Civil Services Examination is a 3-stage examination held every year. Stage 1 – Preliminary Test Stage 2 – Main Exam Stage 3 – Personality Test / Interview

Stage 1 – Preliminary Test – consists of objective questions with penalty (negative marking) for wrong answers. (This is generally held on 2nd or 3rd Sunday in the month of August) Paper 1 – General Studies (200 marks) 2 hours Paper 2 – CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test) (200 marks) 2 hours There is a cut-off in the Preliminary Test which varies every year and is decided by the UPSC.

Students who qualify for Interview are called by the UPSC in March or April. The Interviews usually start 2 weeks after the Main Exam results are announced. The duration of Interviews is around 40 days.

This is computed on the basis of the total marks scored by candidates in Main Examination (1750) and Personality Test or Interview (275). The final result is declared around May or Early June. Final Ranking and Service allocation is based on the combined marks scored in Main Examination (1750) and Interview (275) and on the preferences given by the candidates at the time of filling up of the Main Examination application form.

UPSC publishes the advertisement for holding the Civil Services Examination every year in the month of May for the Preliminary Test to be held in August, of that year. Applications are invited by UPSC until the stipulated date of that year more specifically mentioned in the year’s advertisement.

Students must be degree holders or graduates (degree recognized by University Grants Commission) to appear for this Examination. Indian students holding a foreign degree need to ensure that their degree is accredited or recognized by UGC.

Candidates belonging to General category and OBC (creamy layer) must have attained the age of 21 on 1st August of the year of the Exam but must not have attained the age of 30 on 1st August of the year of the Exam. Candidates belonging to OBC (non creamy layer) category must have attained the age of 21 on 1st August of the year of the Exam but must not have attained the age of 33 on 1st August of the year of the Exam. Candidates belonging to SC category must have attained the age of 21 on 1st August of the year of the Exam but must not have attained the age of 35 on 1st August of the year of the Exam. Candidates belonging to ST category must have attained the age of 21 on 1st August of the year of the Exam but must not have attained the age of 35 on 1st August of the year of the Exam

General category and OBC (creamy layer) category have a maximum of 4+2* attempts. OBC (non creamy layer) have a maximum of 7+2* attempts. For Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe category candidates there is no limit on the number of attempts till they attain the age of 35+2* years. Students belonging to OBC/SC/ST can give the first 4 attempts as General category candidates (if they so desire) and thereafter they can avail the relaxation in the number of attempts by availing the category benefits. * Currently Extended untill futher notification

The number of vacancies reported by Union Public Service Commission varies every year. The number of vacancies per year in the last 4 years had varied between 700 and 1000.

Every year, in the month of Aug the 1st stage (Preliminary Test) of the Civil Services Examination is held. The number of students aspiring for the UPSC Civil Services has gone up to more than 600,000 who fill the form and the number of people appearing in the preliminary exam is almost 400,000. Out of the 4 lakh candidates appearing in the Preliminary Examination, the number of candidates qualifying is dependent on the number of vacancies in the Civil Services advertised that year. To give an example, if the advertisement is for 1000 vacancies, then about 12,000 candidates would be called (qualified) by the UPSC to appear in the Main exam & the number of candidates who will qualify the Main examination to appear in the Interview would be about 2500

The exact schedule of Main exam varies every year and is usually notified by UPSC on its website www.upsc.gov.in. To give an idea following is the usual schedule of the Examination: Notification and Form filling for Preliminary Test – April or May Date of Preliminary Test – 3rd week of August Result of Preliminary Test – late-September or early October Main Examination commencement – December (duration – 5-7 days) Declaration of Main Examination results – February or March (next year) Personality Test or Interview – March and April (next year) Declaration of Final merit list – Early May (next year)

Students have to choose any one optional subject from a list of the following optional subjects. Students can also opt for literature subject as an optional, if they so desire. Optional subjects (26) offered by UPSC Agriculture Animal H & Vet Sc Anthropology Botany Chemistry Civil Engg Commerce & Acc Economics Electrical Engg Geography Geology History Law Management Mathematics Mechanical Engg Medical Science Philosophy Physics Pol Sc & IR Psychology Public Admin Sociology Statistics Zoology Literature of any one of the following languages (30) is also offered as an optional subject:- Arabic Assamese Bodo Bengali Chinese Dogri English French German Gujarati Hindi Kannada Kashmiri Konkani Maithili Malayalam Manipuri Marathi Nepali Oriya Pali Persian Punjabi Russian Sanskrit Santali Sindhi Tamil Telugu Urdu

