What is UPSC?
The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a National-level Competitive Examination conducted in India by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for the recruitment for careers under various civil services.
UPSC Civil Services Eligibility
Education Qualification: The candidate must have a degree or equivalent qualification from a recognized university.
Age Limit: A candidate must be at least 21 years of age and must not have reached 32 years of age by 1st August 2020, i.e. a candidate must have been born after 1st August 1988 and before 1st August 1999. For the reserved category, upper age relaxation exists.
Civil Services Selection Procedure
The Civil Services selection procedure consists of two stages.
(i) Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, and
(ii) Civil Services (Main) Examination and Interview. The civil services Prelims exam is objective type and qualifies the candidates for the Main Examination. The CSE main examination is Written type.
UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern is as follows:
When appearing for the IAS Examination, the following points should be remembered:
In order to qualify for the Mains, it is mandatory for all applicants to appear for both the General Studies and CSAT exams.
The score obtained in the Prelims will not be added to the final score. UPSC CSE Prelims 2020 will be just for screening purposes.
The Prelims Question Paper is bilingual. Questions will be written in both Hindi and English.
UPSC Mains Exam Pattern is as follows:
The IAS Mains Exam consists of two types of papers viz qualifying and merit-ranking. Paper A and Paper B namely Language paper and English paper will be qualifying in nature. The marks obtained in these papers will not be added to marks that may determine your rank. All the other papers will be evaluated for merit purposes.
When preparing for UPSC CSE Mains, the following points should be considered.
Score in all the other papers will determine your rank except for language papers, Paper A and Paper B.
Hence, your score will be out of a total of 1750 marks.
For each paper to be evaluated during the final selection, it is mandatory to score at least 25 percent.
In the answer sheets provided by the UPSC, candidates will be required to write the answers. There will be no extra sheets provided.
List of Optional Subjects for UPSC Mains
Here's the list of optional subjects that can be opted for UPSC Mains:
For literature subjects, the options are:
IAS Interview Process
The interview process is the last and the final stage of the selection process. The interview is of 275 marks which makes the grand total of maximum marks 2025. Some of the qualities that the board assess in a candidate are:
Mental acuity
Critical thinking
Analytical thinking
Risk assessment skills
Crisis management skills
Ability to become a leader
Intellectual and moral integrity
UPSC Prelims Syllabus
The Union Public Service Commission's Preliminary Examination for Civil Services is also commonly referred to as the CSAT or the Civil Services Aptitude Test.The UPSC preliminary exam is for screening purposes only. The marks obtained in the UPSC Prelims Examination amount to a qualification for the UPSC Main Examination and will not be counted to determine the final order of merit of the candidate.
Syllabus of Paper I (200 Marks) Duration : 2 hours |
Syllabus of Paper II (200 Marks) Duration : 2 hours |
Note:-
The CSAT aptitude test or Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) examination will be a qualifying paper only with a minimum of 33% to be secured to sit for the Civil Services (Mains) exam.
The questions will be of multiple choice in both Paper-I (current affairs) and Paper-II (aptitude test), for 200 marks each and the time allotted for each paper is two hours.
For the purposes of the evaluation, it is compulsory for the candidate to appear in both the Civil Services (Prelim) papers. Therefore a candidate will be disqualified in case he or she does not appear in both the papers of the (Prelims) exam.
UPSC Mains Syllabus
The UPSC Main Examination is designed to test the academic expertise of a candidate and the capacity to present his/her knowledge in a consistent manner. The UPSC Mains Exam is intended to evaluate the candidates' overall intellectual characteristics and understanding of the concept.The Civil Services Main Examination is intended to test the aspirant's academic talent, as well as his/her ability to clearly and coherently present his/her knowledge.
Paper I - Modern Indian Language -300 Marks |
Qualifying nature: Marks not counted, Passing mandatory |
Paper II - English -300 Marks |
Qualifying nature: Marks not counted, Passing mandatory |
The aim of the paper is to test the ability of the candidates to read and understand serious discursive prose in the English and Indian languages concerned, and to express their ideas clearly and correctly.
Paper III - Essay - 250 Marks |
Paper IV - General studies -300 Marks |
(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society) |
Important geophysical phenomena, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity, cyclones, etc., geographical features and their location, and the effects of these changes on critical geographical features (including water bodies and ice caps) and flora and fauna.
