CSE Exam Guide 2027: Coverage, Study Plan & Tips

The CSE at a glance

Given by	Civil Service Commission (CSC)
2027 exam dates	14 March 2027 and 08 August 2027 (Professional and Subprofessional)
Professional	170 items (150 test items + 20 personal-data items), 3 hours 10 minutes
Sub-Professional	165 items (145 test items + 20 personal-data items), 2 hours 40 minutes
Passing grade	General rating of at least 80.00
Fee	₱500.00 (per the 2026 announcements)
Languages	Verbal Ability in English and Filipino; the other parts in English
Calculator	Not allowed

Coverage breakdown (Professional and Sub-Professional)

The CSC publishes the topics of each part but not the number of items per topic. The table below lists the official scope and the kinds of questions you should expect for each topic.

Part	Official topics	What to practice
Verbal Ability	Word meaning; sentence completion; error recognition; sentence structure; paragraph organization; reading comprehension	Synonyms and antonyms, context clues, subject–verb agreement, tenses, prepositions, idioms, commonly misspelled words, ordering jumbled sentences, main idea and inference questions
Numerical Ability	Basic operations; number sequence; word problems	Fractions, decimals, percent, ratio and proportion, averages, work, distance–rate–time, age, interest and discount problems, number and letter series
Analytical Ability	Word analogy; symbolic logic/abstract reasoning; identifying assumptions and drawing conclusions; data interpretation	Analogy relationships (part–whole, cause–effect, degree), syllogisms, if–then reasoning, ordering and arrangement puzzles, reading tables, bar, line and pie charts
General Information	Philippine Constitution; RA 6713; peace and human rights issues and concepts; environment management and protection	Articles of the 1987 Constitution (Bill of Rights, the three branches, constitutional commissions), the norms of conduct and prohibited acts in RA 6713, human rights concepts, key environmental laws (e.g., RA 9003, RA 8749, RA 9275, RA 9729)

The table lists the Professional scope. The Sub-Professional level replaces Analytical Ability with Clerical Ability, which covers Filing and Spelling only; Verbal Ability is given in English and Filipino at both levels (source: CSC Examination Announcement No. 03, s. 2026).

Part	Professional	Sub-Professional
General Information	Yes	Yes
Verbal Ability (English and Filipino)	Yes	Yes
Numerical Ability	Yes	Yes
Analytical Ability	Yes	No
Clerical Ability (Filing and Spelling)	No	Yes

In the reviewer, choose your level under “Exam level”. Mock exams use only official-scope items, and the mix per part (for example Verbal 40%, Numerical 20%, Clerical 20%, General Information 20% for Sub-Professional) is an estimate because the CSC does not publish item counts per topic. Sub-Professional sets are limited to easy and medium items. Practice items beyond the official scope, such as the Clerical extras category, are labelled “extra practice” and appear only in “Practice by Category”. Every item is original.

8-week study plan

Aim for about 60–90 minutes a day, five to six days a week. Adjust based on your diagnostic result.

Week	Focus	Goal
1	Take a 50-item mock exam without timing. Review every explanation.	Know your baseline and weakest categories.
2	Numerical basics: fractions, percent, ratio, number series. No calculator.	Solve basic items in under a minute.
3	Word problems (work, age, motion, interest) and data interpretation.	Set up equations quickly and read charts accurately.
4	Vocabulary and grammar: 20 new words a day; error-recognition drills.	80%+ in Vocabulary and Grammar practice.
5	Reading comprehension and paragraph organization.	Find the main idea and sentence order confidently.
6	Analytical ability: analogies, syllogisms, assumptions, conclusions.	Name the relationship before looking at the choices.
7	General Information: Constitution, RA 6713, human rights, environment laws.	Build flashcards and review them daily.
8	Two or three full 170-item timed mock exams; review mistakes only.	Consistently score above 80% within the time limit.

