Guides and notes
Civil Service Exam guides and notes
Dated, sourced, and revised when the facts change. Where the CSC has not announced something, these say so rather than guessing.
Exam dates
What the CSC has announced, and what it has not.
- The 9 August 2026 civil service exam was suspended in NCR and parts of Luzon
What the CSC announced, who was affected, and what is and is not known about a rescheduled date. Updated as the CSC announces.
- When the August 2026 civil service exam results come out, and how to check them
The CSC's target dates for the results and for the online result system, what each one means, and where to look when they land.
Exam coverage
What the examination covers and how it is scored.
- What civil service eligibility is actually worth
It does not get you a job. What it does is make you appointable to permanent positions, it never expires, and the two levels open different doors.
- What the Civil Service Exam is, and who actually needs one
The Career Service Examination in plain terms: what it is for, the two levels, who is required to take it, and who is already exempt without knowing.
- What a passing rating of 80.00 on the civil service exam actually means
The passing general rating is 80.00 for both levels. What that is not, what the CSC does not publish, and why aiming for exactly 80 is the wrong target.
Practice by topic
How a question format is decided, with the rule stated plainly.
- Number series: how to find the rule in under a minute
Four rules cover almost every number series on the exam. Take the differences first, and the rest follows. Worked items from our own bank.
- Percentage and ratio problems, worked end to end
Percent of, percent change, discount and commission are one idea in four costumes. Find the whole, find the part, and the arithmetic is the easy half.
These pages follow the same rules as everything else here, set out in our editorial standards. There is a feed if you would rather be told when something changes.