The Madhya Pradesh High Court (MPHC) recruits Personal Assistants and Stenographers (Grade-2 & Grade-3) through its own Online Screening Examination followed by a Shorthand Skill Test — there is no MPPSC or MP Vyapam involvement in this recruitment; MPHC conducts and controls every stage itself through mphc.gov.in. This guide covers the exam pattern of both stages, the full subject-wise syllabus, marking scheme, the latest 2025–26 recruitment cycle details, priority topics, and a stage-by-stage preparation strategy — with each section covering a distinct part of your preparation, exactly the way you’d want it broken down before you start studying.
Latest Update — 2025–26 Recruitment Cycle
MPHC’s most recent Personal Assistant & Stenographer (High Court) Year-2025 recruitment is the cycle currently in motion, and it’s worth tracking closely because it’s the freshest signal on how MPHC is running this exam right now: the notification was released around September 2025 (applications open 23 September – 14 October 2025), the Online Screening Examination was held on 14 December 2025, and the result of the screening exam was declared on 28 April 2026 along with the notification and application form for the Skill Test in English Shorthand. Candidates preparing now should treat this cycle’s pattern (screening exam → English shorthand skill test) as the current baseline, while still cross-verifying against the official notification for their specific post and grade, since MPHC has tested Hindi shorthand in some earlier cycles and English shorthand in this one.
MP High Court Stenographer Recruitment – Overview
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Conducting Body | Madhya Pradesh High Court (MPHC) — direct recruitment, not through MPPSC/MP Vyapam |
| Posts Covered | Personal Assistant, Stenographer Grade-2, Stenographer Grade-3, Stenographer Grade-3 (Court Manager Staff) |
| Latest Cycle | Personal Assistant & Stenographer (High Court) Year-2025 |
| Approx. Vacancies (2025 cycle) | ~12–13 (exact category-wise break-up, including 1 PwD post, is in the official notification) |
| Age Limit | 18–40 years (as on 1 January of the notification year) |
| Minimum Qualification | Graduation from a recognised university |
| Pay Scale | Personal Assistant: ₹36,200–₹1,14,800 · Stenographer: ₹19,500–₹62,000 |
| Selection Stages | Online Screening Exam (objective) → Shorthand Skill Test (dictation + transcription) |
| Official Website | mphc.gov.in |
Unlike exams with a marks-based mains stage, the second stage here is a practical shorthand skill test, not another objective paper — this changes your preparation shape entirely: Stage 1 rewards static knowledge and speed on MCQs, while Stage 2 rewards dictation accuracy and transcription speed, two almost unrelated skill sets that need to be trained separately and in parallel, not sequentially.
MP High Court Stenographer Exam Pattern 2026 — Stage 1: Online Screening Exam
The screening exam is the qualifying gate for the skill test — only candidates who clear it (typically shortlisted at a multiple of the vacancies, category-wise) are called forward, so this stage decides who even gets a shot at the shorthand round.
| Subject | No. of Questions | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| General Knowledge & General Studies (incl. GK of MP) | 30 | 30 |
| Mathematics & Reasoning | 20 | 20 |
| General Hindi | 10 | 10 |
| English Knowledge | 20 | 20 |
| Computer Knowledge | 20 | 20 |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
- Mode: Online, computer-based, objective (MCQ) type.
- Duration: 2 hours (composite — no separate sectional timing across the five sections).
- Negative marking: None in the screening exam — this is a genuine structural difference from most competitive exams, and it changes your attempt strategy completely: since there’s no penalty for a wrong guess, leaving a question blank in Stage 1 has zero upside once you’ve read it.
- Language: Questions are typically bilingual (Hindi & English) except in the General Hindi and English Knowledge sections themselves, which test the languages directly.
Because there’s no negative marking here, your Stage 1 strategy should be the exact opposite of a negative-marking exam: attempt every question, even on a pure guess, since an unanswered question and a wrong guess score identically (zero) — so there’s no reason to ever leave one blank.
