Two things are true about Inspector Posts previous papers, and most pages carrying that title tell you only the first. The papers do exist, the Department publishes provisional and final answer keys for them, and solving them is the single best use of the week before the exam. But every paper before 2025 was set on the four-paper pattern, which DoP superseded by letter No. 7-14/2011-SPN-II dated 22 August 2025. A 2022 paper is still worth solving — it is just not a model of the paper you will sit.
What exists, year by year
| Exam cycle | Pattern | Answer key | Still useful for |
|---|---|---|---|
| LDCE IP 2019 (held 2019) | Four papers | Published; the four papers circulate as series-wise PDFs | Postal manuals, PO Guide, savings-scheme mechanics |
| LDCE IP 2022 (for vacancy years 2019, 2020 and 2021) | Four papers | Provisional keys were uploaded on the departmental website from 08.07.2022; final keys followed | The full postal syllabus and service rules |
| LDCE IP 2023–24 | Four papers | Published | Current-shape questions on the manuals and SB Orders |
| LDCE IP 2025 | THREE papers — the first on the new pattern | Final answer keys released with the results in March 2026 | Everything. This is the only paper set on the pattern you will sit. |
| LDCE IP 2026 | Three papers | After the 26–27 September 2026 exam | — |
Where to get them — official first
- Your own Circle's website, under Recruitment. Circles publish the question papers and the provisional and final answer keys for exams they conduct; West Bengal Circle is one that keeps a standing recruitment-documents page.
- The India Post Employee Corner and the departmental website, where provisional answer keys are uploaded with a window for representations before the final key.
- The service federations — FNPO and the AIPEU circle sites — which mirror the keys as they are published.
- Union and community sites (SA Post, Potools, Postalstudy, GDS News) compile papers year by year. Useful, but they are mirrors: where a mirror and the official key differ, the official key is the key.
We do not host copies of the question papers here. Our previous-papers tab for this exam links what is published and turns the recurring topics into practice.
If you only solve one, solve 2025
LDCE IP 2025 was the first exam held after the 22 August 2025 pattern letter, which means it is the only paper in existence that is set on 125 + 150 objective questions and a 50-mark written Paper-II. It is also the only one whose Paper-II asked for a charge sheet under the current scheme. Everything before it is a topic bank, not a mock.
What repeats, whatever the pattern
Across cycles the same ground comes up because the syllabus points at the same documents. In rough order of how reliably it reappears:
- Savings-scheme mechanics — who may open an account, minimum and maximum deposit, tenure, premature closure, nomination, transfer, across the nine notified 2019 schemes. Never the interest rate, which is notified quarterly.
- The governing statute — until 2024 the Indian Post Office Act 1898, and since then the Post Office Act 2023 which repealed it.
- CCS (CCA) Rule 11 — which penalties are minor and which are major. This is close to a guaranteed mark.
- CCS (Conduct) Rules — Rule 3 integrity and devotion to duty, Rule 13 gifts, Rule 18 property returns, Rule 15 private trade.
- Constitution — Article 311, and the article ranges the syllabus names: 124–147 and 214–232.
- RTI Act 2005 — time limits, the fee, exemptions under section 8, the appellate structure.
- Mail operations — Speed Post, registered and insured articles, MNOP, and now PNOP and the Dak Ghar Niryat Kendras.
- PLI and RPLI — the rules and the scheme structure, not the current maximum sum assured, on which public sources disagree.
How to solve a four-paper-era paper usefully
- Solve it as a topic test, not a mock. Take the postal-content questions from its Paper-I and Paper-II together — under the new pattern they are all Paper-I ground.
- Skip nothing on the basis that "it moved to another paper". Nothing left the syllabus in the 2025 revision except the four-paper structure itself; things were added.
- Mark every question whose answer depends on a document dated before 2024. The Post Office Act 2023, the Post Office Rules and Regulations 2024 and the CCS (Pension) Rules 2021 all replaced what an older key relied on.
- Keep the old key, but check it against the current rule when the answer is a number or an authority. The audit of our own question bank caught a widely-copied error of exactly this kind: it is the Director General, not the Central Government, who fixes charges by regulation under section 3(2)(b) of the Post Office Act 2023.
A Sukanya Samriddhi Account can be opened in the name of a girl child who has not attained the age of:
- A. ten years
- B. eight years
- C. twelve years
- D. eighteen years
Answer: ten years
The scheme permits an account to be opened by a guardian in the name of a girl child until she attains the age of ten years. The account matures on completion of twenty-one years from opening, which is a different limit and not the age bar for opening.
What is the minimum deposit required in a financial year to keep a Sukanya Samriddhi Account from becoming a defaulted account?
- A. 250 rupees
- B. 500 rupees
- C. 1,000 rupees
- D. 100 rupees
Answer: 250 rupees
The scheme requires a minimum of 250 rupees in a financial year, with a maximum of 1.5 lakh rupees. A minimum of 500 rupees in a year is the Public Provident Fund requirement, and 100 rupees is the minimum monthly recurring deposit instalment.
From the ProSyllabus IP LDCE question bank — 15 quizzes, 150 questions, each one passed independently by two auditors.
Are IP LDCE previous year question papers available officially?
Yes. Postal circles publish the question papers and the provisional and final answer keys for the exams they conduct, under the Recruitment section of the circle website, and provisional keys are uploaded on the departmental website with a window for representations before the final key is issued.
Which IP LDCE previous paper matches the current pattern?
Only LDCE IP 2025. It was the first exam held after DoP letter No. 7-14/2011-SPN-II dated 22 August 2025, so it is the only paper set on the three-paper, 600-mark format. Its final answer keys were released with the results in March 2026.
Are older four-paper IP LDCE papers still worth solving?
Yes, as topic tests rather than mocks. The 2025 revision added ground — the Post Office Act 2023, the Post Office Rules and Regulations 2024, DIGIPIN, PNOP, BNSS 2023, the CCS (Pension) Rules 2021 — rather than removing it. Check any answer that turns on a document dated before 2024 against the current rule.
Where are the provisional answer keys published?
On the departmental website, with a period during which candidates may submit representations against a key. The final answer key is issued afterwards and is what the result is computed on.
The rest of the India Post series
- IP LDCE 2026 — new 3-paper pattern, full syllabus and exam dates
- IP LDCE Paper II — noting, drafting and the major-penalty charge sheet
- India Post PA/SA LDCE (LGO) — syllabus, pattern, DEST and the merit rule
- GDS to MTS, Postman and Mail Guard — syllabus and pattern
- The Post Office Act, 2023 — summary and MCQs
- CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964 — notes and MCQs
- CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 — penalties, procedure and MCQs
- The POSH Act, 2013 — notes and MCQs
- DIGIPIN explained — India Post’s digital address code
- India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) for departmental exams
Practice: IP LDCE quizzes · syllabus · previous papers · PA/SA/MTS
