Exam Pattern
Bihar STET 2026 Important Dates
| Notification Release Date | 14 August 2026 |
| Application Start Date | 17 August 2026 |
| Application Last Date | 22 September 2026 |
| Correction Window | To Be Announced |
| Admit Card Release | To Be Announced |
| Examination Date | To Be Announced |
| Answer Key Date | To Be Announced |
| Result Date | To Be Announced |
| Certificate Date | To Be Announced |
Table of Contents
Exam Format
Bihar STET 2026 is conducted as a Computer Based Test (CBT). Each paper consists of 150 objective (multiple-choice) questions, each worth 1 mark, for a total of 150 marks. There is no negative marking for incorrect answers. The duration of the exam is 2 hours 30 minutes (150 minutes).
Marks Distribution
Per the official notification, each paper’s 150 marks are split as follows:
| Component | Marks |
|---|---|
| Subject-specific questions | 100 |
| Teaching Aptitude & Other Competencies | 50 |
| Total | 150 |
This applies identically to both Paper 1 (Secondary) and Paper 2 (Higher Secondary).
Qualifying Marks by Category
| Category | Qualifying Percentage |
|---|---|
| General | 50% |
| Backward Class (BC) | 45.5% |
| Extremely Backward Class (EBC) | 42.5% |
| Scheduled Caste (SC) | 40% |
| Scheduled Tribe (ST) | 40% |
| Persons with Disabilities (PwD) | 40% |
| Women | 40% |
These relaxed qualifying percentages for SC/ST/EBC/BC/PwD apply only to candidates who are permanent residents of Bihar. Candidates from outside Bihar are assessed against the General category’s qualifying percentage, regardless of their category.
How Normalization Works
Because the CBT is held across multiple shifts and dates for a large number of candidates, question papers in different shifts can vary slightly in difficulty. To keep results fair across shifts, BSEB applies a Normalization process, and your final result is based on your Normalized Score — not your Raw Score (the marks you’d get simply from counting correct answers).
Example from the official notification: a General-category candidate scores a Raw Score of 76 out of 150. After normalization, their Normalized Score comes to 74.90. Since the qualifying mark for General category is 75 (50% of 150), this candidate would be declared not qualified despite their raw score being above 75 — because it’s the normalized score that’s compared against the qualifying threshold.
There’s no negative marking for wrong answers, but the notification notes that a relatively higher number of incorrect answers (compared to other candidates) can still have a negative effect on your normalized score, even without literal negative marking.