Strategies for each part

Verbal Ability

For vocabulary, look for word roots and use the word in a familiar sentence before choosing.
For error recognition, check subject–verb agreement, pronoun reference, verb tense and prepositions first — they cause most errors.
For paragraph organization, find the general opening sentence and the concluding sentence, then connect the middle using transition words.

Numerical Ability

Memorize common fraction–percent equivalents (1/8 = 12.5%, 3/8 = 37.5%, 5/8 = 62.5%).
Estimate first — often only one choice is in the right range.
For work problems, add rates (1/a + 1/b), never times.

Analytical Ability

State the analogy relationship as a sentence (“A is a part of B”) and test each choice against it.
In logic items, rely only on the given statements, not on real-world knowledge.
For charts, read the title, axis labels and units before the question.

General Information

Know the structure of the 1987 Constitution: Article III (Bill of Rights), VI (Legislative), VII (Executive), VIII (Judicial), IX (Constitutional Commissions), XI (Accountability of Public Officers).
Learn the eight norms of conduct in Section 4 of RA 6713: commitment to public interest, professionalism, justness and sincerity, political neutrality, responsiveness to the public, nationalism and patriotism, commitment to democracy, and simple living.

What to bring on exam day

Based on the CSC's examination advisory for the CSE-PPT:

Original valid ID — preferably the same ID used when you filed; it must be on the CSC's list of accepted IDs. Photocopies or phone photos of IDs are not accepted (“No ID, no exam”). If your ID has no birth date, bring your PSA or local civil registry birth certificate.
Black ballpens — only black ballpoint pens are allowed; pencils, gel pens, sign pens and other colors are not.
Application receipt and/or CSC official receipt (optional but useful for noting your examinee number).
Personal alcohol or hand sanitizer (100 ml or less).
Optional: water in a clear container and candies or biscuits, subject to inspection.

Wear proper attire — a plain white shirt is preferred. Sleeveless tops, shorts, “tokong” pants, ripped jeans and slippers are not allowed, and long hair must be tied. A transparent bag is encouraged.

Prohibited items and acts

Violations can lead to cancellation of your exam and liability under RA 9416 (Anti-Cheating Law).

Calculators of any kind, including watch calculators.
Mobile phones, smart watches, pens or eyeglasses with built-in cameras, and any recording or electronic device — at your seat or in your pockets. Bags and gadgets are deposited in front of the room.
Books, dictionaries and any printed materials.
Using any piece of paper, your skin or clothing for scratch work — use only the spaces in the test booklet.
Taking photos or videos of the test booklet, answer sheet, room or other examinees, and posting test questions online.
Tearing pages, copying items, comparing answers, using crib sheets (“codigo”), or bringing the test booklet or answer sheet out of the room.

Exam-day tips

Visit your testing venue the day before if you can. Check your school assignment through the CSC's ONSA and don't rely solely on map apps.
Arrive by 6:30 a.m. (or as your CSC office requires). Gates close at exactly 7:45 a.m., and latecomers are not admitted.
Shade your examinee number correctly. Failure to shade it properly invalidates your exam. Write it on your receipt — you'll need it to check your rating online.
Budget your time. At about 67 seconds per item, move on from any item taking more than two minutes.
Shade carefully and completely. Double-check that the item number on the answer sheet matches the booklet, especially after skipping.
Leave no blanks. Eliminate wrong choices and make your best guess.

After the exam

The CSC posts the list of passers on its website on the target release date (for 2027: 11 May 2027 for the March exam and 05 October 2027 for the August exam, subject to change). You can then generate your individual rating through the CSC's Online Civil Service Examination Result Generation System (OCSERGS) using your examinee number. If you don't pass, you can take the same level again after the three-month prohibition period.

Sources

This guide is an independent summary and is not an official CSC publication. The CSC does not accredit any reviewer or review center. If anything here conflicts with a CSC issuance, the CSC issuance prevails.