Civil Services

Examination
(India)

The Civil Services Examination (CSE)

is a nationwide competitive
examination in India conducted by the
Union Public Service Commission for
recruitment to various Civil Services of
the Government of India, including the
Indian Administrative Service (IAS),
Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and Indian
Police Service (IPS). Also simply
referred to as the UPSC examination,[2]
it is conducted in three phases - a
preliminary examination consisting of
two objective-type papers (General
Studies Paper I and General Studies
Paper II also popularly known as 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
followed by a personality test
(interview).[2]
 Civil Services Examination
Acronym UPSC CSE
UPSC CSPE
(Preliminary)
UPSC CSME (Mains)

Type Paper-based
standardized test

Developer / Union Public Service

administrator Commission

Knowledge / skills Writing, English,

tested General knowledge,
others

Purpose Selection of
candidates to the
various posts of Civil
 Services of India
Year started 1922[1]

Duration 2 hours/paper
(Prelims)
3 hours/paper
(Mains)

Score / grade range 0 - 200 (Prelims)

0 - 1750 (Mains)
0 - 275 (Interview)
Total = 2025 (Mains
+ Interview)

Offered Once a year

Restrictions on 6 (General), 9 (OBC

attempts & PwBD- General),
no limits for SC & ST
candidates
 candidates

Countries / regions India

Languages Question paper is

only given in Hindi or
English. Answers
can be given in any
one of the
scheduled
languages of India

Annual number of About 1 million

test takers students applied for
the Preliminary
examination in
2017.

Prerequisites / Must be a graduate,

eligibility criteria and an Indian
citizen.

Fee ₹ 100/- (for general

male candidates).
For other categories
of candidates, the
registration fee is
exempted.

Scores / grades Union Public Service

used by Commission for the
selection of the
students to the
various Civil
Services of India

Qualification rate approximately 0.1 %

Qualification rate approximately 0.1 %

Website upsc.gov.in
Civil Services
(Preliminary)
Examination, 2019

Process
The Civil Services Examination is based
on the British era Imperial Civil Service
tests, as well as the civil service tests
conducted by old Indian empires such
as the Mauryan Empire and Mughal
Empire. It is considered to be the most
difficult competitive examination in
India. A single attempt takes two
complete years of preparation - one
year before the prelims and one year
from prelims to interview. In total, one
sits in actual exam for 32 hours from
prelims till interview. On average,
900,000 to 1,000,000 candidates apply
every year and the number of
candidates sitting in the preliminary
examination is approximately
550,000.[3] Results for the Prelims are
published in mid-August, while the final
result is published in May of the next
year.
 Stage I: Preliminary Examination -
Held in June every year. Results are
announced in August.
Stage II: Mains
1. Examination - Held in October
every year. Results are announced
in January.
2. Personality Test (interview) - Held
in March. Final results are usually
announced in May.

The training program for the selected

candidates usually commences the
following September.
Eligibility
Eligibility for the examination is as
follows:[2][4]

Nationality …

For the Indian Administrative Service

and the Indian Police Service, the
candidate must be a citizen of India.
For other services, the candidate
must be one of the following:
1. A citizen of India
2. A citizen of Nepal or a subject of
Bhutan
 3. A Tibetan refugee who settled
permanently in India before
January 1, 1962.
4. A person of Indian origin who has
migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar,
Sri Lanka, Kenya, Uganda,
Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire,
Ethiopia or Vietnam with the
intention of permanently settling
in India

Educational qualification …

All candidates must have as a

minimum one of the following
educational qualifications:[2]
 A degree from a Central, State or a
Deemed university
A degree received through
correspondence or distance
education
A degree from an open university[5]
A qualification recognized by the
Government of India as being
equivalent to one of the above

The following candidates are also

eligible, but must submit proof of their
eligibility from a competent authority at
their institute/university at the time of
the main examination, failing which
they will not be allowed to attend the
exam.[2]

Candidates who have appeared in an

examination the passing of which
would render them educationally
qualified enough to satisfy one of the
above points.[6]
Candidates who have passed the
final exam of the MBBS degree but
have not yet completed an
internship.
Candidates who have passed the
final exam of ICAI, ICSI and ICWAI.
A degree from a private university.
 A degree from any foreign university
recognized by the Association of
Indian Universities.

