The format of the Civil Service Examination has been created to assess a candidate's academic knowledge as well as his or her capacity to present themselves in a methodical and cohesive way. Examining candidates' general intellectual abilities and degree of comprehension is the goal of the test format.
The IAS Preliminary exam consists of two papers - General Studies and Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT).
Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions).
The duration of the exam is two hours.
Paper-2 (CSAT) in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination is a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
The Prelims consists of two papers of 200 marks each
The question papers will be set in both Hindi and English. However, questions related to English Language Comprehension skills would be provided only in English.
Blind candidates would be allowed an extra 20 minutes of time for each paper
UPSC Civil Services Main Exam Pattern (2025 Marks)
Candidates who qualify Preliminary exam are called for the Main exam and on the basis of marks secured in the Main exam, they will be called for Interview
The total marks of the Main Exam and Interview sum up to produce the final result
The written examination consists of the following papers:
Paper
Subject
Total Marks
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
Papers to be counted for Merit (Ranking)
Paper-I
Essay
250 Marks
Paper-II
General Studies-I (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)
250 Marks
Paper-III
General Studies-II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations)
250 Marks
Paper-IV
General Studies-III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)
250 Marks
Paper-V
General Studies-IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)
250 Marks
Paper-VI
Optional Subject-Paper 1
250 Marks
Paper-VII
Optional Subject-Paper 2
250 Marks
Sub Total (Written Test)
1750 Marks
Personality Test
275 Marks
Grand Total
2025 Marks
Note:
Candidates may choose any one of the optional subjects from amongst the list of subjects mentioned below:
Language
Script
Assamese
Assamese
Bengali
Bengali
Gujarati
Gujarati
Hindi
Devanagari
Kannada
Kannada
Kashmiri
Persian
Konkani
Devanagari
Malayalam
Malayalam
Manipuri
Bengali
Marathi
Devanagari
Nepali
Devanagari
Odia
Odia
Punjabi
Gurumukhi
Sanskrit
Devanagari
Sindhi
Devanagari or Arabic
Tamil
Tamil
Telugu
Telugu
Urdu
Persian
Bodo
Devanagari
Dogri
Devanagari
Maithili
Devanagari
Santhali
Devanagari or Olchiki
For Santhali language, the question paper will be printed in Devanagari script; but candidates will be free to answer either in Devanagari script or in Olchiki.
List of optional subjects for Main Examination:
Subject
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 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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