Civil Services Exam Full Details: Eligibility, Pattern, Syllabus
Hi to all, in this article I am going to tell you all about detailed information about civil services examination, which is conducted by UPSC for various posts.
This is conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The notification for 2023 recruitment was released on 2nd February 2023 by the commission. The notification released by the commission is comprehensive in nature and contains all important details to be known by the aspirants.
Below is the important information related to Civil Services examination..
UPSC Civil Services Exam Highlights
| Name of the Examination | Civil Services Exam (UPSC CSE Exam | UPSC Civils) |
| Exam Level | All India / National Level |
| Conducting Body | Union Public Service Commission |
| Exam mode | Offline / Pen and paper mode |
| Number of vacancies in Civil Services 2022 | - |
| Eligibility | The Civil Services Age Limit for Indian Citizens is between 21 – 32 years. |
| Number of attempts | 6 attempts are allowed for General Category aspirants in UPSC Civil Services |
| Civil Service Exam 2023 Dates |
|
UPSC Civil Services Exam Timeline
- Notification - February
- Prelims Exam - June
- Mains Exam - September or October
- Interview - February or March
- Final Result - April or May of the following year
In India, the different State Public Service Commissions will also conducts civil service exams for recruitment to the state level services. The State PSC Exams are also conducted based on the same lines as the UPSC Civil Services Exam.
Basically the entire process of the Indian civil services examination from the release of notification of the preliminary examination to the declaration of the final results takes place approximately within a year.
The candidates who get selected are recruited and trained for various services by the central government and then allotted in different state cadres, as per their preference and ranking.
UPSC Exam Eligibility Criteria
| IAS Age Limit | 21 to 32 years | |
| Age relaxation | As per category (mentioned below) | |
| Educational qualification for UPSC Civil Services | Graduation from any recognized university | |
| Nationality | Indian |
UPSC Civil Service Exam Posts
Mainly in civil services exam, posts are divided into two categories i.e. Group A and Group B.
Here Group A services include three All India Services (Example: IAS, IPS and IFS) and 18 other services as indicated in the below table.
| ALL INDIA SERVICES | |
| 1 | Indian Administrative Services (IAS) |
| 2 | Indian Forest Services (IFoS) |
| 3 | Indian Police Services (IPS) |
| CIVIL SERVICES GROUP-A LIST | |
| 1 | Indian Foreign Service (IFS) |
| 2 | Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service |
| 3 | Indian Audit and Accounts Service |
| 4 | Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) |
| 5 | Indian Defence Accounts Service |
| 6 | Indian Revenue Service (I.T.) |
| 7 | Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Assistant Works Manager, Administration) |
| 8 | Indian Postal Service |
| 9 | Indian Civil Accounts Service |
| 10 | Indian Railway Traffic Service |
| 11 | Indian Railway Accounts Service |
| 12 | Indian Railway Personnel Service |
| 13 | Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force |
| 14 | Indian Defence Estates Service |
| 15 | Indian Information Service (Junior Grade) |
| 16 | Indian Trade Service |
| 17 | Indian Corporate Law Service |
| 18 | Indian Revenue Service (CBEC) |
| CIVIL SERVICES GROUP-B LIST | |
| 1 | Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service (Section Officer’s Grade) |
| 2 | Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service |
| 3 | Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service |
| 4 | Pondicherry Civil Service |
| 5 | Pondicherry Police Service |
UPSC Civil Services Exam Pattern
| UPSC Exam Pattern For UPSC Prelims Exam | ||||
| Name of the Paper | No of Questions | Marks Allotted | Time Allotted | Nature of Exam |
| Paper I: General Studies (Objective-type) | 100 | 200 | 2 hours | The score will be considered for Cut-off |
| Paper-II: General Studies-II (CSAT) (Objective-Type) | 80 | 200 | 2 hours | Qualifying Nature - Candidates will have to score 33% to qualify for CSAT. |
| UPSC Exam Pattern For UPSC Mains Exam | |||||
| Paper | Subject | Duration | Total marks | Nature of paper | Type of Paper |
| Paper A | Compulsory Indian language | 3 hours | 300 | Qualifying | Descriptive |
| Paper B | English | 3 hours | 300 | Qualifying | Descriptive |
| Paper I | Essay | 3 hours | 250 | Merit | Descriptive |
| Paper-II | General Studies I | 3 hours | 250 | Merit | Descriptive |
| Paper III | General Studies II | 3 hours | 250 | Merit | Descriptive |
| Paper IV | General Studies III | 3 hours | 250 | Merit | Descriptive |
| Paper V | General Studies IV | 3 hours | 250 | Merit | Descriptive |
| Paper VI | Optional I | 3 hours | 250 | Merit | Descriptive |
| Paper VII | Optional II | 3 hours | 250 | Merit | Descriptive |
| Sub Total (Written Test) | 1750 | - | - | ||
| Personality Test (Interview) | 275 | - | - | ||
| Total Marks | 2025 | - | - | ||
Civil Services Interview
This is an personality test and it is the final round in the civil services exam selection process.