MP High Court Stenographer Exam Pattern 2026 — Stage 2: Shorthand Skill Test
This section is entirely separate from the screening exam above — it’s a hands-on stenography test, not a paper-and-pencil (or MCQ) round, and it’s the stage that actually decides whether you can do the job, since dictation-taking and transcription are the core of a stenographer’s daily work.
| Component | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dictation | Approx. 400 words dictated at the prescribed speed, to be taken down in shorthand within 5 minutes |
| Transcription/Typing | Transcribing the dictated passage on computer within 30 minutes |
| Total Time | 35 minutes (5 + 30) |
| Marks | 100 |
| Language (current cycle) | English Shorthand for the 2025–26 cycle — earlier cycles have tested Hindi shorthand, so always confirm the language for your specific notification |
| Negative Marking | A deduction per spelling/punctuation error is applied — different cycles have reported this between 0.2 and 0.5 marks per error, so confirm the exact figure from your skill-test notification rather than assuming either number |
Because the skill test is qualifying-cum-scoring in most cycles (your accuracy and speed here directly affect your final standing, unlike a purely qualifying CPT-style test), treat this stage with the same seriousness as the written exam — a candidate who tops the screening exam but transcribes carelessly can still lose the post at this stage.
Question-Level Time Budget for the Screening Exam
This is distinct from the exam pattern table above — that tells you the section structure, this tells you the actual per-question arithmetic you’ll be working against on exam day.
With 100 questions and 120 minutes, you have roughly 1.2 minutes per question on average if spent evenly — but in practice this isn’t how strong scorers actually use their time. General Hindi and English Knowledge questions (vocabulary, grammar, error-spotting) typically take 20–30 seconds each once you’re fluent in the pattern, while Maths & Reasoning problems (especially data-based or multi-step ones) can take 90 seconds to 2 minutes. A more realistic approach: clear the GK, Hindi, and English sections fast to bank time, then spend the surplus on Maths & Reasoning and any Computer Knowledge questions that need a moment’s thought.
MP High Court Stenographer Syllabus 2026 — Subject-Wise Breakdown
Each subject below is a distinct, non-overlapping section of the screening exam — treat this as five separate mini-syllabi rather than one combined list, since your study plan and source material will differ for each.
1. General Knowledge & General Studies (incl. GK of Madhya Pradesh) — 30 Marks
- History & Geography — Indian history (freedom struggle, ancient/medieval highlights) and physical/political geography, with specific weightage on Madhya Pradesh’s own history and geography.
- Current Events (National & International) — the 6–12 months preceding the exam; government schemes, appointments, summits, and MP-specific developments carry extra weight here since this is an MP state recruitment.
- Indian Culture — art, festivals, heritage, and cultural traditions, again with an MP-specific lean.
- Indian Polity — Constitution basics, structure of government, and the judiciary (relevant given the recruiting body itself is a High Court).
- Indian Economy — basic economic concepts, government schemes, and MP’s own economic profile.
- Inventions in the World and Indian Parliament — static GK topics that appear as direct, one-line-answer questions rather than analytical ones.
2. Mathematics & Reasoning — 20 Marks
- Number Systems & Arithmetic — computation of whole numbers, decimals, fractions, and the relationships between numbers; fundamental arithmetic operations.
- Applied Arithmetic — percentages, ratio & proportion, averages, simple/compound interest, profit & loss, discount.
- Time-Based Problems — time and work, time and distance, pipes and cisterns, races and games.
- Data & Measurement — use of tables and graphs, mensuration, areas.
- Number Puzzles — L.C.M and H.C.F problems, odd man out, numbers and ages, quadratic equations, indices and surds, mixtures and alligations.
- Reasoning — logical and analytical reasoning questions embedded within this combined section rather than as a separate paper.
3. General Hindi — 10 Marks
- Grammar — verb, preposition, adverb, subject-verb agreement, tenses.
- Sentence-Level Skills — sentence rearrangement, fill-in-the-blanks with articles.
- Comprehension — answering questions based on an unseen passage.
- Vocabulary — synonyms, antonyms, and general vocabulary usage.
Since this candidate pool is preparing primarily for a Hindi-medium government role, this section tends to be a comfortable scoring zone for most aspirants — the real differentiator is usually accuracy under speed rather than unfamiliarity with the content.
4. English Knowledge — 20 Marks
- Vocabulary — synonyms, antonyms, idioms and phrases, spelling test.
- Grammar — prepositions, active/passive voice, sentence transformation, error correction, fill-in-the-blanks.
