The Civil Services Examination (abbr. CSE or UPSC CSE) is a standardised test in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruitment to higher civil services in the Government of India, such as the All India Services, Diplomats and Central Civil Services (Group A and a few Group B posts). It is considered to be one of the toughest examination in the world.
It is conducted in three phases: a preliminary examination (abbr. Prelims) consisting of two objective-type papers (Paper I consisting of General Studies and Paper II consisting of Mathematics, Logical Reasoning and Comprehension, referred to as the Civil Service Aptitude Test or CSAT). The candidates qualify the Prelims will appear in the main examination (abbr. Mains) consisting of nine papers of conventional descriptive type, in which two papers are qualifying and rest of the seven papers are accountable to qualify the Mains. Finally, after qualifying the Mains, a personality test (abbr. Interview) is conducted in the UPSC headquarters in New Delhi. A successful candidate sits for 32 hours of examination during the complete process spanning around one year.
Those who pass the Civil Service Examination may be selected to join the following services:
Previously, passing the Civil Services Examination also allowed candidates to join the Central Secretariat Service (CSS), Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS) and the engineering services of Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) cadre i,e IRSEE, IRSME, IRSE, IRSSE for the period of 4 years (2021âÂÂ2025). Later the IRMS Engineering services remerged into the UPSC ESE examination since 2026.
Every year, the UPSC releases the notification for the Civil Services Examination between January and February. The application process for the Preliminary examination also occurs during this period. Admit cards for the Prelims are typically issued 1âÂÂ2 weeks prior to the examination. The Preliminary examination is generally conducted on the last Sunday of May, with results being declared within 2âÂÂ3 weeks, usually in June or July.
Since 2025, the schedule for the Mains examination has been shifted from September to August. The Mains examination is conducted over a span of five days, spread across two weeks. Results for the Mains are generally announced within 2âÂÂ3 months; in 2025, the results were declared in November. Candidates who qualify are then allowed to make corrections and update information in the Common Application Form, CAF (formerly known as the Detailed Application Form, DAF), including service preferences, interests, hobbies, and achievements.
The Personality Test (Interview) is usually conducted between December and February, and the final results are typically released in March or April.
After the final result of the successful candidates and other necessary formalities, the training program i,e the Foundation Course for the selected candidates usually commences the following JulyâÂÂAugust or sometimes September in Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration.
Eligibility for the examination is as follows:
All candidates must have as a minimum one of the following educational qualifications:
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.
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 1 August of the year of examination. Prescribed age limits vary with respect to caste reservations.
The number of times a candidate can appear for the exam are given below.
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.
The pattern of the Preliminary examination, also known as the Prelims exam 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, the preliminary pattern was sustained with only minor changes once every ten to fifteen years.
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. Both papers have multiple-choice objective type questions only. They are as follows:
Tests the candidate's knowledge of current events, the history of India and the Indian national movement, Indian and world geography, Indian polity Panchayati Raj system, and governance, economic and social development, environmental ecology, biodiversity, climate change, and general science, Art and culture.
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. It is qualifying, and the marks obtained in this paper are not counted for merit. However, the candidate must score a minimum of 33 percent in this paper to qualify for the Prelims exam.
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.
In May 2015, the Government of India announced that Paper II of the preliminary examination would be qualifying in nature i.e. it will not be graded for eligibility in the Mains Examination and a candidate will need to score at least 33% to be eligible for grading based on marks of Paper I of the Preliminary Examination. Those who qualify in the Prelims become eligible for the Mains.
The Civil Services Mains Examination consists of a written examination and an interview.
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 an 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 Prof. Arun. S. Nigavekar Committee. However, after some controversy, the qualifying papers for Indian languages and English were restored.
1.The paper A on Indian Language will not, however, be compulsory for candidates hailing from the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.
The examination is available in the following languages, with the name of the script in parentheses:
The subjects available for Papers VI and VII are: