Bihar STET 2026: Eligibility Test for Classes 9-12

Bihar STET 2026: what the test is and where it stands

STET — the Secondary Teacher Eligibility Test — is Bihar's qualifying examination for secondary and senior-secondary teaching. It does not give you a job by itself; it gives you the eligibility certificate that makes you eligible to apply for teaching posts in Classes 9–12 in Bihar's government and aided schools, including through the BPSC teacher recruitment route. The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) conducts it as a computer-based test under notification P.R. 183/2026.

There are two papers, and you apply for the one your qualification fits — or both, if you are qualified for both:

• Paper I — for teaching Classes 9–10 (Secondary)
• Paper II — for teaching Classes 11–12 (Senior Secondary)

Application status: the deadlines have passed — and the portal's behaviour is odd

The notification (P.R. 183/2026, released 14 August 2026) opened applications on 17 August 2026. The last date was originally 31 August, then extended to 15 September, then extended again to 22 September 2026 — with the fee payment deadline matching.

Here is the genuinely strange part, which StudyDesk verified live on the official registration portal on 9 October 2026: the portal was still accepting candidate registrations and displayed no closing date at all. The portal's own display showed a minimum age of 21 years as on 1 August 2026, and candidate mobile numbers and emails were OTP-verified — but no final deadline was visible anywhere on the form.

What does that mean for you? If you have not applied and the portal still accepts your form, treat the situation as a closing door, not an open one: BSEB can switch the portal off without warning, and there is no legitimate "second chance" once it does. Do not make the fee payment until you have confirmed — on the board's own notice, not on a job blog — whether your payment is covered by the notification's validity. And if you did apply before 22 September, save your application printout and fee receipt; they are your proof of a timely application.

The fee, as published

Payment is online only (debit card, credit card, net banking, UPI), and the fee is non-refundable.

Who can apply: eligibility for each paper

These are the standing eligibility routes, which secondary listings reproduce consistently for the 2026 notification:

Paper I (Classes 9–10): a Bachelor's degree in the relevant subject with at least 50% marks, plus B.Ed. Equivalent routes include a Master's in the subject with B.Ed, degrees with 45% or more under NCTE norms with B.Ed, and the four-year BA BEd / BSc BEd integrated course. Subject-wise eligibility can vary, so candidates with unusual subject combinations must read the notification's subject table before paying.

Paper II (Classes 11–12): a Master's degree in the relevant subject with at least 50% (second-division) marks, plus B.Ed — with variations such as 45% under NCTE norms with B.Ed, or 55% with the three-year B.Ed–M.Ed route. B.Ed is reportedly not compulsory for the Computer Science paper. A 5% relaxation in the marks requirement applies to reserved categories.

Age: the registration portal displays minimum 21 years as on 1 August 2026 (StudyDesk verified this live). Secondary listings report maximum ages of 37 for general-category men, 40 for women and BC/EBC, and 42 for SC/ST — but one conflict (18 vs 21 minimum) means the notification PDF should be consulted for the exact figures.

All degrees must be from institutions recognised by UGC/NCTE.

The exam pattern

Each paper is one sitting: 150 multiple-choice questions, 150 marks, 2 hours 30 minutes, with +1 per correct answer and no negative marking. The questions split into:

• Your subject — 100 questions (100 marks): Hindi, English, Mathematics, Science, Social Science, and the rest of the notified subject list, per the syllabus of the paper you chose.
• Teaching aptitude and other abilities — 50 questions (50 marks): the art of teaching (about 30), plus general knowledge, environmental science, mathematical aptitude and logical reasoning.

Two mechanical details that matter: where the exam runs in multiple shifts, normalisation is applied and results are decided on normalised scores; and qualifying is by category — general candidates need 50%, BC 45.5%, EBC 42.5%, and SC, ST, PwD and women 40%. The STET certificate is valid for life — clearing it once means you never sit it again.

How to apply (if the portal is still accepting)

• Open the official STET application portal from the link on BSEB's site (biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in) or the board's STET announcement — not from a job blog's mirror link.
• Register with your mobile number and email, and complete the OTP verification. Keep that same mobile number active through the whole process; the board's own instructions insist on it.
• Choose Paper I, Paper II, or both — this determines your fee.
• Fill the form, upload your photograph, signature and documents, and verify every field. Subject selection errors are the most common reason forms get rejected at the board's end.
• Pay the fee online and download the final submitted application and the fee receipt. If a payment is deducted without a receipt being generated, do not pay again immediately — check the payment status on the portal first.

What comes after application

The admit card — which BSEB has been issuing as a dummy admit card first in recent cycles, so candidates can correct errors before the final card — is downloaded from the application portal shortly before the exam. Then the CBT, then the provisional answer key (with an objection facility), then the result, then the lifetime eligibility certificate for those who clear the category-wise qualifying marks.

The exam date for this cycle has not been confirmed from an official notice in this pass — one secondary listing claims late October through November 2026, which, if true, means the admit card should land very soon. Watch the BSEB portal directly.

What STET is not

It is not the BPSC teacher recruitment examination — it is the eligibility test you clear before you can apply for one. It is also not the old paper-pen qualifying test from before BSEB moved STET online; prepare for CBT conditions: on-screen navigation, a countdown timer, and a single sitting with no breaks. The biggest avoidable failure is administrative, not academic — a wrong subject chosen on the form, an unrecognised-degree dispute, or a fee payment made on a portal link that wasn't the board's.

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