Though, the exam is popularly known as IAS exam, but officially it is called the UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE). Here’s a complete detail about UPSC exam scheme, which will help all the civil service aspirants who dream to become IAS officers, to face the exam with right approach and attitude, appropriate guidance, selection of relevant study materials, right focus, and exact preparation strategy.
The UPSC CSE consists of 3 stages and they are Preliminary Exam, Mains Exam, and Personality Test/Interview.
The IAS Preliminary exam (objective / multiple choice questions type) has two papers:
i. Paper – I (General Studies: duration – 2 hours; Marks – 200)
ii. Paper – II (Civil Services Aptitude Test duration – 2 hours; Marks – 200)
Note:
i. The minimum qualifying marks for Paper II is 33 percent.
ii. In both Paper I and Paper II for each wrong answer there is a negative marking of 1/3rd of the allotted marks of that question.
The second stage of the civil services is IAS Mains Exam (subjective or descriptive type) and it consists a total of 9 papers which is divided as given below:
- Essay
- English
- General Studies Paper I (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)
- General Studies Paper II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)
- General Studies Paper III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)
- General Studies Paper IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)
- Optional Subject Paper I
- Optional Subject Paper II
- Language Paper
Those, who clear UPSC Mains exam with the prescribed cut offs will be called for personality test/interview round (the third and final round) by the commission which will be held only in the UPSC Bhawan in New Delhi.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA for IAS EXAM
The candidates who apply for the UPSC Civil Services examination should ensure that they meet all the eligibility criteria
The eligibility for UPSC exam is based on the following parameters:
- Nationality
- Age
- Education
- Number of attempt