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UPSC Exam Pattern

UPSC Civil Services Exam Pattern: 

The UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a three-stage pattern: Preliminary Examination (Prelims), Main Examination (Mains), and Personality Test (Interview). Once the Prelims stage is cleared, candidates become eligible for Mains and later for the Interview stage. Each stage serves a specific purpose in assessing the candidates' abilities and suitability for a career in civil services.

First stage

preliminary examination (Pre)

Second stage

Mains Exam (Mains)

Third stage

Interview

How many papers are there in UPSC Civil Services Exam:

1. UPSC Prelims Exam Pattern

  • There are two papers in this stage-
Subject Nature Of Paper Exam Type No. of Questions Exam Duration Marks
Paper I - General Studies Merit Ranking (Marks not counted in Final merit) Objective 100 2 Hours 200
Paper II - Aptitude Test (CSAT) Qualifying Objective 80 2 Hours 200
  • Both papers are multiple choice questions (Objective type).
  • Each paper is of two hours.
  • Both the papers are conducted on the same day.
  • Each question paper is of 200 marks.
  • There is also a provision for one-third negative marking for wrong questions.
  • The merit of the preliminary examination is decided based on the marks of the first question paper.
  • CSAT is qualifying in nature, in which minimum one third marks are required to pass.
  • Only after passing the preliminary examination, the candidate becomes eligible for the second stage.

2. Second Stage or Mains Examination:

    • There are a total of nine question papers in this exam, each paper is of 3 hours duration.   

    Question paper

    Subject

    Marks

    Paper- 1

      Indian languages

    300 marks  (Qualifying) 

    Minimum 25% marks must be obtained.

    Paper- 2

    English language

    300 marks  (Qualifying) 

    Minimum 25% marks must be obtained.

    Paper-3 

      Essay

    250 marks

    Paper-4

    (General Studies-1)

    Indian Heritage and Culture, World History and Geography and Society

    250 marks

    Paper-5 

    (General Studies-2)

    System of government, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations

    250 marks

    Paper-6 

    (General Studies-3)

    Technology, economic development, biodiversity, environment, security and disaster management)

    250 marks

    Paper-7

    (General Studies-4)

    Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

    250 marks

    Paper-8 & 9

    Optional subject

    Paper- I 

    250 marks

    Paper- II

    250 marks

    3.Third Stage (Interview)-

    • This is the last and important stage of civil services.
    • Like other question papers, it does not have any fixed syllabus.
    • This paper is of 275 marks.
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