CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION
STRUCTURE
The Civil Services Exam is conducted in three stages:
Scheme for the Preliminary
and Main Examination
Stage 1: PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION
The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory papers of 200 marks each.
Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions).
Paper 1 has 100 questions and has a merit based performance.
Paper 2 is CSAT which is qualifying in nature with 33% of marks out of 80 questions.
Stage 2: MAIN EXAMINATION (SUBJECTIVE TYPE)
Total Marks for written Exam: 1750, Four papers of General Studies + one Optional subject
(consisting 2 papers) and one Essay paper. There are two qualifying papers, one is General
English and one is from any other language of 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. All
papers are of 3 hours duration each. The Language Paper 1 on Indian language is not
compulsory for students hailing from Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram
and Meghalaya.
STAGE 1 - PRELIMS
The prelims examination is a qualifying stage for the mains exam.
The marks secured at this stage are not counted towards the final merit list.
The details of CSE Prelims Exam are given below:
Paper No. of Type Marks Duration Negative marks
questions
General Studies I - Objective 100 200 2 Hours 1/3rd
History, Geography,
Economy, Polity, General
Science, Ecology &
Current Affairs
General Studies II - Objective 80 200 2 Hours 1/3rd
(CSAT)
SYLLABUS OF STAGE 1 PRELIMS
Paper -1 (GS) 200 Marks
Current Events : National and International importance
History of India and Indian National Movement
Indian and World Geography- Physical, Social ,Economic Geography of India and the
World.
Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public
policy, Rights Issues, etc.
Economic and Social development; Sustainable Development, Poverty Inclusion,
Demographics, Social Sector Initiativesetc.
General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change that do
not require subject specialization.
GeneralScience
Paper -2 (CSAT) 200 Marks
Comprehension
Interpersonal skills including communication skills
Logical reasoning and analytic alability
Decision making and problem solving
General mental ability
Basic Numeracy (Numbers and the irrelations, orders or magnitude, etc.) (Class X
level) Data interpretation (Charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. Class X level)
STAGE 2 - MAINS
The Mains stage consists of 9 papers conducted over a period of 5-7 days.
Only those candidates who secure at least the declared cut off in General
Studies- I and 33% in General Studies – II in Prelims are allowed to appear for
the Mains Examination.
As per the exam pattern of UPSC Mains, all of the papers consist of descriptive answer
type questions. The details of UPSC Mains Exam are given below:
Paper Subject Duration Total marks
Language Compulsory Indian language One of the 3 hours 300
Paper 1 Indian languages to be selected by the
candidates from the 8th schedule of the
constitution.
Language English 3 hours 300
Paper 2
Paper 1 Essay 3 hours 300
Paper 2 General Studies I - Indian Heritage and 3 hours 250
Culture, History & Geography of the World
& Society
Paper 3 General Studies II - Governance, 3 hours 250
Constitution, Polity, Social Justice &
International relations
Paper 4 General Studies III- Technology, 3 hours 250
Economic Development, Biodiversity,
Environment, Security & Disaster
Management
Paper 5 General Studies IV - Ethics, Integrity and 3 hours 250
Aptitude
Aptitude
Optional Optional I - Optional Subject - Paper-1 3 hours 250
Paper 1
Optional Optional II - Optional Subject - Paper-2 3 hours 250
Paper 2
All of the mains papers except for the language papers A and B are of a merit
ranking nature.
Language Paper 1 and Paper 2 are of qualifying nature with 25% of marks while
Paper 1 to Paper 5 and Optional Paper 1 and Optional Paper 2 are merit based.
Language Paper 1 is not compulsory for candidates from the States of
Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim as well
as candidates with hearing impairment provided they can prove that they have
been exempted from such 2nd or 3rd language courses by their concerned
board or university.
The Indian Language paper covers any of the languages included in the 8th
Schedule of the constitution.
Note: The UPSC Mains syllabus gives a list of 48 Optional Subjects which also includes
Literature subjects of different languages. Candidates need to choose any one of the
“Optional Subjects’.
STAGE 3: Interview/Personality Test
UPSC Syllabus for Interview
Interview is of 275 marks
The questions asked will be on matters of general interest.
The objective of the Interview/Personality Test is to assess the personal suitability
of the candidate for a career in public service by a Board of competent and
unbiased observers.
The Interview/Personality Test is intended to judge the mental calibre of a
candidate.
In broad terms this is really an assessment of not only 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, intellectual and moral integrity.
Grand Total
2025 Marks
UPSC Exam - Age Limit
UPSC has a fixed number of attempts and eligibility criteria concerning age for the UPSC
examination. The eligible age is 21 years in all categories. Here’s the category-wise age
limit and the number of attempts:
Category Upper age limit Number of attempts
General 32 years 6
Economically weaker section 32 years 6
OBC 35 years 9
SC/ST 37 years Unlimited (Up to age limit)
Disabled Defense Services Personnel 35 years 9
Ex-Servicemen 37 years 9
Persons with Benchmark Disability 42 years 9
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