Age …

The candidate must have attained the

age of 21 years and must not have
attained the age of 32 years (for the
General category candidate) on August
1 of the year of examination.
Prescribed age limits vary with respect
to caste reservations.[7]

For Other Backward Castes (OBC)

the upper age limit is 35 years.
For Scheduled Castes (SC) and
Scheduled Tribes (ST), the limit is 37
years.
For Defence Services Personnel
disabled in operations during
hostilities, the limit is 40 years.
For Candidates belonging to ex-
servicemen including Commissioned
officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have
rendered Military services for at least
five years as on August 1, of the year
and have been released
1. on completion of assignment
(including those whose
 assignment is due to be
completed within one year
from August 1 of the year
otherwise than by way of
dismissal or discharge on
account of misconduct or
inefficiency or
2. on account of physical
disability attributable to
Military Service or
3. on invalidment or
Relaxation of up to a maximum
of five years will be given in the
case of ECOs/SSCOs who have
 completed an initial period of
assignment of five years of
Military Service as on August 1
of the year and whose
assignment has been extended
beyond five years and in whose
case the Ministry of Defence
issues a certificate that they can
apply for civil employment and
that they will be released on
three months’ notice on
selection from the date of
receipt of offer of appointment,
the limit is 32 years.
For ECOs/SSCOs who have
 completed an initial period of
assignment of five years of Military
Service, the limit is 32 years.
For PwD candidates, the limit is 37
years.
For Domiciles of Jammu and
Kashmir from January 1, 1980 to
December 31, 1989, the limit is 32
years.

Number of attempts …

The number of times a candidate can

appear for the exam are given below.[5]

General category candidates = 6[8]

 OBC category candidates = 9
SC/ST candidates = unlimited
attempts till 37 years of age.

Appearing to attempt one of the papers

in the preliminary examination is
counted as an attempt, including
disqualification/ cancellation of
candidature. However, applying to sit
the exam but failing to attend is not
counted as an attempt.[9]

Vacancies and selection

Generally the number of vacancies
varies every year. The number of
candidates that pass the preliminary
examination is generally 11 or 12 times
the number of vacancies, and the
number of candidates selected for the
final interview is twice the number of
vacancies. As per existing policies,
reservation for SC/ST/OBC is applied
to each level of the selection process.
Vacancies & selection in different years[10]
No. of
No. of candidates
No. of candidates candidates No. of
that appeared for Final
Year applying for appearing candidates
vacancies
Prelims for selected
Prelims Mains
interviews

2010 5,47,698 2,69,036 11,865 2,589 965 1,043

2011 4,99,120 2,43,236 11,237 2,415 999 1,001

2012 5,50,080 2,71,442 12,190 2,674 998 1,091

2013 7,76,604 3,23,949 14,178 3,003 1,122 1,228

2014 9,47,428 4,51,602 16,286 3,308 1,236 1,364

2015 9,45,908 4,65,882 15,008 2,797 1,078 1,164

2016 11,36,000 5,00,000 15,452 2,961 1,099 1,209

2017 10,00,000 (approx.) 4,56,625 13,366 2,568 1058 980

2018 11,00,000 (approx.) 4,93,972 10,468 1,994 758 759

Cut-off …

The cut-off marks of the examination

of the previous years' are given below:
Cut-off marks in different years
Main Total
Prelims
Year (out of 1750) (out of 2025) Ref.