Paper V - General Studies II - 250 Marks |
(Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations) |
Paper VI - General Studies III - 250 Marks |
(Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) |
Paper VII - General Studies IV - 250 Marks |
(Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude) |
Paper VIII - Optional Subject - Paper I - 250 Marks |
Paper IX - Optional Subject - Paper II - 250 Marks |
Interview/Personality Test - 275 Marks |
Note:- For the merit ranking, marks obtained by the candidates for all papers EXCEPT PAPER A & B will be counted. However, in any or all of the examination papers, the Commission will have the discretion to fix qualifying marks Aspirants may log on to the official UPSC website (www.upsc.gov.in) for detailed notifications.
UPSC Vacancy : Year Wise Details
How to Apply for UPSC CSE?
Interested and eligible applicants are required to apply online via the UPSC Official website. Before registration, candidates are advised to read the full notification released by the UPSC and understand the different aspects of examination.
The allocation of test centers will be on a “first-apply-first allot” basis. Applicants should apply early in order to get a centre of their choice.
UPSC CSE Registration Fee
Candidates are required to pay Rs. 100 (one hundred only) for the UPSC Civil Services Prelims examination by sending the money to any branch of the State Bank of India or by using the Visa/Master/RuPay Credit/Debit Card or SBI Internet Banking. Female SC /ST /Persons with Benchmark disability applicants are exempt from the examination fee payment.
UPSC CSE Admit Card
The admit card is the essential document needed to enter the examination hall. The admit card will be released by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) at least four weeks before the exam date. Registered applicants can only download an admit card from the official website.The Main Exam and Preliminary Exams Admit Card for Civil Services is available on the official website, i.e www.upsc.gov.in.
Candidates who have successfully submitted the online application along with a fee can download the UPSC admit card from the above website.
How To Download UPSC CSE-Admit Card 2020?
Visit the official website of UPSC – https://upsconline.nic.in
Go to the ''Admit Card'' section.
Click on ''E-Admit Cards for various Examinations of UPSC''
Find the UPSC Civil Services 2020 Main Exam e-Admit Card link
Click on the link to land on the admit card page.
Enter the login details such as roll number.
Submit the details to download the admit card.
Take a printout of admit card and carry the same to the examination centre.
UPSC Exam Centres
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts a Civil Services Examination for various positions, such as IAS, IPS, IFS, IFoS, and others. Here’s the list of the UPSC Exam centres for civil services prelims and mains to help the applicants to select their examination center before filling in the UPSC Online Application Form.
UPSC CENTRES for Civil Services (Preliminary) EXAMINATION
A | H | P |
AGARTALA | HYDERABAD | PANAJI (GOA) |
AGRA | I | PATNA |
AJMER | IMPHAL | PORT BLAIR |
AHMEDABAD | INDORE | PUDUCHERRY |
AIZAWL | ITANAGAR | PUNE |
ALIGARH | J | R |
ALLAHABAD | JABALPUR | RAIPUR |
ANANTPUR (ANDHRA PRADESH) | JAIPUR | RAJKOT |
AURANGABAD | JAMMU | RANCHI |
B | JODHPUR | S |
BANGALORE | JORHAT | SAMBALPUR |
BAREILLY | K | SHILLONG |
BHOPAL | KOCHI | SHIMLA |
BILASPUR | KOHIMA | SILIGUDI |
C | KOLKATA | SRINAGAR |
CHANDIGARH | KOZHIKODE(CALICUT) | T |
CHENNAI | L | THANE |
COIMBATORE | LUCKNOW | THIRUVANANTHAPURAM |
CUTTACK | LUDHIANA | TIRUCHIRAPALLI |
D | M | TIRUPATI |
DEHRADUN | MADURAI | U |
DELHI | MUMBAI | UDAIPUR |
DHARWAD | MYSORE | V |
DISPUR | N | VARANASI |
F | NAGPUR | VELLORE |
FARIDABAD | NAVI MUMBAI | VIJAYAVADA |
G | VISHAKHAPATNAM | |
GANGTOK | W | |
GAYA | WARANGAL | |
GHAZIABAD | ||
GORAKHPUR | ||
GURGAON | ||
GWALIOR | ||
GAUTAM BUDDH NAGAR |
UPSC CENTRES for Civil Services (Mains) EXAMINATION
A | D | M |
AHMEDABAD | DEHRADUN | MUMBAI |
AIZAWL | DELHI | P |
ALLAHABAD | DISPUR (GUWAHATI) | PATNA |
B | H | R |
BENGALURU | HYDERABAD | RAIPUR |
BHOPAL | J | RANCHI |
C | JAIPUR | S |
CHANDIGARH | JAMMU | SHILLONG |
CHENNAI | K | SHIMLA |
CUTTACK | KOLKATA | T |
L | THIRUVANANTHAPURAM | |
LUCKNOW |
V | |
VIJAYAWADA |