IT'S-A MUST READ FOR ALL THOSE CANDIDATES ASPIRING TO PREPARE FOR CIVIL SERVICES EXAM

1. INTRODUCTION TO
CIVIL SERVICES EXAM

2. Contributed by
IAS Today
Sector 15, Chandigarh

3. Civil Services Examination
 The Civil Services Examination (CSE) 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 as:
 Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
 Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
 Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.
 It is conducted in three phases – a preliminary examination consisting of two objective-type
papers (general studies and aptitude test), a main examination consisting of nine papers of
conventional (essay) type, and a personality test (interview)

4. List of Services
 Following are the services which one gets on qualifying the Civil
Service Examination
All India Services (Group A)
Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
Indian Police Service (IPS)
Indian Forest Service (IFS)

5. Central Services (Group A)
 Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS)
 Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS)
 Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS)
 Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS)
 Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES)
 Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
 Indian Information Service (IIS)
 Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS)

6. Continued..
 Indian Postal Service (IPoS)
 Indian Post & Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service (IP&TAFS)
 Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS)
 Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS)
 Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS)
 Indian Revenue Service (IRS-IT)
 Indian Revenue Service (IRS-C&CE)
 Indian Trade Service (ITrS)
 Railway Protection Force (RPF)

7. Group B Services
 Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service (AFHCS)
 Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS)
 Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS)
 Pondicherry Civil Service
 Pondicherry Police Service

8. Eligibility
 Nationality
 Education
 Age
 Numbers of attempts

9. Nationality
 For the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, the candidate must
be a citizen of India.
 For other services, the candidate must be one of the following:
 A citizen of India
 A citizen of Nepal or a subject of Bhutan
 A person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri
Lanka, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia or Vietnam with
the intention of permanently settling in India

10. Education
 All candidates must have as a minimum one of the following educational
qualifications:
 A degree from a Central, State or a Deemed university
 A degree received through correspondence or distance education
 A degree from an open university
 A qualification recognized by the Government of India as being equivalent to
one of the above

11. Additionaly
 The following candidates are also eligible, but must submit proof of their eligibility from a competent
authority at their institute/university at the time of the main examination, failing which they will not be
allowed to attend the exam.
 Candidates who have appeared in an examination, the passing of which would render them educationally
qualified enough to satisfy one of the above points.
 Candidates who have passed the final exam of the MBBS degree but have not yet completed an
internship.
 Candidates who have passed the final exam of ICAI/ ICSI/ ICWAI.
 A degree from a private university.
 A degree from any foreign university recognized by the Association of Indian Universities.

12. Age
 The candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the
age of 32 years (for the General category candidate) on August 1 of the year of
examination. Prescribed age limits vary with respect to caste reservations.
 For Other Backward Castes (OBC) the upper age limit is 35
 For Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), the limit is 37 years.
 The upper age limit is relaxed for certain candidates who are backward with respect to
other factors and physically handicapped (PH) people upto 40 years

13. Numbers of attempts
 The number of times a candidate may attempt the exam is limited as follows:
 General category candidates = 6.
 OBC category candidates = 9.
 SC/ST candidates = unlimited attempts till 37 years of age.
 Appearing to attempt one of the papers in the preliminary examination is counted as
an attempt, including disqualification/ cancellation of candidature. However, applying
to sit the exam but failing to attend is not counted as an attempt.

14. Vacancies and Selection
 Generally the number of vacancies varies every year.
 The number of candidates that pass the preliminary examination is
generally 11 or 13 times the number of vacancies, and
 the number of candidates selected for the final interview is twice the
number of vacancies.
 As per existing policies, reservation for SC/ST/OBC is applied to each level
of the selection process.

15. Process
 The Civil Services Examination is considered to be one of the most difficult and competitive examinations
in India. On average, 900,000 to 1,000,000 candidates apply every year and the number of candidates
appearing to sit the preliminary examination is approximately 450,000.
 The examination consists of the following three phases:
 Phase I: Preliminary examination - A qualifying test advertised in Feb–March and held in June–July each
year. Results are published in mid-August.
 Phase II: Main examination - Held in October every year. Results are usually published in the second week
of March.
 Phase III: Personality Test (interview) - held in December each year. Final results are usually announced in
May .
 The training program for the selected candidates usually commences the September.

16. Preliminary Exam Pattern is as
S.No Subject No. of questions Total
marks
Time
allowed
01 General Study 100 (of 2 marks
each)
200 2 Hours
02 Civil Services
Aptitude Test (CSAT)
80 ) (of 2.5
Marks each)
200 2 Hours

17. Syllabi contents of Preliminary
 Paper I tests the candidate's knowledge on current events, history of India and
Indian national movement, Indian and world geography, Indian policy
Panchayati Raj system and governance, economic and social development,
environmental ecology, biodiversity, climate change and general science, Art
and culture.
 Paper II tests the candidates' skills in comprehension, interpersonal skills,
communication, logical reasoning, analytical ability, decision making, problem
solving, basic numeracy, data interpretation, English language comprehension
skills and mental ability

18. Mains Examination Pattern
S.No. Name of the Test Number of Questions Total marks
01
Paper-I- One of the Indian languages from 22
Languages (Qualifying nature)
20/25 200
02 Paper-II- English (Qualifying nature) 20/25 200
03 Paper-III- Essay 01 250
04 Papers- IV General Study 20/25 250
05 Papers- V General Study 20/25 250
06 Papers- VI General Study 20/25 250
07 Papers- VII General Study 20/25 250
08 Papers- VIII - Optional Subject 20/25 250
09 Papers- IX- Optional Subject 20/25 250
Total Time Duration- 3 Hours for each question paper 180-200 Questions 1750

19. Syllabi contents Of G.S Mains Papers
G.S. Mains Paper Contents
Paper IV History and Geography of the World and Society
Paper V Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and
International relations
Paper VI Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity,
Environment, Security and Disaster Management
Paper VII Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

20. Interview/Personality Test - 275 marks
 Candidate can give preference of the language in which they may
like to be interviewed. UPSC will make arrangement for the
translators.

21. Thank you!