Category Marks Total Marks Category Marks Category Marks

General 241 General 564 General 775

OBC 222 OBC 534 OBC 742

SC 207 SC 518 SC 719

2013 ST 201 400 ST 510 ST 707 [11]

PH-1 199 H-1 510 PH-1 725

PH-2 184 PH-2 502 PH-2 718

PH-3 163 PH-3 410 PH-3 613

General 205 General 678 General 889

OBC 204 OBC 631 OBC 844

SC 182 SC 631 SC 830

2014 ST 174 385 ST 619 ST 811 [11]

PH-1 167 PH-1 609 PH-1 816

PH-2 113 PH-2 575 PH-2 778

PH-3 115 PH-3 449 PH-3 713

General 107.34 General 676 General 877

OBC 106 OBC 630 OBC 834

SC 94 SC 622 SC 810

2015 ST 91.34 200 ST 617 ST 801 [11]

PH-1 90.66 PH-1 580 PH-1 802

PH-2 76.66 PH-2 627 PH-2 830

PH-3 40.00 PH-3 504 PH-3 697

General 116 General 787 General 988

 OBC 110.66 OBC 745 OBC 951

SC 99.34 SC 739 SC 937

2016 200 [4]
ST 96 ST 730 ST 920

PH-1 75.34 PH-1 713 PH-1 927

PH-2 72.66 PH-2 740 PH-2 951

PH-3 40 PH-3 545 PH-3 817

General 105.34 General 809 General 1006

OBC 102.66 OBC 770 OBC 968

SC 88.66 SC 756 SC 944

2017 ST 88.66 200 ST 749 ST 939 [4]

PH-1 88.88 PH-1 734 PH-1 923

PH-2 61.34 PH-2 745 PH-2 948

PH-3 40 PH-3 578 PH-3 830

General 98 General 774 General 982

OBC 96.66 OBC 732 OBC 938

SC 84 SC 719 SC 912

2018 ST 83.34 200 ST 719 ST 912 [12]

PH-1 73.34 PH-1 711 PH-1 899

PH-2 53.34 PH-2 696 PH-2 908

PH-3 40 PH-3 520 PH-3 754

List of Services
Following are the services which one
gets on qualifying the Civil Service
Examination.[13]

All India Services

Indian Administrative Service (IAS)

Indian Police Service(IPS)

Central Services (Group A)

Indian Foreign Service (IFS)

Indian Audit and Accounts Service
(IA&AS)
Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS)
Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS)
Indian Defence Accounts Service
(IDAS)
Indian Defence Estates Service
(IDES)
Indian Information Service (IIS)
Indian Ordnance Factories Service
(IOFS)
Indian Postal Service (IPoS)
Indian P&T Accounts and Finance
Service (IP&TAFS)
Indian Railway Accounts Service
(IRAS)
Indian Railway Personnel Service
(IRPS)
 Indian Railway Protection Force
Service (IRPFS)
Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS)
Indian Revenue Service (IRS-IT)
Indian Revenue Service (IRS-C&CE)
Indian Trade Service (ITrS)

Group B Services

Armed Forces Headquarters Civil

Services (AFHCS)
Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Civil Service (DANICS)
Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Police Service (DANIPS)
 Pondicherry Civil Service (PCS)
Pondicherry Police Service (PPS)

Preliminary
The pattern of the Preliminary
examination up to 2010 was based on
the recommendations of the Kothari
Commission (1979). It included two
examinations, one on general studies
worth 150 marks, and the second on
one of 23 optional subjects worth 300
marks. Until 2011, when it was
revamped,[14] the preliminary pattern
was sustained with only minor changes
once every ten to fifteen years.[14]
From 2011 onwards, the preliminary
examination intends to focus on
analytical abilities and understanding
rather than the ability to memorize. The
new pattern includes two papers of two
hours duration and 200 marks each.[15]
Both papers have multiple choice
objective type questions only.[15] They
are as follows:

Paper I tests the candidate's

knowledge on current events, history
of India and Indian national
movement, Indian and world
geography, Indian polity panchayti
Raj system and governance,
economic and social development,
environmental ecology, biodiversity,
climate change and general science,
Art and culture.[15]
Paper II (also called CSAT or Civil
Services Aptitude Test), tests the
candidate's skills in comprehension,
interpersonal skills, communication,
logical reasoning, analytical ability,
decision making, problem solving,
basic numeracy, data interpretation,
English language comprehension
skills and mental ability.[15] It is
qualifying in nature and the marks
 obtained in this paper are not
counted for merit. However, it is
mandatory for the candidate to score
a minimum of 33 per cent in this
paper to qualify the Prelims exam.[16]

