How to prepare for PSTET 2020: Punjab State Teaching Eligibility Test (PSTET) is conducted by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) for the recruitment of teachers of primary and upper primary classes. The exam consists of two papers of 2.5 hours each. Speed and accuracy are essential to solving the question paper efficiently. There are 2 papers, Paper-1 for the candidates who wish to be certified eligible for recruitment as a primary teacher and Paper-2 is for those who wish to be certified eligible for recruitment as a teacher of upper primary classes. Read the article further to know how to prepare for PSTET 2020 exam.
How to prepare for PSTET 2020
Before we suggest important tips and tricks to ace the PSTET 2020 exam, go through the section below to know about the main aspects of the exam.
Conducting Body: Punjab School Education Board
Name of Exam: Punjab State Teaching Eligibility Test (PSTET)
Duration: 2.5 hours per paper
Language: English & Hindi
Number of questions: 150 in each paper
Type of questions: MCQ type questions only
General Preparation Tips For PSTET 2020
There are some tested good practices that are applicable for effective preparation no matter what exam one is preparing for. If abided, these can help candidates secure above-average marks in the exam. To check them, read through the tips provided below.
Focus on Time Management: Learn how to manage the time so that all parts of the question paper utilizes the duration effectively. One must allocate the timing effectively to each section to solve the corresponding part of the paper. Allocate timing based on your own strong and weak areas. Start with easy questions. Layer the questions as per their difficulty level and then solve the question paper.
Know Your Syllabus: The syllabus is vast and well defined. Therefore, the candidates have to segregate the syllabus on the basis of difficulty level and the importance of the topics. They can start preparing the topics which have more weightage, are easy and less time consuming before the other topics.
Make Notes: Preparing notes helps a lot. Candidates must simultaneously make notes while studying a particular topic. They can use these notes while revising the syllabus. This not only helps in remembering what you study more effectively but also helps you prepare your own set of last-minute revision notes.
Prioritize revision: Make sure that you reserve the last month before the exam solely for the purpose of revisions. At first, take 1 week for every topic. Thereafter, utilize the remaining time to revise through the most important topics. Prioritize these as per your strong and weak areas.
Previous year question paper: The previous year papers are a good way to revise for the exam. Use the previous year’s papers as sample papers and mock tests. The previous year’s question paper helps in knowing which of the topics are likely to have more weightage in the question paper. Candidates can know the difficulty level of the question papers and the exam and the time that would be consumed to attempt each section through the previous year question papers.
Refer NCERT: The NCERT is the best book to clear the basics and doubts of the candidates. Candidates must refer to NCERT before opening any other help books. The syllabus of NCERT is prepared in such a way that corresponds to most of the syllabus of PSTET 2020.
Help Books: Guide books and similar learning resources help for preparing for the advanced level questions in the question paper. The candidates have to prepare for the competition in the exam. Guidebooks as such help candidates to rehearse for the exam effectively by highlighting the most important areas where higher marks can be achieved.
Practice: Practice more. Take mock tests. Utilize mock tests, workbooks and sample papers to know how to manage time during the actual exam. The candidates have to know the time they must give to each of the sections while attending the papers.
Sections Wise Preparation Tips For PSTET 2020
Candidates can refer to this section to know how they can prepare for each section of the exam. Each section has a predefined syllabus to follow. We have provided section-wise preparation tips to help candidates ace the exam.
Child Development and Pedagogy: While preparing for the exam, the candidates must focus on 6 to 11 years of age group’s educational psychology. The question will be asked in the exam on the basis of characteristics and needs of diverse learners, interaction with learners and the attributes and qualities of a good facilitator of learning. The question will be 30% from the Learning and Pedagogy section only.
Language-1 (Punjabi): In this section the candidates must focus on proficiencies related to the medium of instruction. Here, the pedagogy part comprises almost 40% of the total number of questions i.e. 30. Therefore, prepare for this part with high priority.
Language-2 (English): The candidates must focus on the elements of language, communication and comprehension skills while preparing for this section. Understand that the purpose and aim of this section are to test the knowledge and understanding of candidates in the English language.
