposed something: John Augustus, Lombroso, Sutherland, the Mulla committee.
  • BNS, BNSS and BSA replaced the IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act from 1 July 2024 (CrPC 360 is now BNSS 401): learn both numbers.

How questions are asked

  • SWC: direct one-line questions 81%, assertion-reason 7%, 'which is not' pairs 5%.
  • Psychology: direct questions 77%, 'which statement is incorrect' 10%, assertion-reason 5%.
  • No numerical questions in either Paper II.
  • Paper I 2025 added 23 match-the-following and 9 multi-statement items.

The job and who can apply

Qualification, age limit and selection

A post in the A.P. Juvenile Welfare and Correctional Sub Service: probation, parole and juvenile homes, per the Paper II syllabus; pay Rs. 44,570 – 1,27,480.

Qualification
A Bachelor's in Social Work or Psychology; or any degree with an M.A. in Social Work or Psychology; or an M.A. in Criminology or Correctional Administration, held on 16.10.2026.
Age
25 to 44 years as on 01.07.2026. Relaxation: SC, ST, BC and EWS 5 years; PBD 10 years; ex-servicemen 3 years plus service.
Also
Contiguous zonal post: 95% of posts in each zone go to local candidates, proved by Class I-VII study certificates.
Also
BC need a Non-Creamy Layer and EWS an EWS certificate for FY 2025-26, issued on or after 01.04.2026.
Also
Distance-mode degrees must be recognised by the Distance Education Council.
  1. Written exam (objective, computer-based CBRT), 300 marksPaper I plus your chosen Paper II, 150 marks each. No screening test; both papers compulsory.
  2. Minimum aggregate marksOC, EWS, sportspersons, ex-servicemen 40% (120); BC 35% (105); SC, ST, PBD 30% (90). Not a guarantee of selection.
  3. Computer Proficiency Test (qualifying)60-minute, 100-mark office software test for shortlisted candidates. Pass: 40 OC, 35 BC, 30 SC/ST/PBD. Adds no marks.
  4. Certificate verification and medical fitnessOriginals are checked; appointment needs medical fitness. There is no waiting list.

District Probation Officer syllabus

3 papers, 61 topics

Paper I and Paper II ready in Medha AI. Paper I: APPSC Paper I: General Studies & Mental Ability · Paper II: Social Work & Criminology, or Psychology: practise it

Full numbered syllabus: every topic, chapter and micro-topic (printable)

Paper I: General Studies & Mental Ability

150 questions · 150 min · 150 marks

The common APPSC Paper I. History, geography, current events and economy carry most weight; reasoning and data analysis are the scoring part if you practise them.

1. Current events
  • Major current events and issues: international, national and Andhra Pradesh
2. General science
  • Science in day-to-day life
  • Contemporary developments in science and technology
  • Information technology
3. History of India
  • Social, economic, cultural and political aspects
  • Focus on Andhra Pradesh
  • Indian National Movement
4. Geography
  • Geography of India with focus on Andhra Pradesh
5. Polity and governance
  • Constitutional issues
  • Public policy and reforms
  • e-Governance initiatives
6. Economy
  • Indian economy and planning
7. Environment
  • Sustainable development and environmental protection
8. Disaster management
  • Vulnerability profile
  • Prevention and mitigation strategies
  • Remote sensing and GIS in disaster assessment
9. Reasoning
  • Logical reasoning
  • Analytical ability
  • Logical interpretation
10. Data analysis
  • Tabulation of data
  • Visual representation of data
  • Summary statistics: mean, median, mode, variance
  • Interpretation

Paper II (option 1): Social Work and Criminology

150 questions · 150 min · 150 marks

Social work basics through to the probation officer's own work. In 2023 it read like a law paper: JJ Act, Probation of Offenders Act, CrPC sections and Supreme Court cases.

Unit I: Social work
  • Definition and scope of social work
  • Social work values and ethics
  • Social work practice in India
Unit II: Criminology
  • Criminology: meaning, concept, scope and extent
  • Deviance: definition, concept and scope
  • Crime: definition, concept, scope and characteristics
Unit III: Crime, punishment and prisons
  • Forms of crime
  • Crime in India: patterns and trends
  • Punishment: definition, nature and types; corporal and capital
  • Prison as a community
  • Prison programmes and reforms
Unit IV: Correctional institutions
  • Open prisons
  • Borstal schools, certified schools, reformatory schools
  • Remand homes, observation homes
  • Juvenile homes and special homes
  • Their administrative functions, programmes and limitations
Unit V: Criminal justice, probation and parole
  • Criminal justice system: courts and correctional administration
  • Probation and parole: origin, nature, process and practice in India
  • Role of the probation officer in a correctional setting

Paper II (option 2): Psychology

150 questions · 150 min · 150 marks

Fifteen items covering a full BA psychology course. In 2023 questions spread evenly and mostly asked you to recognise a definition, a theory or its author.

