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Many aspirants get confused with Civil Services Examination (CSE) and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Many assume CSE and UPSC is the same, but is a wrong connotation.
To prepare for the UPSC exam, aspirants must have a thorough understanding of the syllabus and its various components. They must also be aware of the exam pattern, marking scheme, and other relevant details. In this post, we will talk about UPSC Civil Services Exam in detail.
What is UPSC?
UPSC, which stands for Union Public Service Commission is a constitutional body consisting of different departments. The Department of Personnel & Training(DoPT) under UPSC, notifies about total vacancies every year. It also gives important exam dates and exam timeline in its Annual Calendar.
UPSC conducts Civil Services Exam(CSE) for top posts in Central Government of India. Along with this, UPSC also conducts competitive exams like Combined Defence Services(CDS), Indian Forestry Services(IFS), Engineering Services Examination (ESE), Central Armed Police Forces Examination (CAPF), Indian Economic Service(IES), Indian Statistical Service (ISS), Combined Medical Services (CMS)
What is Civil Services Exam(CSE)?
The Civil Service Examination(CSE) is the process of choosing suitable candidates for posts like IAS, IFS, IPS, IRS, etc. This exam is conducted by UPSC.
Every year UPSC publishes its notification, giving details about exam pattern, eligibility criteria, attempt for different posts in central government.
For latest details about notification and calender, read UPSC CSE Updates 🔔
UPSC Exam Pattern
The UPSC CSE pattern consists of 3 successive stages:
- Civil Services Prelims (CSP) Exam – Objective Exam
- Civil Services Mains (CSM) Exam – Written Exam
- Civil Services Personality Test(CSPT). Also commonly know as UPSC Interview!
Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination:
This is first stage of UPSC Civil Services Exam. Those who qualify for this exam stage will be able to write the UPSC Main exam.
| Criteria | Exam Details |
|---|---|
| Nature of Examination | Objective-type exam |
| Mode of Exam | Offline mode |
| Medium of Question Paper | Hindi-English Both |
| Negative Marking | Yes, Negative 1/3 marks. |
| Total Papers | 2 Papers. 1. Paper 1-General Studies 2. Paper 2-Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) |
Marks Distribution in Prelims Exam
| Paper | Subject | Format | Marks | Required marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | General Studies(GS) | MCQs Type | 200 | Cut-offs |
| Paper 2 | Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) | MCQs Type | 200 | 33% |
Please remember that the mark obtained in UPSC Prelims Exam doesn’t get counted in the final selection.
Civil Services (Mains) Examination:
Civil Sercice Mains Exam is the second stage of candiate selection. If you qualify the mains cutoff, then only you will get a call for Interview.
Key Facts about Mains Exam:
- It’s a written/subjetive exam in offline mode.
- It’s question paper is available in both Hindi and English.
- There are total 9 papers in this exam stage.
List of Papers in UPSC Mains Exam
| Paper | Subject Name | Total Marks | Weightage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | Essay | 250 | 12.35% |
| Paper 2 | General Studies Paper 1 | 250 | 12.35% |
| Paper 3 | General Studies Paper 2 | 250 | 12.35% |
| Paper 4 | General Studies Paper 3 | 250 | 12.35% |
| Paper 5 | General Studies Paper 4 | 250 | 12.35% |
| Paper A | Indian Regional Language | 300 | 0 |
| Paper B | Compulsory English | 300 | 0 |
| Paper 6 | Optional Subject Paper 1 | 250 | 12.35% |
| Paper 8 | Optional Subject Paper 2 | 250 | 12.35% |
| Total Marks | 1750 |
Please note that, marks obtained in Compulsory Paper(Paper A & B) are not counted for Mains Cut-offs.
Monk Pro-Tip 🔥 : As per my own experience, many toppers try to maximise their score in ‘UPSC Mains Exam’ stage and that actually increases their chance in the final merit list.
Civil Services (Personality Test):
Civil Services Personality Test aka Interview is the final stage in this selection process, where one-to-one interaction takes place between the aspirant and the UPSC Interview Board.
UPSC interview accounts for 275 marks and 170 is average is average score of UPSC candidate in the Interview stage.
