What is the UPSC Civil Services Examination?

Civil Services Examination (CSE) is one of the most popular exams  conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. It is widely known as the  „IAS exam‟ even though CSE is a common exam to recruit candidates to about  24 top government services like IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS etc. 

UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) consists of 3 stages. The stages are:

1. Preliminary Exam (Objective)
2. Main Exam (Written)
3. Interview (Personality Test)

The exam window extends around 10-12 months (usually from June month of a  year to June month next year when the results are announced). 

What is UPSC? 

The Union Public Service Commission ( ) commonly  abbreviated as UPSC is a constitutional body under Article 315 of the  Constitution of India, formed on the recommendation of Lee Commission,  1924- as Federal Public Service Commission in 1926. It is the apex recruiting  agency for Group ‘A’ officers of Government of India under union government  civil services, union government defence services, union government  engineering services, union government health science services, union  government natural resources services, union government architecture services,  union government functionality services and union government law services. It  is responsible for appointments to and examinations for Group-A posts of the  union government under different professions. 

What is the UPSC Syllabus for Civil Services Exam? 

There are 3 stages in the UPSC Civil Services Exam – 

(1) Preliminary Exam (Objective Test)  

(2) Main Exam (Written Test)  

(3) Personality Test (Interview). 

Prelims – The Civil Services Preliminary exam comprises two compulsory  papers of 200 marks each (General Studies Paper-I and General Studies Paper II). The questions will be of multiple-choice, objective type. The General Studies Paper-II is CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test). The marks in prelims  will not be counted for final ranking, but just for qualification for the main  exam. 

Mains – The written examination (main) will consist of nine papers, but only 7  papers will be counted for the final merit ranking. For the rest two papers, the  candidate should secure minimum marks prescribed by the commission each  year. 

Interview – The candidate will be interviewed by a Board who will have before  them a record of his/her career. He/she will be asked questions on matters of  general interest. 

The marks of the Preliminary Exam are not counted for the final ranking.  Prelims Exam is a screening test to select the candidates for the Main Exam. A  candidate‟s final rank in the Civil Service Exam depends only on the mark  scored in the Main exam and Interview.

What is the UPSC age limit for the IAS Exam? 

To attempt the IAS exam, the candidate should have crossed 21 years (by  August 1, the year in which he/she attempts the exam). 

The upper age limit is 32 for the General Merit category, 35 for the Other  Backward Classes (OBC) and 37 for Scheduled Classes (SC) and Scheduled  Tribes (ST). Additional relaxations are provided for certain special cases. 

What is the educational requirement to attempt the UPSC CSE? 

Any graduate can attempt the UPSC Civil Services Examination. The graduation can be in any stream. It can be a regular degree or distance  education, recognised by the Government. 

What are the exams conducted by UPSC for selection into civil services? 

• Civil Services Examination (CSE) for IAS, IPS, IRS & other Central  Civil Services. 
• Engineering Services Examination (ESE). 
• Indian Forestry Services Examination (IFoS). 
• Central Armed Police Forces Examination (CAPF). 
• Indian Economic Service and Indian Statistical Service (IES/ISS).
• Combined Geo-Scientist and Geologist Examination. 
• Combined Medical Services (CMS). 
• Special Class Railway Apprentices Exam (SCRA). 
• Limited Departmental Competitive Examination for selection of Assistant  Commandant. (Executive) in CISF.