In August 2014, the Centre announced

that English marks in CSAT will not be
included for gradation or merit and
2011 candidates may get a second
chance to appear for the test next
year.[17]

In May 2015, the Government of India

announced that Paper II of the
preliminary examination will be
qualifying in nature i.e. it will not be
graded for eligibility in Mains
Examination and a candidate will need
to score at least 33% to be eligible for
grading on the basis of marks of Paper
I of the Preliminary Examination.[2]
Those who qualify in the Prelims
become eligible for the Mains.

Mains
The Civil Services Mains Examination
consists of a written examination and
an interview.[2]
Examination …

The Civil Services Main written

examination consists of nine papers,
two qualifying and seven ranking in
nature. The range of questions may
vary from just one mark to sixty marks,
twenty words to 600 words answers.
Each paper is of a duration of 3 hours.
Candidates who pass qualifying papers
are ranked according to marks and a
selected number of candidates are
called for interview or a personality test
at the Commission's discretion.
According to the new marks allocations
in Civil Service Examination 2013 there
are some changes made in the
examination according to the
suggestion of the Prof. Arun. S.
Nigavekar Committee.[18] However,
after some controversy, the qualifying
papers for Indian languages and
English were restored.[19]
Civil Services New Mains Format[20]
Paper Subject Marks

(One of the Indian languages listed below, to be selected by the

Paper
candidate (from the languages listed in the Eighth Schedule to the 300
A
Constitution of India) (Qualifying)

Paper
English (Qualifying) 300
B

Paper I Essay 250

Paper General Studies I (Indian heritage and culture, history and geography of
250
II the world and society)

Paper General Studies II (Governance, constitution, polity, social justice and

250
III international relations)

Paper General Studies III (Technology, economic development, bio-diversity,

250
IV environment, security and disaster management)

Paper
General Studies IV (ethics, integrity and aptitude) 250
V

Papers Two papers on one subject to be selected by the candidate from the list
500
VI, VII of optional subjects below (250 marks for each paper)

Sub Total (Written Test) 1750

Personality Test (Interview) 275

Total Marks 2025

List of languages …

The examination is more than the

following languages, with the name of
the script in brackets:[21]

Assamese (Assamese)
Bengali (Bengali)
Bodo (Devanagari)
Dogri (Devanagari)
English (English)
Gujarati (Gujarati)
Hindi (Devanagari)
Kannada (Kannada)
Kashmiri (Persian)
Konkani (Devanagari)
Maithili (Devanagari)
 Malayalam (Malayalam)
Manipuri (Bengali)
Marathi (Devanagari)
Nepali (Devanagari)
Odia (Odia)
Punjabi (Gurumukhi)
Sanskrit (Devanagari)
Santhali (Devanagri or Ol Chiki)
Sindhi (Devanagari or Arabic)
Tamil (Tamil)
Telugu (Telugu)
Urdu (Persian)

Optional subjects …
The subjects available for Papers VI
and VII are:[21][22]

Agriculture
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary
Science
Anthropology
Botany
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Commerce and Accountancy
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography
Geology
History
Law
Literature of any one of the
languages listed above
Management
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medical Science
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science and International
 Relations
Psychology
Public Administration
Sociology
Statistics
Zoology

Interview …

Officially called the "Personality Test",

the objective of the interview is to
assess the personal suitability of the
candidate for a career in public service
by a board of competent and unbiased
observers. The test is intended to
evaluate the mental calibre of a
candidate. In broad terms, this is really
an assessment of not only a
candidate's intellectual qualities, but
also social traits and interest in current
affairs. Some of the qualities to be
judged are mental alertness, critical
powers of assimilation, clear and
logical exposition, balance of
judgement, variety and depth of
interest, ability for social cohesion and
leadership, and intellectual and moral
integrity.