Ideally the Main Examination preparation needs to be done before the preparation of Preliminary Examination. The primary reason being lack of time between Preliminary Exam and Main Exam (which is around 4 months before Main exam and only around 2 and half months before declaration of Preliminary Examination result). This time of (4 months or 2 and half months) is insufficient for any preparation from ground-up for both the GS as well as Optional subject. The available time is only sufficient for revision of GS and Optional subject and appearing in mock tests in GS and the Optional subject. Hence, students are advised to join the optional subject batches in June session and the GS (Preliminary+ Main) and Aptitude Test batch in October session

Preparation starting in June:- For a student starting the preparation in June an ideal two step preparation will involve Step 1:- Joining the June session in 201[x] year for preparing the Optional subject till September 201[x] for 201[x+1] year Main Examination. Step 2:- Joining the October session in 201[x] year for preparing the GS (Preliminary+ Main) and Aptitude Test for 201[x+1] year Preliminary Examination. GS (Preliminary+ Main) and Aptitude Test classes will continue till March 201[x+1] year. Preliminary Test Series will start in February 201[x+1] year and continue till July 201[x+1] year. Preparation starting in October:- For a student starting the preparation in October an ideal two step preparation will involve Step 1:- Joining the October session in 201[x] year for GS (Preliminary+ Main), Aptitude Test and one Optional subject. Preliminary Exam will be held in Aug 201[x+1] and results will be declared by Sept or Oct 201[x+1] year. Main Examination will start by Dec 201[x+1] year. This time has to be predominantly used for revision and joining the Separate Test Series batches of General Studies (Main) and Optional subject.

Paper I – (200 marks) 2 hrs (General Studies) • 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. Paper II – (200 marks) 2 hrs (CSAT – Civil Services Aptitude Test) • Comprehension • Interpersonal skills including communication skills; • Logical 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) • English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level) • Questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of Class X level (will be tested through passages from English language only without providing Hindi translation thereof in the question paper) • The questions will be objective in nature; Multiple choice questions The Syllabus of GS (Main) and Main Optional subjects is available in the Syllabus section

Subjects offered at Marvellous Institute are Public Administration, Geography, Sociology, Political Science, Economics, Psychology and Commerce

Civil Services Examination is a 3-stage examination held every year.
Stage 1 – Preliminary Test
Stage 2 – Main Exam
Stage 3 – Personality Test / Interview

Stage 1 – Preliminary Test – consists of objective questions with penalty (negative marking) for wrong answers. (This is generally held on 2nd or 3rd Sunday in the month of August)
Paper 1 – General Studies (200 marks) 2 hours
Paper 2 – CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test) (200 marks) 2 hours
There is a cut-off in the Preliminary Test which varies every year and is decided by the UPSC.

The Main Exam (Subjective papers of 2000 marks) consists of 9 papers which are usually held from early December for around 5-7 days. The current pattern of Main examination is as follows:-
General Studies
Paper 1 – 250 marks (3 hours)
Paper 2 – 250 marks (3 hours)
Paper 3 – 250 marks (3 hours)
Paper 4 – 250 marks (3 hours)
Optional Subject 1
Paper 1 – 250 marks (3 hours)
Paper 2 – 250 marks (3 hours)
Essay – 250 marks (3 hours)
English Language 300 marks (qualifying paper; marks not included in Main Exam)
Indian Language 300 marks (qualifying paper; marks not included in Main Exam)
Usually Paper 1 is held from 9 am to 12 pm and Paper 2 is held from 2 pm to 5 pm. Both the papers of either General Studies or Optional subject are held on the same day. 

Students who qualify for Interview are called by the UPSC in March or April. The Interviews usually start 2 weeks after the Main Exam results are announced. The duration of Interviews is around 40 days. 

This is computed on the basis of the total marks scored by candidates in Main Examination (1750) and Personality Test or Interview (275). The final result is declared around May or Early June.
Final Ranking and Service allocation is based on the combined marks scored in Main Examination (1750) and Interview (275) and on the preferences given by the candidates at the time of filling up of the Main Examination application form.