UPSC Civil Service Exam: Know the IAS exam pattern and preparation tips
UPSC Civil Service Exam:
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Service Exam (CSE) is one of the toughest exams conducted across the country. The UPSC CSE exam recruits candidates for various prestigious positions such as IAS, IPS, etc. in the Government of India. And in this article, you will get to expand your knowledge about the exam pattern for the UPSC CSE Exam conducted to admit candidates for the Indian Administration Services (IAS).
Exam pattern for UPSC exam:
The UPSC Exam is usually divided into two parts, the first one being the Preliminary exam and the Main Exam, but the exam is conducted in three stages practically.
The three stages of the IAS exam include the Prelims, the Mains and the Personal Interview stage.
And the IAS exam pattern states that the candidates who manage to clear the Prelims exam are promoted to the Main exam and the candidates who successfully pass the Main exam are sent further for the final Personal Interview stage.
Exam Pattern for the UPSC Prelims exam:
The UPSC Prelims exam is further divided into two papers, which are however conducted in one single day. The Prelims exam is qualifying in nature with objective type questions (or MCQs) and a candidate must score 33% marks to clear the prelims exam. The marks secured in the Prelims exam are not considered while preparing the final merit list, but the candidates must prepare well for the exam as the cut-offs for the UPSC prelims exam are really unpredictable. There is also a negative marking of 1/3rd marks in the UPSC Prelims exam.
The list of papers for the UPSC Prelims exam is mentioned below:
|
Subject |
Type |
No. of questions |
Marks |
Duration |
|
General Studies I |
MCQ |
100 |
200 |
2 Hrs |
|
General Studies II |
MCQ |
80 |
200 |
2 Hrs |
Exam Pattern for the UPSC Main Exam:
UPSC Main exam consists of 9 papers which are conducted over a period of 5-7 days. The candidates who manage to secure marks as per the declared cut off in General Studies I exam and 33% marks in the General Studies II Prelims exam are promoted to the UPSC Main exam. All the papers in the UPSC Main exam are of a descriptive nature.
All the paper in the UPSC Main exam except the language papers A & B are of merit in nature. These language paper A & B are qualifying in nature and candidates are required to score a minimum 25% of marks in Paper I to Paper VII. It is not mandatory for candidates belonging from the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim and candidates with hearing impairment to appear for Paper I, but to avail this facility, they must prove that they have been previously exempted from such 2nd or 3rd language courses by their concerned board or university. Any language included in the 8th schedule of the constitution is considered for the Indian Language paper.
The list of papers for the UPSC Main exam is mentioned below:
|
Paper |
Subject |
Duration |
Total Marks |
|
Paper A |
Compulsory Indian Language |
3 Hours |
300 |
|
Paper B |
English |
3 Hours |
300 |
|
Paper I |
Essay |
3 Hours |
250 |
|
Paper II |
General Studies I |
3 Hours |
250 |
|
Paper III |
General Studies II |
3 Hours |
250 |
|
Paper IV |
General Studies III |
3 Hours |
250 |
|
Paper V |
General Studies IV |
3 Hours |
250 |
|
Paper VI |
Optional I |
3 Hours |
250 |
|
Paper VII |
Optional II |
3 Hours |
250 |
UPSC Interview:
UPSC Interview is the final stage of the IAS exam which is also counted as a part of the Mains exam for merit ranking purpose. The UPSC Interview is primarily conducted to analyse the suitability for a civil services career and other associated responsibilities. The board consists of unbiased analysts who possess the whole record of the candidate’s career. The group of board members analyse the candidate’s mental and social traits by asking some general interest questions.
While the board members seek candidates who possess mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, a balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest, the ability for social cohesion and leadership, moral and intellectual integrity.
The interview stage consists of a maximum of 275 marks, which further adds to merit list considerations to 2025.