The technique of the interview is not

that of a strict cross-examination, but
of a natural, though directed and
purposeful conversation that is
intended to reveal the mental qualities
of the candidate.

The interview is not intended to test

either of the specialized or general
knowledge of the candidate, which has
been already tested through written
papers. Candidates are expected to
have taken an intelligent interest not
only in their special subjects of
academic study, but also in the events
which are happening around them both
within and outside their own state or
country as well as in modern currents
of thought and in new discoveries
which should rouse the curiosity of all
well-educated youth. The interview
standards are very high and require
thorough preparation as well as
commitment.

References
1. https://www.upsc.gov.in/sites/def
ault/files/History%20of%20the%20
Commission%20final%20%281%29
_0.pdf
2. "Union Public Service Commission
Central Civil Services Examination,
2011 Notice" (PDF). upsc.gov.in.
Archived from the original (PDF)
on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 9 July
2011.
3. "Over 4.5 lakh students appear for
UPSC preliminary exam" . The
Indian Express. 24 August 2014.
Retrieved 16 March 2019.
4. "Indian Administrative Service
Exam - IAS-Exam" . Careers360.
5. "FAQs" . upsc.gov.in. Archived
from the original on 9 July 2011.
Retrieved 9 July 2011.
6. "Civil Services Examination -
Overview" . upsc.gov.in. Archived
from the original on 9 July 2011.
Retrieved 9 July 2011.
7. "Civil Services (Preliminary)
Examination, 2019" (PDF). UPSC.
19 February 2019.
8. http://www.upsc.gov.in/sites/defa
ult/files/Engl_CSP_2017.pdf
 9. Kumar, S. Vijay (18 November
2014). "Centre to lower age limit
for civil service aspirants" . The
Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X . Retrieved
19 April 2019.
10. "UPSC IAS Candidates Selection
Ratio" . Competition Careers360. 7
January 2020. Retrieved 7 January
2020.
11. "Civil Services Examination trend
of Previous Years Cut off Marks |
IAS EXAM PORTAL - India's
Largest Community for UPSC
Exam Aspirants" .
iasexamportal.com. Retrieved
18 February 2019.
12. Civil Services Examination, 2018
13. "UPSC Posts, Civil Services Posts,
UPSC jobs List, Indian Civil Service,
Indian Services Post" .
www.civilserviceindia.com.
Retrieved 19 April 2019.
14. "Change of pattern in UPSC" . The
Pioneer. 22 June 2011. Archived
from the original on 10 July 2011.
Retrieved 10 July 2011.
15. "Changes in the civil service
examination" . Hindustan Times.
New Delhi. 21 June 2011. Archived
from the original on 10 July 2011.
Retrieved 10 July 2011.
16. "UPSC Syllabus 2019, IAS Syllabus
2019, UPSC 2019 Syllabus, UPSC
Prelims Syllabus, Csat Syllabus,
IAS Prelims Syllabus, IAS Exam
Prelims Syllabus" .
www.civilserviceindia.com.
Retrieved 6 February 2019.
17. "CSAT Row : Marks of English
paper will not be included for
merit" . Patrika Group (4 August
2014). Archived from the original
on 8 August 2014. Retrieved
4 August 2014.
18. "PM approves changes in civil
services exam pattern" . LiveMint.
27 February 2013. Retrieved
25 March 2013.
19. "Govt rolls back changes to UPSC
mains exam" . The Hindu. 2
September 2016. Retrieved
31 October 2017.
20. "A Brief introduction to Civil
Services Exam | IAS Planner" .
www.iasplanner.com. Retrieved
22 February 2019.
21. "CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION,
2015" (PDF). Union Public
Services Commission. 23 May
2015. p. 5. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
22. "UPSC Syllabus for Optional
Subjects IAS 2019 Mains Optional
Syllabus" . www.nextias.com.
Retrieved 19 April 2019.

External links
Union Public Service Commission
official website
Civil Services (Preliminary)
Examination 2019 official website
 Civil Services Examination 2019
official notification

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