UPESSC Principal 2026 Notification

UPESSC Principal 2026 posts and vacancies

UPESSC advertisement 08/2026, published on 23 October 2026, fills 1,475 posts of Principal in non-government aided schools under the Secondary Education Department of Uttar Pradesh. Of these, 1,318 posts are in boys' schools and 157 in girls' schools. The vacancies were sent by the Directorate of Secondary Education, Prayagraj, and the notice says the number can go up or down. Every post is unreserved, and the Directorate has marked the post as suitable for many sub-categories of disabled candidates, who can compete for these unreserved posts.

Posts added after the High Court order

The total includes posts listed in Appendix 4 of the notice under the order of 15 April 2026 of the High Court in Special Appeal 376/2026 (Rajkumar Singh and others versus State of UP). These are 530 posts of 2019-20 and 114 posts of 2021-22 in boys' schools, and 69 posts of 2019-20 and 8 posts of 2021-22 in girls' schools. The school-wise list of all vacancies is in Table 2 of the notice.

Who can apply

You need a postgraduate degree with at least 50% marks, a B.Ed degree from a course recognised by the NCTE, and four years of experience: either teaching Classes 9 to 12 as Lecturer or Assistant Teacher, or 4 years as Headmaster of a High School. The experience certificate must be issued at the competent level, which means signed by the district officer and countersigned by the divisional officer; for Kendriya Vidyalayas it is the regional officer. The minimum age is 30 years on 1 July 2026, and nobody older than 62 on that date can apply. A man is not eligible for appointment as head of a girls' institution, while women can choose either boys' or girls' schools.

Fee, pay and important dates

The application fee is ₹2,000 for General, OBC, EWS, SC, ST and disabled candidates alike, paid online by card or net banking. The post carries Pay Level-12, ₹78,800–2,09,200. Registration and applications opened on 23 October 2026. The fee must be paid by 22 November 2026, and corrections are allowed until 25 November 2026. The written exam is on 7 January 2027 at district headquarters; the exam district is shown on the website 10 days before the exam, and the centre 3 days before, on the admit card.

Exam and interview

Selection is out of 400 marks: a written exam of 360 marks and an interview of 40 marks. The written paper has 120 multiple-choice questions in two hours, with 3 marks for each correct answer and 1 mark deducted for each wrong or multiple answer. The syllabus is on upessc.up.gov.in. Candidates shortlisted for the interview must bring self-attested copies of their mark sheets, degrees, experience certificate and a no-objection certificate from their employer, along with an affidavit in the format of Appendix 3. Disabled candidates can take a scribe and get 20 minutes extra per hour, but must register the scribe with the commission at least a week before the exam.