UPSC Civil Services Exam

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"To become 'unique', the challenge is to fight the hardest battle which
anyone can imagine until you reach your destination.’’ — Dr APJ Abdul
Kalam

Indian Civil Services which includes the top services i.e. the IAS, IPS and IFS, is the
dream career for millions of aspirants from all over the country.

Why to Choose Civil Services as a Career?

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.

About the Examination Process

In order to get selected into these coveted services, candidates have to appear in
the Civil Services Exam (CSE) conducted by the Union Public Service Commission
(UPSC) and should pass a three-phase selection process. The three phases are
the Civil Services Preliminary Exam (Prelims), Civil Services (Main) Examination
(Mains) and The Personality Test (Interview).

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This year, as per the official UPSC Exam Calendar, Civil Services Preliminary Exam
will be conducted on June 02, 2019. The Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2019
will be conducted from September 09, 2019 for five days.

How to Apply
Candidates are required to apply Online using the official website of UPSC
that is www.upsconline.nic.in.
Candidates need to complete the Online Application Form containing two
stages viz. Part-I and Part-II as per the instructions available in the above
mentioned website.
The candidates are required to pay a fee of Rs.100/- Rupees One Hundred
only) [excepting SC/ST/ Female/Persons with Benchmark Disability
candidates who are exempted from payment of fee] either by depositing
the money in any branch of State Bank of India by cash, or by using net
banking facility of State Bank of India or by using any Visa/Master/RuPay
Credit/ Debit Card.
Before start filling up Online Application form, a candidate must have
his/her photograph and signature duly scanned in the jpg format in such a
manner that each file should not exceed 40 KB and must not be less than 3
KB in size for the photograph and 1 KB for the signature.
Applicants should avoid submitting multiple applications. In case of
multiple applications, the applications with higher Registration ID will be
considered by the Commission.
The applicants must ensure that while filling their Application Form, they
are providing their valid and active E-Mail IDs as the Commission may use
electronic mode of communication while contacting them at different
stages of examination process.

Important Dates

*These are tentative dates and liable to

alteration, if the circumstances so
warrant.

February 19, 2019 Date of Notification for Civil Service Prelims

Examination and Indian Forest Service Prelims
Examination

March 18, 2019 Last date to apply for Civil Service Prelims Exam
and Indian Forest Service Prelims Exam

June 02, 2019 Date of Civil Service Prelims Examination and

Indian Forest Service Prelims Examination

September 20, 2019 Date of Civil Services (Main) Examination

December 01, 2019 Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination

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Plan of Examination
The Civil Services Examination consist of two successive stages

1. Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of

candidates for the Main Examination; and
2. Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of
candidates for the various Services and posts.

*Candidates who are declared qualified for Civil Services (Main) Examination; have to
submit Detailed Application Form (DAF) .

First Stage Details

The Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination comprises of two papers of 200
marks each i.e. General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II.
GS Paper-II (also known as CSAT i.e. Civil Service Aptitude Test) is of
qualifying in nature and in which a candidate has to secure 33% marks only.
Objective type (Multiple Choice Questions) is asked in this stage. Marks
obtained in this stage are counted only to decide merit in preliminary
examination, not for final selection. Clearing the Prelims makes one eligible
for the next stage of the exam.

Second Stage Details

Civil Services (Main) Examination is the ‘written stage’ of the examination. It
consists of nine papers of which, marks of only seven papers are counted in
deciding the final merit list. In the remaining two papers, a candidate has to
secure the minimum qualifying marks decided by UPSC each year. The
question papers for the Mains examination are of conventional (essay)
type.
The Civil Services Personality Test consists of a board of members for
assessing the candidate’s personality. A candidate is asked questions on
matters of general interest. The object of the interview is to assess the
personal suitability of the candidate for a career in public service by a Board
of competent and unbiased observers. The test is intended to judge the
mental caliber of a candidate.

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

Table shows the Marks

distribution counted for
final merit

Paper Subject Marks

Paper-1 Essay 250

Paper-2 General Studies–I (Indian Heritage and Culture, 250

History and Geography of the World and Society)

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 Paper-3 General Studies–II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, 250
Social Justice and International relations)

Paper-4 General Studies–III (Technology, Economic 250

Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security
and Disaster Management)

Paper-5 General Studies–IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude) 250

Paper-6 Optional Subject – Paper 1 250

Paper-7
Optional Subject – Paper 2 250

Sub Total (Written test) 1750

Personality Test 275

Grand Total 2025

Two Qualifying Papers are:

Paper-A (One of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from
the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution): 300
Marks
Paper-B (English): 300 Marks

Eligibility Criteria
For the IAS and the IPS, a candidate must be a citizen of India. For other
services, a candidate must be either a citizen of India or a citizen of some
other country (eligible after meeting with some special conditions).
A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have
attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August of examination year. The
upper age-limit is relaxable, maximum of 5 years for SC/STs candidates and
3 years for OBC candidates. Age relaxation is also applicable for Ex-Defense
personnel and candidates with certain disability.
A candidate must hold a Universities degree, or possess an equivalent
qualification for appearing in Civil Services Examination. Candidates who
have appeared in the final year of degree examination and also the
candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also
be eligible for admission to the Preliminary Examination. But such
candidates have to produce proof of passing the requisite examination
before appearing in Civil Services (Main) Examination.

*A candidate who got appointed as an IAS or IFS officer in earlier examination and
continues to be a member of that service will not be eligible to compete at this
examination. Moreover, a candidate who is appointed to the Indian Police Service will
not be eligible to opt for the Indian Police Service in the next exam.

Other 'Group A' Services

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 Indian P&T Accounts & Finance Service
Indian Audit and Accounts Service
Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise)
Indian Defence Accounts Service
Indian Revenue Service (I.T.)
Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Assistant Works Manager,
Administration)
Indian Postal Service
Indian Civil Accounts Service
Indian Railway Traffic Service
Indian Railway Accounts Service
Indian Railway Personnel Service
Indian Railway Protection Force (Assistant Security Commissioner)
Indian Defence Estates Service
Indian Information Service (Junior Grade)
Indian Trade Service, Group 'A' (Gr. III)
Indian Corporate Law Service

'Group B' Services

Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service (Section Officer's Grade)

Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, and Dadra
& Nagar Haveli Civil Service (DANICS)
Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, and Dadra
& Nagar Haveli Police Service (DANIPS)
Pondicherry Civil Service
Pondicherry Police Service

List of optional subjects for Main Examination:

(i) Agriculture

(ii) Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

(iii) Anthropology

(iv) Botany

(v) Chemistry

(vi) Civil Engineering

(vii) Commerce and Accountancy

(viii) Economics

(ix) Electrical Engineering

(x) Geography

(xi) Geology

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(xii) History

(xiii) Law

(xiv) Management

(xv) Mathematics

(xvi) Mechanical Engineering

(xvii) Medical Science

(xviii) Philosophy

(xix) Physics

(xx) Political Science and International Relations

(xxi) Psychology

(xxii) Public Administration

(xxiii) Sociology

(xxiv) Statistics

(xxv) Zoology

(xxvi) Literature of 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.

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