Reading the Pass Rate Numbers: Applicants, Sitters and Passers

The General Service exam produces three genuinely different numbers each cycle: how many people apply, how many actually sit the First Stage, and how many make the final passer list, and confusing them gives a misleading picture of how competitive the exam actually is. In the 2026 cycle, the National Personnel Authority received 26,429 applications for this exam, 19,386 candidates actually sat the First Stage, and 8,425 people made the final passer list, an application ratio of about 3.1 candidates per seat and a sit-down ratio of about 2.3.

Why do application numbers and sitting numbers differ so much?

Not everyone who applies actually shows up for the First Stage, for reasons ranging from accepting an offer elsewhere before the test date to simple attrition in motivation over the weeks between applying and sitting. In the 2026 cycle, 26,429 people applied but only 19,386 sat, meaning roughly a quarter of applicants did not actually take the written test. This gap matters because the “application ratio,” candidates per seat calculated from the raw application number, overstates how many people you are actually competing against on exam day compared with the sit-down ratio calculated from who actually showed up.

Which ratio should you actually pay attention to?

The sit-down ratio, calculated from the number of candidates who actually sat the First Stage against the number who made the final passer list, is the more honest measure of competitiveness, since it reflects who you were genuinely competing against rather than a larger pool that included people who never took the test. For 2026, that works out to roughly 2.3 candidates per seat, a meaningfully different picture from the 3.1 figure calculated off raw applications.

Does the ratio differ by division?

Yes, and this is where the headline overall ratio can mislead if you only apply to one division. Of the 2026 cycle’s passers, 5,618 went through the Administrative division, 1,180 through the Technical divisions, and 1,627 through the Education division, a division added to the exam only in 2025. Since each division has its own Specialized Test and its own applicant pool, the overall ratio blends together three genuinely different competitive situations; a candidate targeting the Administrative division, the largest by passer count, is competing in a different pool from one targeting a Technical division.

Should a low or high ratio change your decision to apply?

Not on its own. The ratio tells you how many people you are up against, not how well-prepared any of them are, and it says nothing about your own specific strengths relative to the Basic Ability Test and your chosen division’s Specialized Test content. A candidate deciding whether self-study is realistic for this exam should weigh their own preparation quality and the time they actually have, tracked against the current cycle’s confirmed dates, well ahead of a raw competition ratio calculated from last year’s figures.

Where do these numbers actually come from?

The National Personnel Authority publishes these figures itself in its announcements, and the specific 2026 figures cited here come from its own published passer-list announcement for that cycle. Always check the current cycle’s own announcement on the exam page for the General Service track, rather than a secondhand summary, since these numbers change every year and a stale figure can give a misleading sense of how competitive the exam currently is.

Frequently asked questions

What was the overall competition ratio for the 2026 General Service exam? About 3.1 applicants per seat based on raw applications, and about 2.3 based on the number of candidates who actually sat the First Stage, against 8,425 final passers.

Why is the sit-down ratio lower than the application ratio? Because not every applicant actually takes the First Stage; in 2026, 26,429 people applied but only 19,386 sat, so the sit-down ratio reflects a smaller, more accurate competing pool.

Does the Education division have its own separate statistics? Yes, and it is worth noting the division was only added to the exam in 2025, so it has a shorter track record of published figures than the long-established Administrative and Technical divisions.

Do these numbers predict my own chances of passing? Not directly. They describe overall competition, not your individual preparation relative to the specific content you’ll be tested on, so use them for context rather than as a personal prediction.

Where can I find the current cycle’s own figures? The National Personnel Authority publishes application, sitting and passer numbers in its own cycle announcements on its official site, which is the authoritative source to check each year.