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UPSC Civil Services Examination

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The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to higher Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, and Indian Police Service. Also simply referred to as the UPSC examination, it is conducted in three phases - a preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type papers (General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II also popularly known as Civil Service Aptitude Test or CSAT), and a main examination consisting of nine papers of conventional (essay) type, in which two papers are qualifying and only marks of seven are counted followed by a personality test (interview). A successful candidate sits for 32 hours of examination during the complete process.

UPSC CSE Eligibility Criteria

IAS Age Limit
21 to 32
Age Relaxation
As per category (mentioned aside)
Educational Qualification for IAS
Graduation
Nationality
Indian Citizens Only
Category
Maximum Age Limit for UPSC
General
32
EWS
32
SC/ST
35
OBC
37

Candidates must satisfy the following conditions to be eligible for the UPSC IAS Exam:

Nationality for IAS exam: Must be a citizen of India, a person of Indian origin, or a subject of Nepal, Bhutan or Tibet settled in India before 1st January 1962.

Education Qualification for IAS exam: Candidate must hold a Graduate Degree from a recognized University.

UPSC Age limit for IAS exam: Candidate must be a minimum of 21 years of age and must not be more than 32 years of age. 

Category wise UPSC age limit, relaxation, and maximum attempts-

  1. General Category & EWS: 32 years; 6 attempts.

  2. OBC (with certificate): 32 years + 3 years; 9 attempts.

  3. SC/ST: 32 years + 5 years; unlimited attempts.

  4. Physically Disabled: 32 years + 10 years; Gen/OBC/Person with Benchmark Disability(EWS category)- 9 attempts & SC/ST unlimited attempts.

  5. Jammu & Kashmir Domicile: 32 years + 5 years + (3 years, if OBC OR 5 Years, if SC/ST); Number of attempts depends on the reserved category.

  6. Disabled and discharged Defence service personnel: 32 years + 3 years + (3 years, if Gen/OBC OR 5 years, if SC/ST)

  7. Ex-Servicemen Commission Officer: 32 years + 5 years + (3 years, if OBC OR 5 Years, if SC/ST)

Civil Services Job List (as per 2022 notification)

  • Indian Administrative Service

  • Indian Foreign Service

  • Indian Police Service

  • Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’

  • Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’

  • Indian Corporate Law Service, Group ‘A’

  • Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’

  • Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’

  • Indian Information Service, Junior Grade Group ‘A’

  • Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’

  • Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service, Group ‘A’

  • Indian Railway Protection Force Service, Group ‘A’

  • Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes) Group ‘A’

  • Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) Group ‘A’

  • Indian Trade Service, Group ‘A’ (Grade III)

  • Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade)

  • Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service (DANICS), Group ‘B’

  • Delhi, Andaman, and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service (DANIPS), Group ‘B’

  • Pondicherry Civil Service (PONDICS), Group ‘B’

UPSC CSE Prelims Syllabus

The UPSC Prelims syllabus can be divided into two  parts:

  1. General Studies Paper I

  2. CSAT 

UPSC Prelims Syllabus

General Studies Paper – I  

(Maximum Marks- 200 marks) (Duration Of Exam- 2 hours)

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  • Current events of national and international importance.

  • History of India and Indian National Movement.

  • Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

  • Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

  • Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.

  • General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization

  • General Science

​

CSAT

(Maximum Marks- 200 marks) (Duration Of Exam- 2 hours)

  • Comprehension

  • Interpersonal skills including communication skills

  • Logical reasoning and analytical ability

  • Decision-making and problem solving

  • General mental ability

  • Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) – Class X level)

  • Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. – Class X level)

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