- Sentence Structure — substitution, sentence arrangement, sentence improvement, joining sentences, spotting errors.
- Comprehension — passage completion, para completion.
This section quietly matters more than its 20 marks suggest for stenographer posts specifically — strong English fluency and error-spotting instincts directly transfer to accurate transcription during the shorthand skill test, so time spent here pays off twice.
5. Computer Knowledge — 20 Marks
- Computer Fundamentals — basic hardware/software concepts and terminology.
- Operating Systems — Windows (MS-Windows) basics and file management.
- MS Office Suite — Word Processing (MS-Word), Spreadsheets (MS-Excel), Presentations (MS-PowerPoint), and MS Access.
- Internet & Networking — usage of internet services, communication technology, and basic networking concepts.
This section rewards hands-on familiarity more than rote reading — since a stenographer’s actual daily work runs on a computer, questions here tend to be phrased around practical usage scenarios rather than abstract definitions.
Shorthand Skill Test — What It Actually Tests
Unlike the syllabus sections above, the skill test isn’t a “topics list” — it’s a speed-and-accuracy skill built through repeated practice, so it needs its own dedicated training track rather than book-based study:
- Steno-outline speed — the ability to write shorthand outlines fast enough to keep pace with a ~400-word dictation delivered inside a 5-minute window, which works out to roughly 80 words per minute.
- Outline accuracy — correctly capturing every word, including proper nouns, numbers, and technical or legal terms that may appear in a High Court context (case references, legal terminology).
- Transcription speed — converting your shorthand notes into clean typed text within the 30-minute window, which demands strong keyboard typing speed on top of shorthand skill.
- Error control — spelling and punctuation precision, since each error typically costs marks directly rather than just looking untidy.
Important Topics to Prioritize
Not every topic carries equal weight relative to how much time it takes to master. This section ranks where focused effort pays off fastest, rather than repeating the full syllabus list above:
- Madhya Pradesh-specific GK — thinly covered in generic all-India GK books, so dedicated MP GK material gives a real edge in the 30-mark GK section.
- English Knowledge — dual value, since it feeds both the screening exam’s 20 marks and your transcription accuracy in the skill test.
- Shorthand speed-building — not a “topic” but the single highest-leverage investment of your preparation time, since no amount of GK revision compensates for an unready shorthand hand on test day.
- MS Office practical familiarity — hands-on practice (not just reading) on Word/Excel, since this both scores marks in Computer Knowledge and builds real transcription-software comfort.
- Applied arithmetic (percentage, ratio, time-work) — the most frequently recurring sub-topics within the Maths & Reasoning section across similar state-level exams.
How to Download the Official MPHC Notification & Syllabus
This guide summarises the pattern as reported across recent cycles, but the official MPHC notification remains the authoritative source for your specific vacancy year — especially for exact vacancy numbers, category-wise breakup, application fee, and any post-specific eligibility conditions.
- Visit the official MP High Court website: mphc.gov.in
- Go to the Recruitment section on the homepage
- Locate the notification for Personal Assistant & Stenographer (High Court) for the current year
- Open the advertisement PDF for full details on eligibility, pattern, and important dates
- Save a local copy — MPHC’s recruitment page is updated frequently with new notices, so older advertisement links can become harder to locate later
Always cross-check the pattern and marking scheme described in this guide (or any third-party guide) against the official notification before finalising your preparation, since MPHC has varied details like the shorthand language and negative-marking figure for the skill test across different recruitment cycles.
Preparation Strategy — Stage by Stage
For the Online Screening Exam
Since there’s no negative marking here, mock-test practice should focus on speed and full-attempt discipline rather than caution. Build one consolidated GK file with an MP-specific section, since generic all-India GK books under-cover Madhya Pradesh details. Treat Maths & Reasoning as a single combined section and practice it under timed conditions, since it’s the section most likely to eat into your buffer time.
For the Shorthand Skill Test
Start shorthand practice from day one of your preparation, in parallel with screening-exam study, not after clearing Stage 1 — building steno speed takes months, and waiting for the screening result before starting leaves too little runway. Practice daily dictation at increasing speeds, and pair every dictation session with a timed transcription drill so both halves of the skill test (speed and accuracy) improve together rather than one lagging behind the other.
