CSS examination registrations more than halve in four years

• Candidates appearing in CSS exams declined to 12,792 in 2025.
• CSS selection rates remained below 1% among registered applicants.
• Only 3,005 candidates were nominated in 2025 recruitment.

ISLAMABAD: Official data from the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) revealed that registrations for the Central Superior Services (CSS) examination decreased by nearly 48% over the last four years, with 18,139 applicants registering for the exams in 2025 compared to 35,059 in 2022.

The number of candidates appearing in the examination also declined from 20,262 to 12,792 during the same period. Despite the fall in applicants, nominations remained limited, declining from 239 in 2022 to 170 in 2025, The News reported.

CSS is one of the country’s most prestigious competitive examinations, conducted by the FPSC to recruit officers for Pakistan’s civil service. Currently, the CSS exam, conducted annually to assess candidates through a uniform set of tests, with successful applicants allocated to different service groups regardless of their academic background.

FPSC’s official data shows that even in general recruitment, candidates are applying for federal government jobs in smaller numbers than they did just a few years ago. However, securing a job remains rare.

FPSC recruitment analytics for 2022-2025, reveal a sharp decline in applications for both the prestigious CSS examination and general recruitment, while the number of successful candidates has remained only a tiny fraction of those who apply.

The statistics indicate that only 0.94% of registered CSS applicants and 1.33% of those who appeared were finally nominated in 2025. In 2022, the nomination rates stood at 0.68% of registered candidates and 1.18% of those who appeared.

The trend is similar in general recruitment. Registrations peaked at 436,757 in 2023 before falling sharply to 196,193 in 2025, a decline of more than 55% in just two years. Candidates appearing in recruitment examinations also fell from 199,234 in 2023 to 80,633 in 2025.

Despite fewer applicants, recruitment remained highly selective. In 2025, only 3,005 candidates were nominated out of 196,193 registered applicants. In 2023, the selection rate was very low, with only 1,436 nominations from more than 436,000 registrations. The data also shows a persistent gap between registration and appearance.

Only about 45% of registered CSS candidates appeared in the examination in 2023, while the proportion improved to around 71% in 2025. For general recruitment, the appearance rate increased from around 32% in 2022 to 41% in 2025, although a majority of registered applicants still did not sit in the examinations.

The data shows that while fewer Pakistanis are applying for federal jobs, the competition remains intense because vacancies continue to be far outnumbered by applicants.

Even in 2025, nearly 18,000 candidates competed for just 170 CSS nominations, while almost 200,000 applicants sought only 3,005 recommendations in general recruitment.