Mathematics and Environmental Studies/ Social Studies and Science: The test items in Mathematics and Environmental Studies/ Social Studies and Science, will focus on the concepts, problem-solving abilities, and pedagogical understanding. The candidates can refer to the NCERT of class 1st to 5th while preparing for both of the subjects.
Mock Tests for PSTET 2020
We have compiled a set of mock tests for the PSTET exam. Candidates can click on the links given below to start with the links given below:
| Name of Test | Link |
| Paper-1 CDP | Practice Here |
| Paper-1 Maths | Practice Here |
| Paper-1 EVS | Practice Here |
| Paper-1 Hindi | Practice Here |
| Paper-1 English | Practice Here |
| Paper-2 CDP | Practice Here |
| Paper-2 Maths | Practice Here |
| Paper-2 Social Science | Practice Here |
| Paper-2 Hindi | Practice Here |
| Paper-2 English | Practice Here |
Suggested Books To Prepare for PSTET 2020
| Name of Books | Links |
| PSTET [Punjab State Teachers Eligibility Test] PAPER-ll : Mathematic & Sci. _ Practice Workbook With MODEL PRACTICE PAPERS & 7 PREVIOUS YEAR PAPERS { English-Punjabi } Combined Medium | Click Here |
| Child Development & Pedagogy for CTET & STET (Paper 1 & 2) 2nd Edition | Click Here |
| PSTET Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test Paper 2 : Class (6-8) Mathematics / Science | Click Here |
| PSTET Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test Paper 2 for Class (6-8) Social Studies/ Social Science | Click Here |
| PSTET Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test Paper 1 : Primary Stage Class (1-5) | Click Here |
| PSTET [Pb State Teacher Eligibility Test] PAPER-ll : Social Science Practice Workbook With MODEL PRACTICE PAPERS & 7 PREVIOUS YEAR PAPERS { English-Punjabi } Combined Med. | Click Here |
| [PSTET] Punjab State Teachers Eligibility Test_ PAPER-1 (I-V) in ਪੰਜਾਬੀ | Click Here |
| [PSTET] Punjab State Teachers Eligibility Test_ PAPER-II (Mathematics & Science) in English | Click Here |
| MATHS AND SCIENCE – CTET – PSTET – HTET – HPTET | Click Here |
PSTET 2020 Exam Pattern
Candidates preparing for the PSTET 2020 exam can check the main aspects of the exam pattern below. Know about the duration, the number of questions marks distribution and more. Read on to find out.
Duration of Exam: The exam will be of 150 minutes duration in total
Number of Questions: In the question paper, there will be 150 MCQ type questions.
Type of Questions: The questions in the question paper will be objective type only.
Marking Scheme: For every right answer, the candidates will get 1 mark and there is no negative marking.
Qualifying Marks: To qualify the exam, candidates must score marks more than or equal to 90 marks out of 150 marks.
(i) Paper-1 (Primary classes):
| Sections | No. of Questions | Marks |
| Child Development and Pedagogy | 30 | 30 |
| Language I (Punjabi) | 30 | 30 |
| Language II (English) | 30 | 30 |
| Mathematics | 30 | 30 |
| Environmental Studies | 30 | 30 |
| Total | 150 | 150 |
(ii) Paper-2 (upper primary classes):
| Sections | No. of Questions | Marks |
| Child Development and Pedagogy | 30 | 30 |
| Language I (Punjabi) | 30 | 30 |
| Language II (English) | 30 | 30 |
| Mathematics & Science OR Social Science | 60 | 60 |
| Total | 150 | 150 |
Recommended: Know more about the syllabus of PSTET. Click here.
About PSTET
PSTET is conducted by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB). The candidate qualifying the exam will be issued the teaching eligibility certificate for the paper they have qualified. The applicants must score marks more than or equal to 60% marks i.e. 90 marks to qualify the exam. Candidates who qualify in the exam for Paper-1 are awarded a teaching eligibility certificate for Class 1 to 5. On the other hand, the candidates qualifying the exam of Paper-2 are issued the certificate of teaching eligibility for class 6th to 8th. Candidates who have already cleared the exam can appear for the exam again if they wish to improve their score for the exam.
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