1-3. Foundations and methods
  • Nature, scope and branches of psychology
  • Observation, survey, case study and experimental methods
  • Central tendency, dispersion, correlation
  • Levels of measurement, reliability, validity, test construction
4-5. Biology and development
  • Neuron, synapse, neurotransmitters
  • Central and peripheral nervous system, hemispheric specialisation
  • Endocrine system
  • Heredity and environment, life-span development, critical periods
6-9. Cognitive processes
  • Perception: organisation, form, colour, depth, time, constancy
  • Classical and operant conditioning, observational learning, transfer of training
  • Memory: recall, recognition, relearning; short- and long-term memory; decay, interference, repression; mnemonics
  • Concept formation, thinking, language acquisition, problem solving, creativity
10-13. Individual differences
  • Intelligence and aptitude: theories, measurement, exceptional intelligence, mental retardation (intellectual disability), multiple, emotional and artificial intelligence
  • Motivation and emotion: drive reduction, Maslow, achievement, power and affiliation; James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, cognitive-physiological theories
  • Personality: trait, type and eclectic approaches; Freud, Erikson; projective and pencil-paper tests
  • Adjustment and stress: frustration, conflict, coping, stress management
14-15. Social and applied
  • Attitudes, stereotypes, prejudice; Thurstone, Likert and Bogardus scales
  • Person perception, implicit personality theory, impression management
  • Applications: yoga and meditation, programmed learning, group cohesiveness, assessment centres, personal space, IT

1/3 of a question's marks is deducted for each wrong answer: 0.33 marks, since each question carries 1 mark.

Each wrong answer costs 1/3 of the marks for that question.

APPSC Paper I syllabus · APPSC Paper I study notes

A 12-week plan for District Probation Officer

5 phases, week by week

Assumes a Social Work, Psychology or Criminology graduate with about 4 hours a day and roughly three months; the exam date is not notified yet.

  1. Week 1

    Apply and measure where you stand

    • Finish OTPR and the online application before 05.11.2026, 11:59 PM.
    • Choose your one Paper II subject now, as your degree allows. Do not prepare both.
    • Solve the 2023 Paper II in 150 minutes with negative marking; note weak units.

  2. Weeks 2-5

    Paper II high-weight units (3 hours a day) and Paper I base (1 hour)

    • SWC: Unit V first: Probation of Offenders Act 1958, CrPC 360/361 with BNSS 401/402, parole.
    • SWC: Unit III next: theories of punishment, Prisons Act 1894, prison committees with years.
    • Psychology: items 10-13 first (intelligence, motivation and emotion, personality, stress).

  3. Weeks 6-8

    Rest of Paper II and Paper I economy, polity, environment

    • SWC: Unit IV via the JJ Act 2015 and 2021 amendment; then Units I-II.
    • Psychology: items 1-9 and 14-15: dates, founders, levels of measurement, attitude scales.
    • Paper I: economy, polity, environment, disaster management; data analysis sums by hand.

  4. Weeks 9-10

    Sectional tests and current events

    • One Paper II sectional a day on your weakest units; keep one error notebook.
    • SWC: revise every section number with its BNS/BNSS equivalent.
    • Paper I: current events of the last 12 months, 30 minutes a day.

  5. Weeks 11-12

    Full mocks in exam conditions

    • Write Paper I and Paper II back to back, 150 minutes each, on screen.
    • Take 4 to 6 full mocks; count marks lost to negative marking after each.
    • Re-solve the 2023 Paper II and get every Unit III and V question right.

Mistakes that cost marks

5 traps seen in the real papers
  • Preparing both Paper II subjects. You write only one, and they share nothing.
  • Reading SWC options too fast: 2023 options differed by one word or digit (Prisons Act 1894 vs 1984).
  • Learning only old CrPC/IPC or only new BNSS/BNS numbers. Know both.
  • Guessing blindly. With 1/3 negative marking, guess only when you can rule out at least one option.
  • Neglecting Paper I. It is half of the 300 marks, and the minimum aggregate counts both papers.

తెలుగులో సంక్షిప్తంగా

In brief, in Telugu

APPSC నోటిఫికేషన్ 12/2026 ద్వారా 15 డిస్ట్రిక్ట్ ప్రొబేషన్ ఆఫీసర్ గ్రేడ్-II పోస్టులను భర్తీ చేస్తారు: కంటిగ్యుయస్ జోన్-Iలో 9, జోన్-IIలో 6. స్క్రీనింగ్ టెస్ట్ లేకుండా 300 మార్కుల ఒకే కంప్యూటర్ ఆధారిత పరీక్ష మెరిట్‌ను నిర్ణయిస్తుంది: పేపర్ I జనరల్ స్టడీస్ & మెంటల్ ఎబిలిటీ, పేపర్ II సోషల్ వర్క్ అండ్ క్రిమినాలజీ లేదా సైకాలజీ (మనోవిజ్ఞాన శాస్త్రం).

