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UPSC (Civil Services Exam)

About UPSC

About UPSC

• The UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) is a prestigious examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)in India.
• It consists of three stages: Preliminary Exam(MCQs), Main Exam (written), and Interview. Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Foreign Service (IFS) are three of the most preferable services under this.
• Apart from these Indian Revenue Service (IRS), Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS), Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS), Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS), Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES), Indian Information Service (IIS), Indian Postal Service (IPoS), Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS), Indian Railway Protection Force (IRPF), Indian Trade Service (ITrS), Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS), Indian Economic Service (IES), Indian Statistical Service (ISS), Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) and Indian Cost Accounts Service (ICAS) are the other Civil Services.
• Application Form Availability: Mid- Feb to 1st week of March
• Preliminary Exam Date: May
• Main Exam Date: September
• Personality Test: Typically conducted from February to April of the following year
• Frequency: The UPSC CSE is held once a year.

 

Overview

The UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) consists of three stages:

1. Preliminary Exam (Objective Test)	Conducted on a single day, it includes two papers: General Studies I (with 100 questions) and General Studies II (CSAT, with 80 questions). Only candidates who clear the Prelims’ cut-offs in General Studies I and score at least 33% in General Studies II are eligible for the Mains.
2. Main Exam (Subjective Test)	·         It is the subjective stage of the UPSC Exam. It has nine theory papers. ·         4 General Studies Papers ·         2 Optional Papers ·         2 Language Papers ·         1 Essay Paper ·         Out of these nine papers, language papers are of qualifying nature.  ·         The candidate has to select one optional subject from the list of 48 subjects.  ·         One can select any one official language of India as the medium of writing this exam.
3. Personality Test (Interview)	The final stage involves an interview to assess the candidate’s personality, communication skills, and suitability for administrative roles.

“Final rank of a candidate in merit list is depends upon the marks scored in second stage only i.e. written and Interview.”

 

Eligibility Criteria and Age Limit

Minimum Age Requirements	21
Maximum Age Limit	General – 32 OBC – 35 SC/ST – 37
Number of Attempts	General – 6 OBC – 9 SC/ST- Unlimited upto the age limit
Educational Qualification	Graduation
Nationality	Indian Citizen Only

 

Selection Process

The UPSC IAS Examination comprises two stages:

• Stage-I Preliminary Examination (Prelims): 

This stage consists of two objective-type papers – General Studies Paper-I and General Studies Paper-II (CSAT). The marks obtained in this stage are qualifying in nature and are not counted for the final merit.

 

• Stage-II Main Examination (Written and Interview):

This stage is further divided into two stages, i.e., the written descriptive examination and the personality test.

The Written Exam consists of nine subjective papers, including a qualifying paper in any Indian language and English, followed by seven papers on various subjects. Marks obtained in the Mains and the Interview are considered for the final selection.

UPSC CSE Mains (Interview): Candidates who qualify for the Mains are called for an interview, which assesses the candidate’s personality, communication skills, and suitability for the civil service.

 

Exam Pattern

There will be a prelim examination to select the most qualified candidates for the main exam. Candidates who pass the preliminary examination will be considered for the main examination.

Preliminary Examination

• Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions), and each will be of two hours duration. 
• The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%. 
• The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English.  
• There will be a negative marking of ⅓ marks for each wrong answer.

Subject	No. of Questions	Marks	Exam Duration
Paper I – General Studies	100	200	2 Hours
Paper II – Aptitude Test (CSAT)	80	200	2 Hours
Total	180	200

 

Main Examination

• The UPSC mains test will be of the descriptive variety.
• Each paper will last three hours. Candidates applying for scribe will be allowed an additional 30 minutes.
• The language papers (Mains Paper A and Paper B) are of the qualifying variety.
• Candidates may select one optional subject from a list of 48 options provided by UPSC.

Paper	Subject	Marks	Exam Duration
Qualifying Papers
Paper-A	Compulsory Indian language	300	3 hours
Paper-B	English	300	3 hours
Papers to be counted for merit
Paper-I	Essay	250 Marks	3 hours
Paper-II	General Studies-I	250 Marks	3 hours
Paper-III	General Studies-II	250 Marks	3 hours
Paper-IV	General Studies-III	250 Marks	3 hours
Paper-V	General Studies-IV	250 Marks	3 hours
Paper-VI	Optional Subject – Paper 1	250 Marks	3 hours
Paper-VII	Optional Subject – Paper 1I	250 Marks	3 hours
Total		1750

 

Optional Subjects

(i) Agriculture	(xiv) Management
(ii) Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science	(xv) Mathematics
(iii) Anthropology	(xvi) Mechanical Engineering
(iv) Botany	(xvii) Medical Science
(v) Chemistry	(xviii) Philosophy
(vi) Civil Engineering	(xix) Physics
(vii) Commerce and Accountancy	(xx) Political Science and International Relations
(viii) Economics	(xxi) Psychology
(ix) Electrical Engineering	(xxii) Public Administration
(x) Geography	(xxiii) Sociology
(xi) Geology	(xxiv) Statistics
(xii) History	(xxv) Zoology
(xiii) Law	–
(xxvi) Literature in any one of the following languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and English.

 

Best Books

History	India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania NCERT XI (Ancient & Medieval) NCERT XII (Modern Indian History) India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra India after Independence by Bipan Chandra
Geography	Certificate Physical Geography – G C Leong NCERT VI – X (Old Syllabus) NCERT XI, XII (New Syllabus) World Atlas (Orient Black Swan)
Indian Polity	Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth NCERT IX-XII
Economics	Indian Economy by Nitin Singhania Economic Development & Policies in India – Jain & Ohri NCERT XI
Disaster Management	Environment and Disaster Management – Tata McGraw Hill
Security	Challenges to Internal Security of India – Ashok Kumar
International Relations	NCERT XII (Contemporary World Politics) Current Affairs
Ethics	Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude for Civil Services Main Examination by Subba Rao and P.N. Roy Chaudary
Current Affairs	The Hindu or The Indian Express Newspaper Yojana and Kurukshetra Magazine
CSAT	Tata McGraw Hill CSAT Manual Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning – R S Aggarwal

 

Why to join us?

• Experienced Faculty: Teachers with in-depth knowledge and teaching experience.
• Comprehensive Study Material: Well researched and regularly updated study resources.
• Structured Course Plan: A well-planned curriculum covering all aspects of the syllabus.
• Regular Classes: Consistent and punctual classes with sufficient time for doubt clearance.
• Practice Tests and Mock Exams: Regular assessments to simulate the actual exam experience.
• Personalized Attention: Small batch sizes or individual focus for better understanding.
• Technology Integration: Utilization of digital tools and resources for enhanced learning.
• Doubt Clearance Sessions: Separate sessions for clarifying doubts and reinforcing concepts.
• Performance Tracking: Regular evaluation and feedback to monitor progress.
• Results-Oriented Approach: A focus on achieving high scores and selection in top institutions of India.