UPSC CSE FAQs

Generally UPSC update the examination date and schedule at least 1 year before the examination.  So, make sure that as student you should have knowledge about what will be the procedure of the examination by visiting UPSC website.

Aspirants should understand the Basic Requirement of Examination:

Education Qualifications:

The candidate must have done graduation from any recognized university.

The candidate who is in the final year of graduation can also apply for the examination.

No of Attempts:

1. General: 6
2. SC/ST: no limit
3. OBC: 9

Exam Pattern:

UPSC conduct Civil Service examination in three stages:

1. Preliminary stage
2. Mains Stage
3. Interview Stage

 The pre-exam is completely objective-based and the main exams are descriptive-based.

Civil Services Preliminary Exam:

In Preliminary stage, candidate has to appear for two exams. Both the papers are objective-based in nature. The candidate would be given four options in which he has to select the correct answer.

Civil services Mains Exam:

Candidates who clear prelims stage of examination will appear for mains exam. Unlike prelims examination, mains examination is descriptive in nature. Candidates need to choose any one compulsory language paper followed by essay paper, GS papers and optional papers. 

UPSC Civil Services Exam Syllabus:

The UPSC Prelims Exams consists of two papers:

1. First paper consists of the questions regarding general awareness like national international, history polity, geography, governance, etc.
2. Paper 2 consists of questions related to the general decision-making and mental ability of the candidate. In this comprehensions, logical reasoning, analytical ability, data interpretation are asked.

IAS Syllabus 2023 for Prelims General Studies Paper 1:

1. Current Affairs: In this section of the exam, candidates must be aware of National & International current events.
2. History: It comprises of India’s history and the Indian National Movement.
3. Geography [Indian & world]: It consists of Social, Physical & Economic Geography.
4. Environment: It consists of Biodiversity and General Issues on Climatic Change, Environmental Ecology, and General Science.
5. Indian Polity and Governance: It includes the Constitution of India, the Political System of India, the Panchayati Raj, etc.
6. Economics: Include in this Section Social Sector Initiatives, Inclusion, Demographics Poverty, Sustainable Development, etc.
7. General Science: General Studies-1 exam duration will be two hours and the total number of marks will be 200.

General Studies Paper 2 (CSAT) Syllabus: 

1. Problem-solving and decision-making
2. General mental ability.
3. Comprehension
4. Analytical and logical reasoning.
5. Data Interpretation.
6. Interpersonal skills including communication skills.

UPSC Civil Services Mains Exam Syllabus:

• UPSC Civil Services Mains examination is of 1750 marks and the Interview is of 275 marks. Aspirants will have to appear for total nine papers in the UPSC Mains examination. Two papers will be of language papers that candidates have to secure for minimum marks

Aspirants need to cover extra yardstick to qualify for the exam. The candidates appearing for 2024 attempt can prepare well by practicing the previous year’s question papers. By practicing previous year papers the candidate can easily get the idea of the type of questions ask so that they can prepare well according to the requirement of the examination.