About Civil Services Examination
The Civil Services Exam (CSE) in India is a nationwide competitive examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
Civil Services work as the backbone of the administrative machinery of the country. Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Foreign Service (IFS) are three of the most preferable services under this. IAS is most sought after among these services as IAS officers get the opportunity to serve on higher strategic positions in the Union Government and State Governments.
| Name of the Examination | Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2022 |
| Date of Notification | 02/02/2022 |
| Date of Commencement of Examination | 05/06/2022 |
| Duration of Examination | One Day |
| Last Date for Receipt of Applications | 22/02/2022 – 6:00pm |
| Date of Upload | 02/02/2022 |
| Download Notification | >>Notice (5.16 MB) |
Civil Services Exam Qualification
Candidates who wish to appear for the Civil Services Exam must fulfil the conditions of nationality, age, and educational qualification. The candidate must not be less than 21 years of age and more than 32 years of age. The candidate must also have completed graduation in any discipline from a recognized university. However, there are age relaxations, depending upon the category the candidate belongs to.
Civil Services Exam Pattern 2022
The Indian Civil Service Exam (UPSC IAS exam / UPSC Civils) is conducted in three stages:
- Civil Services Exam (Preliminary) – Objective Type
- Civil Services Exam (Main) – Descriptive Type
- Personality Test / Interview
Civil Services Prelims Exam
Prelims is the first stage of the UPSC CSE process. It is a screening test to select the students for the further selection process. Prelims exam comprises two objective type papers of 200 marks each. Only those who manage to score more than the cut-off declared by the UPSC for that particular year will be summoned for the next level of examination. However, the marks scored in Prelims will not be counted for arriving at the final merit list.
Civil Services Mains Exam
Mains Exam is the second level in the Civil Services Selection Process. Mains exam comprises 9 descriptive type papers: 1 Essay paper, 4 General Studies Papers, 2 Optional Papers (of your choice to be selected from the Civil Services Exam Optional Subjects), 2 language papers (marks scored in language papers will not be included to arrive at the final ranking order – however, candidates need to score at least 25% in each paper in order to qualify).
| Civil Services Exam Pattern For Mains |
| Papers | Subjects | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Paper A | One of the Indian languages (listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India) mentioned below to be selected by the candidate (Qualifying) | 300 |
| Paper B | English (Qualifying) | 300 |
| Paper I | Essay | 250 |
| Paper II | General Studies I (Indian heritage and culture, history and geography of the world and society) | 250 |
| Paper III | General Studies II (Governance, constitution, polity, social justice and international relations) | 250 |
| Paper IV | General Studies III (Technology, economic development, biodiversity, environment, security and disaster management) | 250 |
| Paper V | General Studies IV (ethics, integrity and aptitude) | 250 |
| Papers VI, VII | Two papers on subjects to be selected by the candidate from the list of optional subjects below (250 marks for each paper) | 250 |
| Sub Total (Written Test) | 1750 |
| Personality Test (Interview) | 275 |
| Total Marks | 2025 |
Civil Services Interview
Personality test, commonly known as the interview, is the final round in the Civil Services Exam selection process. It is the gateway to your dream service. Only those candidates who manage to clear the mains exam cut-off are allowed to attend the interview. The purpose of the interview is to assess the suitability of the candidate to the Civil Services. At this stage, the candidates are tested for their mental alertness, the balance of judgment, intellectual and moral integrity, etc. out of 275 marks. Marks scored by the candidate in the interview will be added to the marks scored by him/her in the mains exam for arriving at the final merit list.
Reading NCERTs is one of the basic things to do when one decides to prepare for the Civil Services exam. The aspirants can check out NCERT Notes For UPSC to know the complete list of NCERTs to be covered for this exam.
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