The Vice Principal / Principal CRT, explained
Special Advertisement No. 51/2026 — 828 posts: 124 Principal (Level-12) and 704 Vice Principal (Level-10), Group-A Gazetted, in the Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi.
The paper
| Format | Objective MCQ, single paper, 2 hours |
|---|---|
| Questions | 120 questions, 300 marks — 2.5 marks each |
| Negative marking | −1/3 of the question's marks = −0.8333. Unattempted score 0 |
| Language | Bilingual — every question printed in English and Hindi |
| Selection | CRT : Interview = 75 : 25 |
| Interview minimum | 50 (UR/EWS), 45 (OBC), 40 (SC/ST) out of 100 |
| Exam date | 1 November 2026 · 15 centres including Delhi |
What negative marking really means
The scoring function is 2.5 × correct − (2.5 ÷ 3) × wrong.
Break-even accuracy is therefore exactly 25%, which makes a
blind four-option guess neutral in expectation. The practical rule:
attempt when you can eliminate two or more options, and leave
the rest blank. Every scored screen on Principal Sarathi coaches that decision
rather than just totalling marks.
The eight syllabus heads
| Head | Name | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| (i) | General Knowledge, incl. contemporary social, economic and cultural issues | 9 |
| (ii) | Hindi and English language skills | 10, 11 |
| (iii) | Reasoning ability and Quantitative Aptitude | 12 |
| (iv) | Educational policies & Educational measurement and evaluation | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 17, 18 |
| (v) | Management and Financial administration | 13, 14 |
| (vi) | Office Procedure | 15 |
| (vii) | Pedagogy in Education | 7, 8 |
| (viii) | Digital Literacy | 16 |
What the 2022 paper actually asked
These shares are counted, not estimated — every one of the 120 items in the 11 December 2022 Vice Principal paper was transcribed and solved. It is one paper, not published guidance, so treat it as evidence of emphasis rather than a syllabus.
| Cluster | Questions | Marks | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measurement, Evaluation & Statistics | 35 | 87.5 | 29.2% |
| English & Hindi language | 20 | 50 | 16.7% |
| Reasoning & Quantitative Aptitude | 20 | 50 | 16.7% |
| Education policy & schemes | 20 | 50 | 16.7% |
| Education & child-rights law | 11 | 27.5 | 9.2% |
| GK, polity & current affairs | 9 | 22.5 | 7.5% |
| Management & Financial administration | 3 | 7.5 | 2.5% |
| Digital literacy | 2 | 5 | 1.7% |
Two consequences worth planning around. Measurement is the biggest block and the one that rewards study over general awareness. And 68 of the 120 items were not plain single-correct — 45 multi-statement, 13 Statement-I/II, 8 matching, 2 assertion–reason and 1 data-sufficiency — so practising only simple MCQs prepares you for barely half the paper.
The Principal paper is a different paper
The 17 July 2022 Principal paper, counted the same way, put 23 questions on management, finance and office procedure (11 of them Office Procedure) against the Vice Principal paper's 3 and 0, and asked 10 reasoning items to its 20. Same eight syllabus heads, a different emphasis — both papers are worth sitting under time.
Preparing for it
Our library is 18 chapters and 5,847 explained questions written for this one paper. Browse the chapters, or start with the 4 that are free to read now.
Then sit something. Both real papers are solved item by item — the Vice Principal paper of 11 December 2022 and the Principal paper of 17 July 2022 — and there are 11 full-length mock tests and 2,805 practice questions by subject behind them, all scored on the formula above.