Across Both Stages
Run full-length mock screening tests in your final month, and separately time your shorthand-plus-transcription combo against the real 35-minute limit at least a few times a week as the exam approaches, so both stages are exam-ready simultaneously rather than one being neglected while you focus on the other.
Previous Year Cut-Off & Selection Reference
Dedicated cut-off data for the newest 2025–26 cycle isn’t available yet since results are still being processed through the skill-test stage. As a historical reference point, an earlier MPHC Stenographer cycle (screening exam conducted February 2022) selected around 324 candidates for the post after the full two-stage process — useful only as a sense of scale for how many candidates typically clear both stages combined, not as a prediction for the current cycle’s numbers, which depend entirely on this year’s vacancy count.
Best Books & Resources for MP High Court Stenographer
| Subject | Recommended Resource Type |
|---|---|
| GK + GS incl. MP GK | A dedicated Madhya Pradesh General Knowledge guide, supplemented with NCERT basics for the all-India portion |
| Maths + Reasoning | A standard quantitative aptitude and logical reasoning practice book |
| General Hindi | A Samanya Hindi grammar and comprehension guide |
| English Knowledge | A standard English grammar and composition guide |
| Computer Knowledge | A general computer awareness guide covering MS Office and internet basics |
| Shorthand | A structured stenography course/manual in the required language (English or Hindi, per your notification), plus daily dictation-audio practice |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Starting shorthand practice only after clearing the screening exam — steno speed takes months to build, and this timing mistake is the single biggest reason candidates fail Stage 2 despite comfortably clearing Stage 1.
- Practicing mock tests with an assumed negative-marking penalty — since Stage 1 has none, over-cautious guessing habits carried over from other exams actually cost you marks here by leaving scoreable questions blank.
- Assuming the shorthand language without checking — since MPHC has tested both Hindi and English shorthand across different cycles, practicing in the wrong language wastes months of preparation.
- Treating Computer Knowledge as a low-effort section — at 20 marks it’s equal in weight to English Knowledge, yet often gets the least dedicated study time.
- Neglecting transcription typing speed — focusing only on shorthand outline speed while ignoring keyboard typing speed, when the skill test scores both halves.
MP High Court Stenographer Syllabus & Exam Pattern 2026 – FAQs
Q1: How many stages are there in the MP High Court Stenographer selection process?
Two stages: an Online Screening Examination (100 objective questions, 100 marks) followed by a Shorthand Skill Test (dictation + transcription, 100 marks).
Q2: Is there negative marking in the MP High Court Stenographer exam?
There is generally no negative marking in the Stage 1 screening exam. The Stage 2 skill test does deduct marks for spelling/punctuation errors — the exact deduction has varied between cycles, so confirm the current figure from your skill-test notification.
Q3: What is the duration of the screening exam and the skill test?
The screening exam runs for 2 hours. The skill test runs for 35 minutes total — 5 minutes of dictation followed by 30 minutes of transcription.
Q4: Is the shorthand skill test in Hindi or English?
It depends on the recruitment cycle — the 2025–26 cycle’s skill test is in English Shorthand, while some earlier cycles tested Hindi Stenography. Always verify this from your specific year’s notification.
Q5: How many vacancies are there in the current MPHC Stenographer recruitment?
The Year-2025 cycle carries approximately 12–13 vacancies across Personal Assistant and Stenographer posts; the exact category-wise breakup is published in the official notification.
Q6: What is the age limit and minimum qualification for this post?
Candidates must be between 18 and 40 years of age and hold a graduation degree from a recognised university.
Q7: Where can I check my result and download the official notification?
Both are published on the official MPHC website, mphc.gov.in, under the Recruitment section.
Q8: Does MPPSC or MP Vyapam conduct this exam?
No — MPHC conducts this recruitment entirely on its own, separate from MPPSC and MP Vyapam (MPPEB), which run their own, separate Stenographer recruitments (MPPEB LDC/Stenographer) with a different pattern.
Q9: How is the final merit decided?
The screening exam qualifies candidates for the skill test; the shorthand skill test score (dictation accuracy and transcription, less any error deductions) is what determines the final merit and selection for the post.
This article will be updated as MPHC releases further details on the Personal Assistant & Stenographer (High Court) Year-2025 skill-test schedule and results, and as new recruitment notifications are issued.