PSC Mastery

Kerala PSC Departmental Tests

Departmental Tests are Kerala PSC examinations for serving government employees, not recruitment to a post. They run through the Commission’s Departmental Examination Wing rather than the ordinary application route, they carry an examination fee and a certificate fee paid by e-payment before the closing date, and their notifications state debarment minimums of two and three years for specific malpractices.

Steps

  1. Know that this is a separate system

    Departmental Tests are administered through the Commission’s Departmental Examination Wing at thulasi.psc.kerala.gov.in/dew/. Recruitment guidance does not carry across.

  2. The fee is real, and it gates the application

    The Commission’s guidance for applying to Departmental Examinations describes an examination fee and a certificate fee, paid through a Make Payment link that routes to the Treasury for net banking, and states the payment must be completed before the closing date or the application is rejected.

  3. Read the notification for the cycle and the papers

    Departmental Test notifications carry the time table, the papers on offer, and which are conducted with books. Kerala PSC does not publish a standing calendar we can quote, so read the current notification.

  4. The malpractice rules are stated in years

    The January 2024 Departmental Test notification lists a minimum two years’ debarment for a set of malpractices — including bringing a calculator, mobile phone, smart watch or other electronic equipment, whether or not it was used — and a minimum three years for unauthorised alteration of the admission ticket or affixing a photograph to it.

  5. Do not carry those numbers to recruitment exams

    Those two-year and three-year minimums are stated for Departmental Tests. The General Instructions for recruitment examinations say only that a candidate carrying banned items into the hall will be debarred from appearing for PSC examinations, without a stated duration.

Frequently asked questions

Who can sit a Kerala PSC Departmental Test?#

They are examinations for serving government employees, taken for purposes such as declaration of probation and promotion, rather than recruitment to a post. Eligibility is set in the notification and the relevant service rules.

Is there a fee for Departmental Tests?#

Yes. The Commission’s own guidance describes an examination fee and a certificate fee, paid by e-payment through the Treasury before the closing date, and states an unpaid application is rejected.

Does the one-third negative marking rule apply?#

We could not confirm it for Departmental Tests. The one-third fraction is stated in the Commission’s instructions for objective OMR examinations; the Departmental Test material we checked does not restate it. Check that test’s own instruction sheet.

I work for the Central Government or another state. Do I need a no-objection certificate?#

Yes. The Commission’s General Conditions require candidates serving under the Central Government or another State Government to produce that government’s permission or no-objection letter whenever the Commission asks for it.

I am a Kerala Government employee applying to another department.#

State it in your application and be ready to produce a service certificate from your Head of Office at verification. Applying to another post within your own department under the service quota, with the details stated in the application, does not require that separate certificate.

I am a provisional hand appointed through the Employment Exchange.#

The General Conditions specifically exempt provisional hands appointed under Rule 9(a)(1) of Part II of the 1958 Rules from the government-servant disclosure and service-certificate condition.

My employer will not give me the no-objection certificate.#

The published rule obliges you to produce it when the Commission calls for it and offers no alternative — no affidavit route, no exception for employer non-cooperation. This has to be resolved with your employer, well before your verification date.

Can I join on lien or deputation instead of resigning my current post?#

Kerala PSC does not publish an answer. Its role ends at advising you for appointment; whether you can move on lien or deputation is governed by your own employer’s service rules and the Kerala Service Rules, not by any Commission notification.

Official sources

Steps last verified against official Kerala PSC sources on 25 August 2026.

Where the Commission has not published a rule, this guide says so rather than guessing. Anything marked “not officially published” is exactly that.

This is an independent guide for aspirants, written from the Commission’s own published instructions. Portal screens and rules change — always confirm on keralapsc.gov.in and in your own Thulasi profile before acting. PSC Mastery is not affiliated with the Kerala Public Service Commission.