It is the final gateway to your dream. Only those candidates who manage to clear the mains exam cut off are allowed to attend the interview and the purpose of the interview is to assess the suitability of the candidate to the Civil Services.
At this stage, the candidates are tested for their mental alertness and the balance of judgment, intellectual and moral integrity, etc. out of 275 marks.
Marks scored by the candidate in the interview will be added to the marks scored by them in their mains exam for arriving at the final merit list result.
UPSC Civil Services Exam Syllabus
UPSC Exam follows an extensive syllabus for UPSC Prelims and UPSC Mains.
Make sure to download the latest syllabus which is released from official website of UPSC and and also you can see the below latest syllabus for civil services examination.
UPSC Exam Syllabus for Prelims
| General Studies Paper-I | |||||
| Current Events of National and International Importance. | |||||
| History of India and Indian National Movement. | |||||
| Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World. | |||||
| Indian Polity and Governance - Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. | |||||
| Economic and Social Development - Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc. | |||||
| General Issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization General Science | |||||
| General Studies Paper-II The GS-II in UPSC Prelims is also known as CSAT or Civil Services Aptitude Test. The following topics are included in the IAS syllabus for this paper: |
|||||
| Comprehension. | |||||
| Interpersonal skills including communication skills. | |||||
| Logica l reasoning and analytical ability. | |||||
| Decision-making and problem solving. | |||||
| General mental ability. | |||||
| Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc., - Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency, etc., - Class X level). | |||||
UPSC Exam Syllabus For Main Examination
| PAPER-I Essay | |||||
| Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. They will be expected to arrange their ideas in an orderly fashion and write concisely, credit will be given for effective and exact expression. | |||||
| PAPER-II General Studies-I: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society | |||||
| Modern Indian History from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues. | |||||
| Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature & Architecture from ancient to modern times. | |||||
| History of the World will include events from the 18th century, such as Industrial Revolution, World Wars, redraw of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism, etc., - their forms and effects on the society. | |||||
| Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India. Role of women and women's organizations, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies. Effects of globalization on Indian society - Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism. | |||||
| Salient features of the world's physical geography. | |||||
| Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India); Important Geophysical phenomena, such as earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic activity, cyclones, etc., geographical features and their location - changes in critical geographical features (including waterbodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes. | |||||
| PAPER-III General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations | |||||
| Will be updated soon.. | |||||
| PAPER-IV General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management | |||||
| Will be updated soon.. | |||||
| PAPER-V General Studies- IV: Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude | |||||
| Will be updated soon.. | |||||
| Paper-VI and VII: Optional Paper-I and Optional Paper-II | |||||
| Optional Subject -Paper I and Paper-II (250 Marks Each ) | |||||
List of Optional Subject for UPSC Exam (Mains)
| Agriculture | Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science | Anthropology | Botany | Chemistry |
| Civil Engineering | Commerce and Accountancy | Economics | Electrical Engineering | Geography |
| Geology | History | Law | Management | Mathematics |
| Mechanical Engineering | Medical Science | Philosophy | Physics | Political Science and International Relations |
| Psychology | Public Administration | Sociology | Statistics | Zoology |
Literature of the following languages are also a part of the optional subjects for UPSC Mains examination from which you can choose your best suited optional subject for UPSC Examination
| Assamese | Bengali | Bodo | Dogri | Gujarati |
| Hindi | Kannada | Kashmiri | Konkani | Maithali |
| Malayalam | Manipuri | Marathi | Nepali | Odia |
| Punjabi | Sanskrit | Santhali | Sindhi | Tamil |
| Telugu | Urdu | English | - | - |
UPSC Civil Services Exam Dates
Dates will be updated soon..
Watch Video
FAQs
Civil Services Examination is one of the toughest examinations to crack, however, it is not impossible to clear this exam. The syllabus and the exam pattern of the Civil Service Exam make it hard for an aspirant, but with a clear strategy, one can qualify for civil services. Learn about the strategy of IAS Toppers given in the linked article.
This is the most frequently asked question, especially from beginners. To prepare for UPSC Exam 2022, the first step is to know everything about the examination, from exam schedule to syllabus, exam pattern to preparation strategy. Fret not, we have decoded everything that you need to know about your preparation strategy.
The primary books that help in strengthening the foundation of your knowledge are the NCERTs of all the subjects that are relevant to the Exam. It includes History, Polity, Economy, Geography, General Science. The NCERTs of Art & Culture and Fine art are also important for this exam. To get a complete booklist for both UPSC Prelims and Mains.
No, the basic educational qualification is a graduation degree. After 12th, one is needed to complete a Bachelor’s course from a college or an institute recognized by the Government. A final year college student can apply for Civil Services.
If you like this article then share it to your friends and if have any doubts or issues regarding this article, you can contact or mail us.
