Exam day guide

Accepted I.D. cards (civil service exams)

From Examination Announcement No. 03, s. 2026 (same types attached to the March 2026 school-assignment advisory). Any card not on this list is not accepted.

1. Driver’s License / Temporary Driver’s License (LTO O.R. with old license; O.R. alone not allowed) / Student Driver’s Permit
2. Passport
3. PRC License Card
4. SSS I.D.
5. GSIS I.D. (UMID)
6. Voter’s I.D. / Voter’s Certification
7. BIR / Taxpayer’s I.D. (ATM or TIN card with picture; Digital TIN I.D. included per CSC footnote)
8. PhilHealth I.D. (name, clear picture, signature, number)
9. Company / Office I.D.
10. School I.D.
11. Police Clearance / Police Clearance Certificate (with picture)
12. Postal I.D.
13. Barangay I.D.
14. NBI Clearance
15. Seaman’s Book
16. HDMF Transaction I.D.
17. PWD I.D.
18. Solo Parent I.D.
19. Senior Citizen’s I.D.
20. CSC Eligibility Card
21. PhilID (ePhilID or PVC). Digital National I.D. only if it verifies at everify.gov.ph/check

If the I.D. has no date of birth, CSC also asks for an original PSA or local civil registry birth certificate (S1 / S3). Last-resort expired I.D. rules are written per cycle — do not assume last year’s expiry window.

Calculators and gadgets

CSC prohibits calculators of any kind (including watch calculators) at the examinee’s seat, plus phones, smart watches, printed aids, and scratch work on extra paper, skin, or clothing (S1; restated in Advisory No. 10, s. 2026). Violations can cancel the exam.

School assignment (ONSA)

CSC uses the Online Notice of School Assignment (ONSA) and/or Regional Office notices. Printouts of ONSA are typically optional. If you cannot see your school a week before the test, CSC says to ask the Regional/Field Office directly (S3). The next ONSA open date is cycle-specific — we will not invent it.

Packing extras (confirm your sitting’s advisory)

The last fully extracted exam-day packing list we have is Examination Advisory No. 02, s. 2026 (08 March 2026): original I.D., black ball pen only, optional application/official receipt (for your examinee number later), optional small sanitizer, optional water in a clear container. That advisory also said be at the venue not later than 6:30 a.m. and gates closed at 7:45 a.m. Advisory No. 10, s. 2026 exists for 09 August 2026; we retrieved the HTML reminders (no I.D. / no calculator) but not the full PDF. Use the advisory named for your exam date.

Verified timing you can practice for

From CSC Examinee’s Guide / school-assignment materials:

• Professional test proper: 3 hours 10 minutes (8:00 a.m. – 11:10 a.m.)
• Subprofessional test proper: 2 hours 40 minutes (8:00 a.m. – 10:40 a.m.)
• Expect pre- and post-exam activities of about an hour before and after

On our full mocks, treat the server timer as non-negotiable practice. Flag and skip hard items; return via the progress map.

Pacing tactics (study advice, not CSC rules)

1. First pass for easy points. Mark uncertain items and move on.
2. Budget by feel, not by rumor. CSC does not publish per-subtest weights.
3. Leave a short final pass for flagged items.
4. EDQ is personal data and is not scored content — still follow proctor instructions.

What we will not invent

• Gate times for a sitting whose advisory we have not fully read
• Application or exam-day fees for an unannounced cycle (last published fee was PhP500.00 at filing)
• Any “guaranteed pass if you sleep eight hours” claims