The results of the 47th BCS preliminary examination will be published on Sunday, a Bangladesh Public Service Commission office official said on Friday.

Job aspirants had requested that at least eight times the number of vacancies—or at least 20,000 candidates—be passed for the written examination. The Public Service Commission (PSC) has rejected this request.

PSC Public Relations Officer SM Matiur Rahman said that the results could not be released earlier because the process was not fully completed. “We had already announced that the preliminary results would be published by September 28. Although the PSC tried to release the results earlier, it was not possible. Now, the results will be published on the scheduled date,” he said.

The preliminary exam was held on September 19 across 256 centers in eight divisional cities, including Dhaka, with a total of 374,747 applicants. PSC did not disclose the attendance percentage.

Candidates submitted a memorandum to the PSC on September 24 requesting that at least eight times the number of vacancies be allowed to pass. They argued that in previous BCS exams, fewer qualified candidates created difficulties in filling positions. Historical data shows that in the 40th BCS, nearly 11 times the vacancies were passed; 41st BCS – 10 times; 43rd BCS – 9 times; 44th BCS – 8 times; and 46th BCS – more than 7 times.

According to the 47th BCS notice, a total of 3,688 candidates—3,487 cadre and 201 non-cadre—will be recruited. Passing eight times the vacancies would require 29,504 candidates to qualify in the preliminary exam.

Responding to the matter, Matiur Rahman said, “There is no rule specifying this in PSC regulations.The commission decides based on the situation. Sometimes if the cut-off is slightly higher, the number of candidates qualifying increases drastically, making it impossible to allow all in the written exam.The PSC takes decisions to ensure vacancies can be filled without any problem,” he said.