UPSC moves the Delhi Principal and Vice-Principal test from 1 November 2026 to 9 January 2027: 828 posts, 9:30 am to 11:30 am

The Union Public Service Commission has postponed the written test for the 124 Principal and 704 Vice-Principal posts in the Education Department of the Government of NCT of Delhi. A corrigendum dated 16 October 2026 says the Combined Recruitment Test (CRT) will now be held on 9 January 2027, in the forenoon session from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. The earlier date in Special Advertisement No. 51/2026 was 1 November 2026, and the corrigendum replaces it.

The date change at a glance

Item	Earlier notice	Corrigendum of 16 October 2026
Combined Recruitment Test date	1 November 2026	9 January 2027
Session	Not stated in the advertisement	Forenoon, 9:30 am to 11:30 am
Online applications	Opened 25 July 2026. Closing date moved from 14 August 2026 to 6 pm on 17 August 2026. Closed.
Eligibility cut-off date for age, qualification and experience	14 August 2026

The window to apply is over, so this affects only people who already submitted an application. If you did, you gain the ten weeks between 1 November 2026 and 9 January 2027 to prepare.

The 828 posts

Post	Vacancies	General	EWS	OBC	SC	ST	Pay level
Principal	124	69	11	18	16	10	Level 12
Vice-Principal	704	287	71	189	103	54	Level 10

Seven of the Principal posts and 28 of the Vice-Principal posts are reserved for candidates with benchmark disabilities. Both are permanent Group A gazetted posts with a one-year probation, based at the Directorate of Education, Old Secretariat, Delhi. OBC reservation applies only to candidates holding an OBC certificate issued by the Government of NCT of Delhi. A certificate from another state is treated as General.

What the test looks like

• One paper of two hours, objective type with multiple-choice answers, in English and Hindi, for a maximum of 300 marks.
• Each wrong answer costs one-third of the marks for that question. An unattempted question carries no penalty.
• Topics: general knowledge, Hindi and English language skills, reasoning and quantitative aptitude, educational policies and measurement, management and financial administration, office procedure, pedagogy and digital literacy.
• Answers go on an OMR sheet in black ball pen only. A mistake in the roll number or test booklet series code can get the sheet rejected.
• Test marks and interview marks are weighted 75 to 25 for the final merit list. The test is meant to shortlist candidates for interview.
• Minimum interview suitability marks: 50 for General and EWS, 45 for OBC and 40 for SC and ST.

Admit card, centres and what to do now

The advertisement says the e-Admit Card will be put on UPSC’s website before the test date, and no card will be sent by post or email. The corrigendum does not give a release date, so watch the e-Admit Cards page on upsc.gov.in and keep the email ID in your application active. Candidates must go through face authentication at the venue.

The test is planned at 15 centres: Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Dispur (Guwahati), Jaipur, Jammu, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Port Blair, Ranchi and Visakhapatnam. UPSC says the list can change and any change will be posted on its website before the test.

The eligibility rules did not change. For Principal, the age limit is 50 years (53 for OBC, 55 for SC and ST), with a master’s degree, a B.Ed. and ten years of teaching experience. For Vice-Principal, it is 35 years (38 for OBC, 40 for SC and ST), with a master’s degree, a B.Ed. and either two years as a Post Graduate Teacher or three years as a Trained Graduate Teacher. All of this is counted as on 14 August 2026.

Use the extra time on the syllabus areas that are easy to neglect for working teachers: the educational policy and management topics, and the reasoning and quantitative section, since wrong answers are penalised.

CareerBox News Desk, reporting on the Union Public Service Commission: its corrigendum notice of 16 October 2026 on the Combined Recruitment Test for Principal and Vice-Principal posts, its extension notice of 14 August 2026, and Special Advertisement No. 51/2026. Official portal: upsc.gov.in. Dates and eligibility change; confirm them on the official portal before you act.