Keystone IAS Academy

UPSC-CSE

UPSC CSE

Civil Services Examination is a national competitive exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruiting higher positions in the Civil Services of the Indian Government including IAS, IPS, and IRS. The Examination is conducted in three stages as Preliminary, Mains, and Personality Test. The details such as eligibility, Educational qualification, Age, Pattern of Exam, Syllabus of Exam, List of services, etc are given below.

LIST OF SERVICES

All India Services

  • Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
  • Indian Police Service (IPS)

Central Service

  • Indian Foreign Service (IFS)

Central Services (Group A)

  • Indian Audit and Accounts Service (1A&AS)
  • Indian Civil Accounts Service OCAS)
  • Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS)
  • Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS)
  • Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES)
  • Indian Information Service (IIS),Junior grade
  • Indian Postal Service (IPoS)
  • Indian Ordinance Factories Service (IOFS)
  • Indian Post & Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service (IP&TAFS)
  • Indian Railway Protection Force (RPF
  • Indian Revenue Service (IRS-C&CE)
  • Indian Revenue Service (IRS-1T)
  • Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS)
  • Indian Railway Personnel Service (1RPS)
  • Indian Railway Traffic Service {IRTS)
  • Indian Trade Service (ITrS) Grade III

Group B Services

    • Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service (Section Officer’s Grade)
    • Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service (DANICS),, islands Civil Service (DANSCS)
    • Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Services (DANIPS)
    • Pondicherry Civil service (PONDICS)
    • Pondicherry Police Service (PONDIPS)

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

 Nationality

For the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India.

Age Limits:

Minimum AgeMaximum AgeAge relaxation
21 Years32 YearsUpper age-limit is relaxable up to a maximum of 5 years if a candidate belongs to Scheduled caste or Scheduled Tribe
  Upper age-limit is relaxable up to a maximum of 3 years if a candidate belongs to Other Backward Classes

  Number of Attempts: 

Every candidate appearing at the examination shall be permitted six attempts at the examination

      • Provided that this restriction on the number of attempts will not apply in the case of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates who are otherwise eligible
      • Provided further that the number of attempts permissible to candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes, who are otherwise eligible, shall be nine.

Note :—

    • An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be deemed to be an attempt at the Civil Services Examination.
    • If a candidate actually appears in any one paper in the Preliminary Examination, he/she shall be deemed to have made an attempt at the Examination.
    • Notwithstanding the disqualification/cancellation of candidature, the fact of appearance of the candidate at the examination will count as an attempt.

    PLAN OF EXAMINATION

    The Civil Services Examination will consist of three successive stages

    • Preliminary Examination
    • Mains Examination
    • Personality Test

    Preliminary Examination

    Preliminary examination is the first stage in UPSC CSE exams. The question in preliminary examination Is MCQ type (Multiple Choice Question). This examination has 2 papers as following

    Paper I (General studies)
    Paper II (Civil services aptitude test known as CSAT). Its mere a qualifying paper with 33%

    Paper I (General studies)

    Type of ExaminationObjective type
    Medium of ExaminationEnglish/Hindi
    Subject to studyGeneral studies
    Duration of the examination120 minutes (2 hours)
    Number of Questions100
    Total marks awarded200 marks. (2*100=200 Marks). Each question carries 2 Marks.
    Negative markings (If any)For any wrong answer given 1/3 of the marks (i.e., 0.66 marks) will be deducted from the total mark for the question.

    Paper II (Civil Services aptitude test known as CSAT). Its mere a qualifying paper with 33%.

    Type of ExaminationObjective type
    Medium of ExaminationEnglish/Hindi
    Subject to studyGeneral studies
    Duration of the examination120 minutes (2 hours)
    Number of Questions80
    Total marks awarded200 marks. (2.5x 80=200 Marks). Each question carries 2.5 Marks.
    Negative markings (If any)For any wrong answer given 1/3 of the marks (i.e., 0.83 marks) will be deducted from the total mark for the question.

    Note: The marks secured In the preliminary examination are not counted for Main exam and Interview. Both are just screening papers.

    Main Examination:

    Type of ExaminationDescriptive type
    Number of papers9 papers (7+2 optional papers)
    Total marks of the examination1750 marks
    Language of Examination (Both English and the medium given by the candidate in application form)English or the language that is declared by the candidate in the application form.

    Paper A & B: QUALIFYING PAPER

    Name of the paperSyllabus of the paperTotal marks awarded
    Qualifying Paper –AOne of the Indian Languages from the languages included in the schedule, This paper will not be compulsory for candidates hailing from the States of Arunachal Pradesh,(Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim300
    Qualifying Paper –BEnglish300

    Paper I – VII: PAPERS TO BE COUNTED FOR MERIT RANKING

    Name of the paperSyllabus of the paperTotal marks awarded
    Paper I

    Essay Paper

    Candidates will be required to write an essay on a specific topic. There will be choice given from a variety of subjects. The candidate Is expected to stick to the subject of the essay and arrange their ideas in an orderly way. The writing has to be in concise way with numerous points in support of your essay topic.

    250 Marks
    Paper – II

    General Studies – I

    Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.

    250 Marks
    Paper – III

    General Studies – II

    Governance, Constitution, Polity Social Justice and International relations

    250 Marks
    Paper – IV

    General Studies – III

    Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management

    250 Marks
    Paper – VOptional subject – Paper I250 Marks
    Paper – VIOptional subject – Paper II250 Marks

    List of Optional Subjects
    Candidates may choose any one of the optional subjects from amongst the list of subjects given below:
    • Animal Husbandry and Veterinary science.
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Botany
    • Chemistry
    • Civil Engineering
    • Commerce
    • Electrical Engineering
    • Economics
    • Geography
    • Geology
    • History
    • Law
    • Mathamatics
    • Management
    • Mechanical Engineering..
    • Medical Science
    • Physics
    • Philosophy
    • Political science
    • 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, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit ,Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English
    Personality Test
    Candidates who qualify the UPSC Mains Exam will move to the next and final phase called ‘Personality Test/interview’ who will he interviewed by a Board who will have candidates resume.
    • The Interview round is held by a Board of competent and unbiased intended to assess social traits and his interest in current affairs and analyse the personal aptness of the candidate for a career in public service. Some of the qualities evaluated during the personality test are mental alertness, clear and logical exposition, critical powers of assimilation, variety and depth of interest, balance of judgement, intellectual and moral integrity ability for social cohesion and leadership,.
    • The interview is more of purposive conversation intended to divulge the mental qualities of the candidate.
    • Candidate can give interview in their preferred language as UPSC will made arrangement for the Interview Test:

    Final Result:
    • The total mark of the written examination is 1750
    • The Interview/Personality Test will be of 275 marks.
    The Grand Total 2025 Marks