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The UPSC Civil Services exam is conducted in three stages, firstly the Prelims Examination, next Mains Examination and the last being the Interview Stage.
| Stage | Exam Type | Time | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prelims | 2 Objective Type Papers | 2 hours for each paper | Qualifying Only |
| Mains | 9 Subjective Type Papers | 3 hours for each paper | 1750 |
| Personality Test | Interview | 20-30 minutes | 275 |
You have to qualify the Prelims Stage which is a Objective type paper and then you appear for the Mains Examination which has 9 subjective type papers which are three hour long each. And finally, those who qualify appear for the Personality Test before a Panel of Senior Government Servants who test a students’s critical thinking and integrity.
IAS/ UPSC exam is one of the toughest examination and each stage of this examination challenges the candidate. This is how the Civil Servants, who form the Steel Framework of India are selected.
The Preliminary Exam is a qualifying exam with two objective-type papers: General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper II (Aptitude Test). The question paper is set in both Hindi and English. While GS Paper I will decide whether you make it to the next round, you should pay attention to clearing the cut-off of 33% for the CSAT paper as well.
| Prelims Exam Pattern | General Studies I | General Studies II or CSAT |
|---|---|---|
| Paper Type | MCQ | MCQ |
| Maximum marks | 200 | 200 |
| Cut Off marks | Counted for Merit. Cut-off varies every year. | 33% qualifying criteria (66 marks) |
| Negative Marking | Yes, 0.66 marks deducted for wrong answer. | Yes, 0.83 marks deducted for wrong answer. |
| Total Questions | 100 | 80 |
| Duration of exam | 2 hours | 2 hours |
| Langauge of Paper | English & Hindi | English & Hindi |
These two objective-type papers have multiple choice questions with 4 options each. The General Studies Paper I is scored out of 200 and your performance in this paper will decide whether you are eligible to take the Mains Exam. The Merit list is prepared on the basis of this Preliminary Examination. The top around 10,000 students clear the exam from around 5,00,000 students who appear for the exam, on an average.
The General Studies Paper II (Civil Services Aptitude Test) is a qualifying exam where 33% marks are required. In recent years this exam has become tougher and hence it cannot be ignored during your preparation. A lot of students have cleared the GS1 paper’s cut off but have not been able to write the mains examination as they did not clear the CSAT paper.
Those select few who clear the Prelims Exam, write the tough Mains Exam which is a descriptive-type exam with nine papers totaling 1750 marks. This paper assesses your understanding, articulation abilities and conceptual clarity through 9, 3-hour long, papers out of which 7 papers determine the merit list.
| Paper | Topic | Marks | Time Alloted | Number of Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper-I | Essay | 250 | 3 hours | 2 questions |
| Paper-II | GS1: Art & Culture, History, Geography & Society | 250 | 3 hours | 20 questions |
| Paper-III | GS2: Governance, Polity, Social Justice & International Relations | 250 | 3 hours | 20 questions |
| Paper-IV | GS3: Science & Technology, Economy, Disaster Management, Ecology and Internal Security | 250 | 3 hours | 20 questions |
| Paper-V | GSIV: Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude | 250 | 3 hours | 13 Theory Questions 6 Case Studies |
| Paper-VI | Optional Subject – Paper I | 250 | 3 hours | 19 questions |
| Paper-VII | Optional Subject – Paper II | 250 | 3 hours | 19 questions |
| Paper A | Compulsory Paper Indian Language from Schedule 8 | 300(secure 25%) | 3 hours | 6 questions |
| Paper B | Compulsory English Language Paper | 300(secure 25%) | 3 hours | 5 questions |
IAS/ UPSC Mains Exam is a descriptive-type paper. Six of these papers are three hours long with approximately 20 questions each, while the essay paper has two questions. The word limit is somewhere between 150 to 250 words for the General Studies and Optional Papers. For both essays, the word limit is approximately 1000-1200 words.
Apart from this, there are two language papers that are only qualifying in nature which include ‘Paper A’ for any Indian language from the Eight Schedule and ‘Paper B’ for English language. The maximum marks that can be secured at this stage are 1750.
The top performing candidates of the Mains Exam are invited for the Personality Test which is an interview-type assessment for 275 marks.
A board of unbiased senior Civil Servants interviews the candidates to test their mental alertness, critical thinking, clear and logical exposition, balance of judgment, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, and intellectual and moral integrity. This interview lasts for about 20-30 minutes for each candidate.
Based on the total marks of the Mains Exam and the Personality Test, a merit list is prepared for selection in the Civil Services of India including IAS/IPS/IFS/IRS posts. Around half of the students who are called for the Personality Test, actually qualify and appear in the Merit List for the UPSC examination.
