What is UPSC? | All About UPSC Exam

The Civil Services Examination comprises of two successive stages:

Preliminary Examination: It consists of objective type questions for the selection of candidates for Mains Examination. The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to different Civil Services of the Government of India, including Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFoS), Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.

The examination is conducted in three phases - a preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type papers (general studies and aptitude test), two main examinations consisting of written exam and personality test followed by interview. The Civil Services Examination (CSE), Combined Defence Services Examination is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFoS), and Indian Police Service (IPS).

It consists of written examination and Interview for the selection of the candidates for the various services and posts.

Preliminary Examination

The preliminary exam consists of two papers of 200 marks each. Paper one will consist of questions related to general knowledge, current affairs and the second paper is meant for testing the comprehension, reasoning and analytical ability of candidates. Further, both the papers will be objective type i.e. multiple-choice questions and questions are set in both Hindi and English language.

Preliminary Examination is compulsory for all candidates. Candidates who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the Preliminary Examination as may be fixed by the Commission in their discretion, shall be entitled to be admitted to the Main Examination.

The Preliminary Examination is intended to serve as a screening test only. The marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit. The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year in the various services and posts.

A preliminary examination was conducted for both paper one and paper two. A candidate must appear for the exam to get both of his/her papers evaluated. Therefore, a candidate will be disqualified if he/she does not appear in either.

Main Examination

The candidates can appear for the main examination after qualifying in the preliminary examination. The Main Examination is conducted for total nine papers. The Main Examination is conducted to check the candidate’s knowledge and writing skills.

The exam will be held in offline mode only. The duration of the examination is around 5 days. Candidates need to attempt two questions out of three in each paper. Each question consists of 10 marks. Marks secured by candidate in main examination are added to those obtained in interview to find out the final score of candidates.

This examination tests a candidate's thorough knowledge about his surroundings. Current questions are based on the current events, and they are not always straightforward. The more comprehensive and coherent approach to the exam will give you more marks.

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