CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION

Organized by;
UNION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISION

The Civil services exam is conducted in three phases:

Phase 1: Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type)
Phase 2: Civil Services (Mains) Examination (Descriptive Type)
Phase 3: Personal Interview (Personality Test)

Phase 1: UPSC Prelims Exam

The UPSC Civil Services Prelims Examination is composed of two
components:

Paper Subjects Total Duration

Marks

I General Studies 200 2 hours (9:30 AM to 11:30

(GS) AM)

II CSAT 200 2 hours (2:30 PM to 4:30

PM)

2) Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT)

 Broadly, the UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination
consists of two papers of objective type, each of 200 marks
(hence totalling 400 marks) and of two hours duration. To
qualify for the Civil Services Mains, a candidate must
attempt both the papers.
  Further, the UPSC General Studies (GS) paper consists of
100 questions, while the CSAT paper consists of 80
questions. Both papers have negative marks for wrong
answers marked to the tune of 1/3rd of the total marks
assigned to that question.

o To further illustrate this, each correctly answered GS

question will be awarded 2 marks. So, 0.66 marks
would be deducted from the total for every question
that is wrongly marked.
o Similarly, in the CSAT paper, since we have 80
questions for 200 marks, correctly answered CSAT
question would attract 2.5 marks each, while every
wrongly marked question would attract a penalty of
0.833 for each such wrong answer, which will be
deducted from the total.
 Questions that are not attempted will not attract any
negative marks.
The two papers of the IAS prelims are discussed in detail below:
1. General Studies (Generally conducted between 9:30 AM and
11:30 AM)
The General Studies test is the first paper of the preliminary
examination. This test is intended to test the general awareness
of a candidate in a wide range of subjects that include: Indian
Polity, Geography, History, Indian Economy, Science and
Technology, Environment and Ecology, International
Relations and associated UPSC current affairs.
2. Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) (Generally conducted
between 2:30 PM and 04:30 PM)
 This UPSC Prelims syllabus for CSAT intends to assess the
aptitude of the candidate in solving ‘Reasoning and
Analytical’ questions, apart from ‘Reading Comprehension’
and the occasionally asked ‘Decision Making’ questions.
  The ‘Decision Making’ based questions are generally exempt
from negative marks.
 The preliminary examination is only meant for screening a
candidate for the subsequent stages of the exam.
 The marks obtained in the Prelims will not be added up
while arriving at the final rank list.
UPSC Prelims Syllabus
 Syllabus for GS Paper (Prelims Paper I)
o Current events of national and international
importance.
o History of India and Indian National Movement.
o Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social,
Economic Geography of India and the World.
o Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political
System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues,
etc.
o Economic and Social Development – Sustainable
Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social
Sector initiatives, etc.
o General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity,
and Climate Change – that do not require subject
specialisation.
o General Science
 Syllabus for CSAT Paper (Prelims Paper-II)
o Comprehension
o Interpersonal skills including communication skills
o Logical reasoning and analytical ability
o Decision-making and problem solving
o General mental ability
 o Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders
of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation
(charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc. – Class X
level)

Phase 2: UPSC Mains Exam (1750 Marks)

 The Mains examination constitutes the 2nd phase of the
Civil Services Examination. Only after successfully
qualifying in the prelims exam would the candidates be
allowed to write the IAS Mains.
 The Mains exam tests the candidate’s academic talent in
depth and his/her ability to present his/her understanding
according to the requirements of the question in a time-
bound manner.
 The UPSC Mains exam consists of 9 papers, out of which
two are qualifying papers of 300 marks each.
 The two qualifying papers are:
o Any Indian Language Paper
o English Language Paper
The papers on Essay, General Studies and Optional Subject of
only such candidates who attain 25% marks in both the language
papers as a minimum qualifying standard in these qualifying
papers, will be taken cognizance of, for evaluation.
In case a candidate does not qualify in these language papers,
then the marks obtained by such candidates will not be
considered or counted.
Structure of the language papers:
The types of questions asked are –
1. Essay – 100 marks
2. Reading comprehension – 60 marks
3. Precis Writing – 60 marks
 4. Translation:
a. English to compulsory language (e.g., Hindi) – 20
marks
b. Compulsory language to English – 20 marks
5. Grammar and basic language usage – 40 marks
The rest of the seven papers can be written in any of the
languages mentioned under the Eighth Schedule of the
Constitution of India or in English.
UPSC Mains Syllabus

Paper Subject Marks

Paper – I Essay (can be written in the medium of the candidate’s 250

choice)

Paper – General Studies – I (Indian Heritage & Culture, History & 250
II Geography of the World & Society)

Paper – General Studies – II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social 250

III Justice & International Relations)

Paper – General Studies – III (Technology, Economic Development, 250

IV Biodiversity, Security & Disaster Management)

Paper – General Studies – IV (Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude) 250

V

Paper – Optional Subject – Paper I 250

VI

Paper – Optional Subject – Paper II 250

VII

Please check the detailed UPSC Mains General Studies Syllabus

here.
The UPSC Mains syllabus gives a list of 48 Optional Subjects
which include Literature of different languages. Candidates need
to choose any one of the ‘Optional Subjects’ from the list of
subjects given below:

Civil Services Exam Syllabus for IAS Mains Optional Subjects:

Agriculture – UPSC Syllabus Zoology – UPSC Syllabus

Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science IAS Syllabus – Assamese

– UPSC Syllabus (Literature)

Anthropology – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Bengali

(Literature)

Botany – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Bodo

(Literature)

Chemistry – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Dogri

(Literature)

Civil Engineering – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Gujarati

(Literature)

Commerce & Accountancy – UPSC IAS Syllabus – Hindi

Syllabus (Literature)

Economics – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Kannada

(Literature)

Electrical Engineering – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Kashmiri

(Literature)

Geography – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Konkani

(Literature)

Geology – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Maithili

 (Literature)

History – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Malayalam

(Literature)

Law – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Manipuri

(Literature)

Management – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Marathi

(Literature)

Mathematics – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Nepali

(Literature)

Mechanical Engineering – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Odia

(Literature)

Medical Science – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Punjabi

(Literature)

Philosophy – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Sanskrit

(Literature)

Physics – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Santhali

(Literature)

Political Science & International IAS Syllabus – Sindhi

Relations – UPSC Syllabus (Literature)

Psychology – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Tamil

(Literature)

Public Administration – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Telugu

(Literature)

Sociology – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – English

(Literature)
Statistics – UPSC Syllabus IAS Syllabus – Urdu
(Literature)

Candidates can check the success rate of optional subjects at the

linked article.
Phase 3: IAS Interview/UPSC Personality Test (275 Marks)
 Candidates who qualify the UPSC Mains Exam will be called
for the ‘Personality Test/Interview’. These candidates will be
interviewed by a Board appointed by the UPSC.
 The objective of the interview is to assess the personal
suitability of the candidate for a career in the civil services
by a board of competent and unbiased observers.
 The interview is more of a purposive conversation intended
to explore the mental qualities and analytical ability of the
candidate.
 The Interview test will be of 275 marks and the total marks
for written examination is 1750. This sums up to a Grand
Total of 2025 Marks, based on which the final merit list will
be prepared.