UPSC conducts Civil Services Examination (CSE) annually for various key Civil Services posts of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), etc. A candidate planning to prepare for CSE must get himself acquainted with the examination plan/pattern and its syllabus which would help him in getting an edge over others and in planning his preparation in a manner best suitable for him. Complete details regarding the exam, are following:
The Civil Services Examination comprises three successive stages:
| Name of the exam | Civil Services Exam- IAS |
| Conducting authority | Union Public Service Commission |
| Mode of exam | Offline |
| Number of Stages | Prelims Mains Exam Interview |
| Number of papers | Prelims: 2 Mains :9 |
| Prelims marking scheme | Paper 1: +2 marks per question Paper 2: +2.5 marks per question Negative marking: One-third of marks allotted to each question |
| Duration | Prelims: 2 hours (Each paper) Mains: 3hours (Each paper) |
| Type of Questions | Prelims: Objective type Mains: Subjective type |
| Posts | 800 approximate (Tentative) |
| Exam Mode | Offline |
| Number of Papers | 2- General Studies and Civil Service Aptitude Test (CSAT) |
| Number of Questions | Paper 1- 100; Paper 2- 80 |
| Question Paper Type | Multiple Choice Questions |
| IAS Prelims Total Marks | 400 |
| Nature of Exam | Qualifying |
| Exam Duration | 2 hours each, +20 minutes for blind students |
| Exam Language | English and Hindi |
The IAS Exam pattern is very important to understand to pass the prelims exam. Here is the marking
scheme of prelims:
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The Civil Services Exam (CSE) pattern is very different from other exams.
Also, the candidates can easily get negative marking in the UPSC Exam. In other words, 3 incorrect
answers will lead to around 2 marks deduction. In short, the candidate will get a 1/3rd mark
deducted for incorrect answers. There is no negative marking for blank answers. Read everything
about UPSC on its official website.
| Paper | Type | No. of questions | Marks | Duration | Negative Marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Studies I | Objective | 100 | 2*100 = 200 | 2 hours | Yes, 0.66 |
| General Studies II(CSAT) | Objective | 80 | 2.5*80 = 200 | 2 hours | Yes, 0.83 |
| Paper | Title of the Paper | Marks Allotted |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | Essay writing | 250 Marks |
| Paper 2 | General Studies–I (Indian Heritage and Culture, History, and Geography of the World and Society) | 250 Marks |
| Paper 3 | General Studies –II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations) | 250 Marks |
| Paper 4 | General Studies –III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio‐diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) | 250 Marks |
| Paper 5 | General Studies –IV (Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude) | 250 Marks |
| Paper 6 | Optional Subject – Paper 1 | 250 Marks |
| Paper 7 | Optional Subject – Paper 2 | 250 Marks |
| - | Sub Total in the written Test | 1750 Marks |
| - | Personal Interview | 275 Marks |
| - | Grand Total ( for merit calculation) | 2025 Marks |
Paper 1(General Studies) - This will test the student's knowledge and passion for learning about the country. Also, the questions are from various aspects like history, geography, economy and much more.
Paper A(Any Indian Language) - This paper is to test the
candidate's knowledge of the language.
Paper B (English) - This paper tests your ability to understand the English language.
Paper 3(Essay Writing) - Students write essays on the topic of their choice.
Paper 4(General Studies 1) - It will have questions related to ancient India like history,
geography, heritage and much more.
We have provided you with a list of the best books to refer to for UPSC CSE preparation. You can start preparing for your exam starting with these basic books from the comfort of your home:
| History | Ancient India | RS Sharma |
| History | Modern India | Satish Chandra Mittal |
| History | History of Modern India | Bipan Chandra |
| Polity | The Constitution of India | PM Bakshi |
| Ethics | Ethics, Aptitude and Integrity for Civil Services Mail Examination | Subba Rao and P.N. Roy Chaudary |
| Economy | Indian Economy | Mishra and Puri |
| Environment | Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure | Rajgopalan |
| Science and Technology | Science and Technology in India | TMH |
| English | High School English Grammar and Composition | Wren and Martin |
| General Studies | IAS Mains Exam General Studies (IAS Mains Exam General Studies) | Ashish Bharti (IPS) |
| Geography | 1. NCERT VI to XII 2. Certificate Physical Geography: G C Leong 3. World Atlas |
RS Sharma |
We have covered everything that you need to know about IAS Exam Pattern. Use this to make your own unique strategy to prepare for the exam. You need to understand that clearing the IAS exam is not a simple task as lakhs of aspirants sit for this exam but only a few are selected. However, with the right guidance, proper planning, consistency, and hard work you can clear this exam. Therefore, you need to understand the IAS exam pattern deeply. The IAS exam pattern will clear your doubts and you will have a clear picture. To sum up, prepare yourself wisely.
1. Why it is important to understand the IAS exam pattern?
The candidate should understand the Civil Services Exam (CSE) pattern properly because it will help
to understand what to study and what to not. The syllabus should be divided based on strengths and
weaknesses.
2. What is the IAS exam pattern of Prelims?
It has 2 papers General Studies and CSAT. Moreover, the candidate should score 33% in the second
paper to crack the exam.
3. Is maths a good choice as an optional subject?
Yes, it is a very scoring subject in UPSC exams. However, if you are weak in maths but you have the
interest to learn it, enroll in good coaching.