How to apply

Online at psc.ap.gov.in, by 5 Nov 2026
  1. Read notification 12/2026 on the official APPSC website.
  2. Go to psc.ap.gov.in. If you are new, register with One Time Profile Registration (OTPR).
  3. Apply online between 16 October 2026 and 5 November 2026, up to 11:59 PM.

Medha AI does not take applications or fees. Apply only on the official APPSC website.

Dates are from the official notification, checked on 20 October 2026. We list an exam date only after the commission announces it. Recheck psc.ap.gov.in for changes. Vacancies in a notification are provisional and can change.

Sources: APPSC notification 12/2026 (16.10.2026): p. 1 (posts, dates, CBRT), p. 2 (qualification), p. 4 (age and relaxations), pp. 5-6 (local candidates, zones), p. 8 (fee), pp. 8-9 (scheme, negative marking, Paper II choice, normalisation, CPT, centres, answer key, Telugu, no waiting list), p. 10 (department G.O.s, distance-mode degrees, all papers compulsory), pp. 10-11 (selection, minimum marks, SC/ST rule, medical fitness), p. 13 (Annexure I vacancies and women's posts), pp. 14-16 (Annexure II scheme and syllabus), pp. 17-19 (CPT), p. 21 (Annexure III: CBT screen, submit button after 150 minutes); APPSC brief notification 12/2026 (15.09.2026), p. 2: single-level exam, no screening test; Annexure from p. 3: scheme and syllabus; APPSC scheme and syllabus for District Probation Officer, notification 11/2022 (14.07.2022), p. 1 (old 12-item Paper I), pp. 2-4 (Paper II, same text as 2026); APPSC DPO Paper II 2023, Social Work & Criminology and Psychology, final keys; Medha AI level analysis (docs/exams/DPO-level.md); APPSC common Paper I, ASO 2022 and 2025 papers with final keys; Medha AI level analysis (docs/exams/APPSC-P1-level.md).

APPSC District Probation Officer questions

14 common questions, answered
Should I choose Social Work & Criminology or Psychology for Paper II?

You write one, depending on your qualification (para 9.4): a social work or criminology graduate normally takes Social Work & Criminology, a psychology graduate Psychology. Both are 150 questions, 150 minutes, 150 marks.

When is the DPO exam in 2026?

The date is not announced; hall tickets will be on psc.ap.gov.in. Applications run from 16.10.2026 to 05.11.2026.

Can final-year students apply?

No. You must possess the qualification as on the date of the detailed notification, 16.10.2026.

How many posts are there and how many are for my zone?

15 posts: 9 in Contiguous Zone-I (Zones I, II, III) and 6 in Contiguous Zone-II (Zones IV, V, VI). 95% go to local candidates of each zone.

Will the question paper be in Telugu?

Yes. The paper is set in English and translated into Telugu. If the two differ, the English version is used for valuation.

Where are the exam centres?

Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupathi and Ananthapuramu. You give three preferences; the Commission may allot another centre.

What is the application fee?

Rs. 250 processing fee plus Rs. 80 exam fee. SC, ST, BC, PBD, ex-servicemen, A.P. white ration card families and unemployed youth are exempt from the Rs. 80 only.

Is the 2023 previous paper still useful?

Yes, for Paper II: the 2026 syllabus for both subjects is the same text as notification 11/2022. The 2023 Paper I followed an older 12-item syllabus.

When is the APPSC District Probation Officer exam 2026?

Not announced yet. Notification 12/2026 says the date will be announced later. Check the official APPSC website, psc.ap.gov.in.

What is the last date to apply for APPSC District Probation Officer?

Online applications are open from 16 October 2026 to 5 November 2026, up to 11:59 PM, on psc.ap.gov.in.

How many posts are there in APPSC District Probation Officer 2026?

15 posts as notified in 12/2026. The number is provisional and can change.

What is the APPSC District Probation Officer exam pattern?

Paper I: General Studies & Mental Ability (150 questions, 150 minutes, 150 marks). Paper II: Social Work and Criminology, or Psychology (150 questions, 150 minutes, 150 marks). Total 300 marks. Each wrong answer costs 1/3 of the marks for that question.

Is there a syllabus for APPSC District Probation Officer?

Yes. The scheme and syllabus are in an annexure of notification 12/2026. Paper I is General Studies & Mental Ability. You can practise it in Medha AI now with APPSC Paper I.

Where do I apply for APPSC District Probation Officer?

Only on the official APPSC website, psc.ap.gov.in. Medha AI does not take applications. Medha AI is an independent preparation service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to APPSC, TSPSC, MPSC, UPSC or any other commission or government body.

All APPSC notifications 2026 · APPSC exams on Medha AI

Medha AI is an independent preparation service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to APPSC, TSPSC, MPSC, UPSC or any other commission or government body. Facts are from the official notification as checked on 20 October 2026.

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