What Karnataka FDA/SDA is
First Division Assistant (FDA) and Second Division Assistant (SDA) are Karnataka’s high-volume clerical recruitment posts, filled across state government departments and secretariats. The recruitment has historically run under the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) name that most candidates search for, but recent cycles, including the most recent notification this page tracks, have been conducted through the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), the same body that runs the state’s other common entrance tests. Both names circulate for this exam depending on the cycle; check which body issued the specific notification you are applying under.
Who can apply
FDA asks for a Bachelor’s degree from a recognised university. SDA asks for a Class 12 (PUC) pass, a two-year ITI course, a three-year diploma, or an equivalent qualification, a clearly lower tier than FDA. Working knowledge of Kannada is required for both posts, reflected directly in the exam pattern below. The general age band runs 18 to 35 years, relaxed to 38 for 2A/2B/3A/3B categories and 40 for SC/ST/Category-1 candidates under Karnataka government rules. Confirm both the qualification split and age band against your specific notification, since FDA and SDA eligibility has been described inconsistently across recent cycle’s own materials, and the authoritative version is always the current notification itself.
How the exam runs
The written examination has three papers. The Compulsory Kannada Language Test is qualifying only: you need a passing score to clear this paper, but it does not count toward your merit rank. General Knowledge and General English/General Kannada each carry equal weight and together decide your final merit position. Exact negative marking policy is set in each notification rather than fixed sitewide; confirm it against the notification you registered under before assuming a specific penalty applies.
There is no interview and no physical test. Selection runs on the written score followed by document verification.
Preparing the application
Photograph and signature specifications follow the standard format given in the current KEA notification. The photo resizer on this site adjusts an existing photo to the required size in the browser.
On exam day
Carry the printed admit card and an original government photo identification matching the name and photo on the admit card. No electronic devices are permitted inside the examination hall.
A note on this page’s sourcing
Recent FDA/SDA recruitment cycles have produced conflicting figures across different secondary sources for total vacancies and the application fee, likely because a single KEA drive often bundles FDA, SDA and several other post categories together, and different aggregators report different subsets as “the” vacancy count. Rather than state an unconfirmed number, this page keeps to the structural facts, the qualification split, exam pattern and age band, that hold steady across cycles, and leaves current vacancies and fees to be confirmed against KEA’s own notification. This is also why comparing this exam against TNPSC Group 4 or UP Lekhpal is useful: both of those run a cleaner, single-notification structure that makes their current figures easier to state with confidence.
For anything this page cannot answer, treat KEA’s and KPSC’s own official websites, both linked above, as the last word: current vacancies, fees and this cycle’s exam date are published there once finalised.