The UPSC IAS Examination (Civil Services Examination) is conducted in three stages.
- UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Exam – Objective pattern – 2 papers
- UPSC Civil Services (Mains) Exam – Descriptive pattern – 9 papers
- Personality Test/ Interview – Conducted in New Delhi
Stage 1: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Exam
| SUBJECT | MARKS | MARKS PER QUESTION | DURATION |
| PAPER – I GENERAL STUDIES | 200 | 2 MARKS (100 QUESTIONS) | 2 HOURS |
| PAPER – II CIVIL SERVICE APTITUDE TEST (CSAT) | 200 | 2.5 MARKS (80 QUESTIONS) | 2 HOURS |
UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Exam – Objective pattern – 2 papers – 2 hours for each paper
- Forenoon (General studies (GS) paper-I) – 100 questions; 200 marks ( 2 marks for each question) – 2 hours
- Afternoon (Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT)) – 80 questions; 200 marks (2.5 marks for each question) – 2 hours
- In both the papers, 1/3 of the marks will be deducted for each wrong answer (0.666 in GS and 0.83 in CSAT). There will be no deductions if the question is not attempted
- Both the exam marks are qualifying in nature for Mains Exam and marks obtained in Preliminary Exam are not counted for final ranking.
- Minimum qualifying marks (Cutoff marks) for the Preliminary Exam is based on the marks obtained in General studies (GS) paper-I and the cutoff marks varies for different categories like UR, OBC(Non Creamy Layer), SC, ST, Person with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) etc.
- However, one has to score a minimum of 33% of marks in the Paper – 2 (Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT)) i.e. 66.67 marks out of 200 in order to qualify Preliminary stage.
Stage 2: UPSC Civil Services (Mains) Exam
The successful candidates from the Preliminary exam are allowed to write the Mains exam. The Mains exam of the UPSC will test the student’s in-depth knowledge with descriptive type answers. The exams will be conducted for 3 hours so the candidate not only has to provide his/her understanding regarding the question in a time-bound manner but also has to be precise about what s/he writes.
There are 9 papers in the UPSC Mains Exam:
| PAPER | TOPIC | MARKS |
| Paper – A | Indian Language (Any of the language mentioned in 8th schedule) | 300 |
| Paper – B | English | 300 |
| Paper – I | Essay | 250 |
| Paper – II | General Studies – I (Indian Heritage & Culture, History & Geography of the World & Society) | 250 |
| Paper – III | General Studies – II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice & International Relations) | 250 |
| Paper – IV | General Studies – III (Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Security & Disaster Management) | 250 |
| Paper – V | General Studies – IV (Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude) | 250 |
| Paper – VI | Optional Subject – Paper I | 250 |
| Paper – VII | Optional Subject – Paper II | 250 |
Note:
- Candidates can write Paper I to Paper VII in English or any of the languages mentioned in 8th schedule of Indian Constitution.
- There are 48 Optional Subjects in the UPSC exam. Candidate has to select any one subject among them. Two papers (Paper VI and Paper VII) will be conducted from that for 250 marks each.
- Language Papers – Paper A & Paper B are qualifying in nature and the marks obtained in language papers are not taken for counting in final rank list.
- However, a candidate has to score atleast 25% of the marks in Paper A and Paper B (75 marks out of 300 in each paper) to qualify.
- Only Marks obtained Paper I to Paper VII will be taken for evaluation only if the candidate obtained 25% of the marks in Paper A and Paper B.
| Languages mentioned in 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution: (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri. |
Stage 3: UPSC Civil services Interview/ UPSC Personality Test
Candidates who cleared the UPSC Mains Exam will be shortlisted and called for the UPSC Personality test (Interview). Interview will be held in the UPSC Office in Shah Jehan Road, New Delhi.
The personality test for UPSC Exam will have 275 marks interviewed by a board appointed by UPSC. The mental qualities, analytical abilities and personal suitability of candidates will be assessed at this stage. The duration of the interview will be around 25 – 30 minutes.
Final Rank list:
The Final rank list will be prepared based on the UPSC Mains Exam (1750 Marks) and Personality test (275 Marks) for the total of 2025 marks. Based on the marks obtained by the candidates out of 2025 marks, their services will be allotted, based on their categories of reservation.
Statistics on number of Candidates appeared/ appeared in UPSC Civil Services Exam (Approximate count)
| Category | Count |
|---|---|
| Approximate number of vacancies notified | 900 |
| Number of candidates who applied for Civil Services Exam | Around 8 to 10 lakhs |
| Number of candidates who appear in prelims | Around 5 lakhs |
| Number of candidates who qualify prelims and appear in Mains | Around 13000 ( 1:15 ratio of total vacancies) |
| Number of candidates who qualify Mains and appear in Interview | Around 3000 ( 1:3 ratio of total vacancies) |
| Number of candidates finally recommended by UPSC for Appointment | 900 |