UPSC Information

Why to Choose Civil Services as a Career?

Civil servants are often regarded as pillars of the nation's administrative machinery and are held in high esteem for their contributions to public service. Their work is recognized and appreciated by society, which adds to their sense of fulfilment and pride. Choosing civil services as a career can be deeply rewarding for individuals who are passionate about public service, committed to making a difference, and eager to contribute to the betterment of society. It offers a platform to serve the nation, lead change, and leave a lasting impact on communities and future generations.

About UPSC Exam

The Union Public Service Commission conducts various examinations to recruit eligible candidates for the Indian Government. It also conducts the CSE (Civil Services Examination), which is also known as the IAS examination.

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a national competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to higher Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, and Indian Police Service.

This exam is conducted in three phases: a preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type papers (Paper I consisting of General Studies and Paper II, referred to as the Civil Service Aptitude Test or CSAT), and a main examination consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type, in which two papers are qualifying and only marks of seven are counted; finally followed by a personality test (interview).

About UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern:

The Prelims’ stage of UPSC exam pattern consists of 2 papers –

General Studies or Paper 1

CSAT or Paper 2 (Qualifying in Nature,33% needed to qualify)

Note :-

There is a negative marking of 1/3rd in both the papers.
This exam is primarily a screening test; the marks obtained here won't be used to determine the final ranking of candidates.

Subject	Nature Of Paper	Exam Type	No. of Questions	Exam Duration	Marks
Paper I - General Studies	Merit Ranking (Marks not counted in Final merit)	Objective	100	2 Hours	200
Paper II - Aptitude Test (CSAT)	Qualifying	Objective	80	2 Hours	200
UPSC Prelims Total Marks					400

Prelims Syllabus

Paper I - (200 marks) Duration: Two hours

Current events of national and international importance.
History of India and Indian National Movement.
Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialisation.
General Science.

Paper II-(200 marks) Duration : Two hours

Comprehension.
Interpersonal skills including communication skills.
Logical reasoning and analytical ability.
Decision-making and problem-solving.
General mental ability.
Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level).
Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. – Class X level)

About UPSC Mains Exam Syllabus:

The Main exam will consist of a total of two qualifying papers, seven merit-based papers and a personality test (interview round). Each paper will be of three hours duration.
The UPSC Mains Exam Pattern consists of a total of 9 papers:

Compulsory Indian Language Paper
English Paper
Essay Paper
General Studies Papers (GS1, GS2, GS3 & GS4)
Optional Papers

As per the UPSC Mains exam pattern, all the papers in the mains stage will be of descriptive type.
The time duration for each paper is 3 hours. Extra 30 minutes will be given to the blind candidates.
The total marks scored in the mains exam will be counted in the final merit list.

Paper	Subject	Marks
Paper-1	Essay	250
Paper-2	General Studies–I (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)	250
Paper-3	General Studies–II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)	250
Paper-4	General Studies–III (Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)	250
Paper-5	General Studies–IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)	250
Paper-6	Optional Subject – Paper 1	250
	Optional Subject – Paper 2	250
Paper-7	Sub Total (Written test) Personality Test Grand Total	1750 275 2025

List of optional subjects for Main Examination:

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

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.