The Civil Services preliminary exam consists of two compulsory papers of 200 marks each. The questions would be of multiple choice and objective type. The marks secured in the preliminary exam would be considered to qualify for the main exam but not for final ranking.
1) Civil Services Prelims Exam
- This is the first step of the Civil Services Exam.
- The questions asked in this examination is of Objective Type/Multiple Choice Questions.
- Civil Service Prelims Exam is qualifying in nature which means that the marks scored by the candidate in this exam will not be counted to form the final merit list.
- There are two papers in Prelims- CSAT Paper I and CSAT Paper II
- CSAT Paper 1- In this paper, the questions from the subjects of General Studies like History, Political Science, Geography, Economics, Environment, Current Affairs, etc. are asked. CSAT Paper 1 is crucial for the selection in IAS Prelims.
- CSAT Paper 2- This paper is qualifying in nature, i.e., the candidate has to score just 33% marks to clear through this paper. If a candidate fails to clear CSAT Paper 2, then the candidate's CSAT Paper 1 will not be evaluated by the UPSC. CSAT Paper 2 comprises questions from Aptitude and English Comprehension.
| Paper | Total Marks | Duration | No. of Questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSAT Paper-1 | 200 | 2 hours | 100 |
| CSAT Paper-2 | 200 | 2 hours | 80 |
2) Civil Services Mains Exam
- Civil Services Mains Exam is the most important phase as it has a significant role to play in deciding the final selection and the rank of a candidate.
- The questions asked in Mains exam is of Subjective Type, and the candidate has to write the answers with a pen on the answer sheet.
- The IAS Mains exam is conducted by the UPSC to check the analytical ability of a candidate and to test the in-depth knowledge of the candidate in General Studies subjects as well as in the current happenings in the Nation and across the World.
- IAS Mains Paper comprises of 9 subjective papers out of which two papers (English Language and Indian Language) are of qualifying in nature which is of 300 marks each and marks scored in these papers are not counted to form the final merit list.
| Paper | Subject | Total Marks | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper- I | Essay | 250 | 3 hours |
| Paper- II | General Studies- I | 250 | 3 hours |
| Paper- III | General Studies- II | 250 | 3 hours |
| Paper- IV | General Studies- III | 250 | 3 hours |
| Paper- V | General Studies- IV | 250 | 3 hours |
| Paper- VI | Optional Paper- I | 250 | 3 hours |
| Paper- VII | Optional Paper- II | 250 | 3 hours |
3) Civil Services Interview/Personality Test
- The candidates who clear the IAS mains exam are called for the IAS Interviews.
- Numbers Scored in the Interview are counted in the final merit list.
- The interview of a candidate is taken by a board which is chaired by a prominent civil servant of the country.
- The Civil Services Interviews are conducted to assess the personality of the candidate and to determine whether the candidate is suitable to the job requirement.
- The IAS interview comprises of 275 marks.
UPSC IAS written total Marks- 1750 marks
UPSC IAS Interview Marks- 275 marks
UPSC Civil Services TOTAL MARKS: 2025