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Eligibility Criteria
There are 5 basic eligibility criteria for UPSC CSE 2023 are:
Nationality
For IAS, IFS & IPS: A candidate must be a citizen of India.
For other services, a candidate must be either:
- a citizen of India, or
- a subject of Nepal/Bhutan, or a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January 1962 to permanently settle in India, or
- a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, and East African countries to permanently settle in India.
Minimum Educational Qualification:
A candidate must be in the final year of graduation or must hold a Graduate degree from any recognized University.
Age Limits:
A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August, 2023.
Age Relaxation
| Category | Age Relaxation |
|---|---|
| OBC | 3 Years |
| SC/ST | 5 Years |
| PwBD | 10 Years |
| Defence Services Personnel | 3 Years (If disabled in operations during hostilities) |
| Ex-Servicemen | 5 Years (Including ECOs/SSCOs, who have rendered at least 5 years of Military Service) |
Medical and Physical Standards:
Candidates must be physically fit according to physical standards for admission to CSE as per the guidelines given in the notification.
Total Attempts
The total number of attempts in the UPSC exam varies according to different categories.
| Categories | Number of Attempts | Age Limits |
|---|---|---|
| General | 6 | Till 32 year’s of age |
| EWS | 6 | Till 32 year’s of age |
| OBC | 9 | Till 35 year’s of age |
| SC/ST | Unlimited | Till 37 years of Age |
| PwBD | 9 for General and OBC category Unlimited for SC/ST category | Till 42 year’s of age |
| Defence Personnel | Till 35 year’s of Age. Can claim additional age relaxation. | |
| Ex-servicemen | Till 37 year’s of Age. Can claim additional age relaxation. |
Fees
There is no fee for female candidates and Persons with Benchmark Disability. Also the candidates belonging to SC/ST category are exempted from fee.
The general, OBC and EWS Candidates are required to pay fee of Rs. 100/- (Rupees One Hundred only).
How to pay fee?
Candidate can pay fee in 3 ways.
- Pay with Cash: By remitting the money in any Branch of State Bank of India or
- Pay Online:
- By using UPI(Generates QR Code or Request payment on VPA) or
- By using Visa/Master/RuPay Credit/Debit Card or
- By using Internet Banking of SBI.
Total Post
UPSC CSE Total number of Vacancies for 2023 is 1105.
There are nearly 21 different posts included under UPSC CSE. The list of Posts is as follows:
- Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
- Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
- Indian Police Service (IPS)
- Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Corporate Law Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Information Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Railway Protection Force Service, Group ‘A’
- Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes) Group ‘A’
- Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) Group ‘A’
- Indian Trade Service, Group ‘A’ (Grade III)
- Indian Railway Management Service, Group ‘A’
- Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade)
- Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service (DANICS), Group ‘B’
- Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service (DANIPS), Group ‘B’
- Pondicherry Civil Service (PONDICS), Group ‘B’
- Pondicherry Police Service (PONDIPS), Group ‘B’
UPSC Optional Subject List
In total UPSC offers 48 Optional Subjects out of which 23 litrature subject for UPSC CSE Mains.
- Agriculture
- Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science
- Anthropology
- Botany
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Commerce and Accountancy
- Economics
- Electrical Engineering
- Geography
- Geology
- History
- Law
- Management
- Mathematics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Medical Science
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Science and International Relations
- Psychology
- Public Administration
- Sociology
- Statistics
- Zoology
- Literature of any one of the following languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English.
Source: UPSC Official Website (https://www.upsc.gov.in)
FAQs
What is full form of UPSC?
The UPSC full form is Union Public Service Commission.
What is full form of CSE?
The CSE stands for Civil Services Exam.
What are UPSC Exam Stages?
There are 3 stages in the UPSC Civil Services Exam – Prelims(Objective Exam), Mains(Written Exam) and Personality Test (Interview).
I’m in class 12th, can I give UPSC Exam?
No. You cannot give UPSC exam until you graduted from recognised college/university and attained 21 years of age on 1st August of year in which exam is conducted.
Read more
UPSC Official Syllabus UPSC Previous Year Question (PYQs) Papers UPSC Booklist Link- Read detailed syllabus analysis by Monk.
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