(A) Tentative Schedule
|
(i) Notification of Examination
|
November/December of previous year
|
(ii) Conduct of Examination
|
May
|
(B) Age - limits:
|
21-30 years as on 1st August of the year of Examination.
|
|
Certain categories of persons as specified in the
Commission's Notice as published in Employment News/Rozgar Samachar are
eligible for age relaxation.
|
(C) Educational Qualification
|
Degree of a
Recognised University or equivalent.
|
Candidates appearing in the requisite Degree qualification
are also eligible for appearing in the examination, however, they are
supposed to submit proof of passing the requisite qualification along with
with Detailed Application Form for Civil Services (Main) Examination.
|
The Preliminary Examination consists of two papers of
objective type (multiple-choice questions) carrying a maximum of 450 marks.
The Question Papers (Test Booklets) are set in English & Hindi
Paper - I
|
General Studies
|
150 Marks
|
Paper - II
|
|
300 Marks
|
Year of Exam
|
No of Candidates
|
Applied
|
Appeared
|
1997
|
2,65,761
|
1,30,198
|
1998
|
2,71,517
|
1,22,363
|
1999
|
3,09,501
|
1,35,086
|
2000
|
2,25,555
|
1,19,398
|
2001
|
2,56,673
|
1,38,240
|
2002
|
3,01,585
|
1,57,486
|
Note : For further details, please refer to the Commission's Notice when
it is published in the Employment News and some of the leading newspapers.
Tentative Date of Examination : October - November
|
Paper-I
|
One of the Indian Languages to be selected by
the candidate from the 18 languages included in the VIIIth Schedule to the
Constitution (Qualifying Paper)
|
300
Marks
|
Paper-II
|
English
(Qualifying Paper)
|
300 Marks
|
Paper-III
|
Essay
|
200
Marks
|
Papers IV
& V
|
General
Studies (300 Marks for each paper)
|
600 Marks
|
Papers
VI, VII, VIII & IX
|
Any two subjects (each having 2 papers) to be
selected from the prescribed optional subjects (300 marks for each paper)
|
1200
Marks
|
Total
Marks for Written Examination
|
2000
Marks
|
Interview
Test
|
300
Marks
|
Grand Total
|
2300 Marks
|
See Note
below List of Optional Subjects (Literature)
Agriculture
|
Management
|
Animal
Husbandry & Vetinary Science
|
Mathematics
|
Anthropology
|
Mechanical
Engineering
|
Botany
|
Medical
Science
|
Chemistry
|
Philosophy
|
Civil
Engineering
|
Physics
|
Commerce
& Accountancy
|
Political
Science & International Relations
|
Economics
|
Psychology
|
Electrical
Engineering
|
Public
Administration
|
Geography
|
Sociology
|
Geology
|
Statistics
|
Indian
History
|
Zoology
|
Law
|
|
Arabic
|
Gujarati
|
Manipuri
|
Sanskrit
|
Assamese
|
Hindi
|
Nepali
|
Sindhi
|
Bengali
|
Kannada
|
Oriya
|
Tamil
|
Chinese
|
Kashmiri
|
Pali
|
Telugu
|
English
|
Konkani
|
Persian
|
Urdu
|
French
|
Marathi
|
Punjabi
|
|
German
|
Malayalam
|
Russian
|
|
Note : Total Optional Subjects : 51
Note (i) :
|
Candidates have the option to answer all the question
papers, except the language papers, viz, Paper-I and Paper-II, in any one of
the languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution or in
English
|
Note (ii) :
|
Candidates who have opted for an Indian Language as
language medium for the Main Examination have an option of being interviewed
either in English or in the same language which they have opted for the Main
Examination
|
Year Of Exam
|
Vacancies
|
Candidates Recommended
|
SC
|
ST
|
OBC
|
GEN
|
TOTAL
|
SC
|
ST
|
OBC
|
GEN
|
TOTAL
|
1995
|
98
|
49
|
165
|
333
|
645
|
101
|
49
|
192
|
303
|
645
|
1996
|
125
|
57
|
174
|
383
|
739
|
138
|
59
|
212
|
330
|
739
|
1997
|
89
|
43
|
166
|
323
|
621
|
94
|
46
|
215
|
266
|
621
|
1998
|
53
|
28
|
114
|
275
|
470
|
60
|
30
|
142
|
238
|
470
|
1999
|
53
|
27
|
97
|
234
|
411
|
63
|
30
|
127
|
191
|
411
|
2000
|
54
|
29
|
100
|
244
|
427
|
58
|
34
|
128
|
207
|
427
|
2001
|
47
|
39
|
97
|
234
|
417
|
52
|
42
|
131
|
192
|
417
|
2002
|
38
|
22
|
88
|
162
|
310
|
38
|
22
|
88
|
138
|
286
|
UNION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION(2011)
PRESS NOTE
Subject: Changes in syllabus and pattern of the Preliminary Examination from
2011 in the scheme of Civil Services Examination
• As per the decision of Government of India, there shall be change in the syllabus and
pattern of the Preliminary Examination from 2011 in the scheme of the Civil Services
Examination.
• The Preliminary Examination shall now comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200
marks each and of two hours duration each. Detailed below is the new syllabus and
pattern of the Preliminary Examination, which is brought to the notice of the
prospective candidates intending to appear at the Civil Services Examination (CSE) in
2011 onwards
:
Paper I - (200 marks) Duration: Two hours
• 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) Duration: Two hours
• 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
(last item in the Syllabus of Paper-II) will be tested through passages from
English language only without providing Hindi translation thereof in the question
paper.
• The questions will be of multiple choice, objective type.
• A set of sample questions for both Papers would be put on the UPSC website
http://www.upsc.gov.in in due course for reference of the prospective candidates.
• The prospective candidates are advised to note that no changes are being introduced
at this stage in the Civil Services (Main) Examination and Personality Test in the
scheme of Civil Services Examination (CSE).
FAQ'S
Students often have doubts at the time they
begin IAS preparation for the IAS exams. But before they can start any
preparations they are siezed by a number of questions. Here we address some of
those questions that arise while you prepare for the IAS exams.
Q1. What is the
restriction on number of attempts in the Examinations?
Ans. Number of attempts - General-4, OBC-7, SC/ST- No restriction
Q2. Is there any
relaxation in number of attempts for physically handicapped?
Ans. No. However physically handicapped candidates belonging to SC,
ST and OBC categories will be eligible for relaxation in number of attempts
provided to such categories.
Q3. Can a candidate
who has completed his education from an open school/ University apply for
Commission’s Examination?
Ans. Yes, provided it is a recognized University and he possess the
educational qualifications prescribed for the exam and is otherwise eligible.
Q4. Whether a
candidate belonging to a community included in the OBC list of states but not
in the Central list of OBCs is eligible for age relaxation, reservation etc.
for Commission’s Examinations?
Ans. No. Only candidates belonging to communities which are included
in the Central list of OBC’s are eligible for such concessions.
Q5. Can a candidate
choose an optional subject, which he has not studied at graduate/PG level?
Ans. Yes.
Q.2. Is it necessary
for a candidate to take the same optional subject in the Main Exam, which he
had taken in the prelims Examination?
Ans. No.
Q.3. If a candidate
has applied for the CS (P) Examination but has not appeared at any paper in the
CS (P) Examination will it be counted as an attempt?
Ans. No. An attempt is counted only if a candidate has appeared in at
least one paper in CS (P) Examination.
Q4. Is a candidate who
has done his graduation without passing class X and class X11 eligible for
Civil Service Examination?
Ans.
Yes.
Q.5. Can a candidate
write different papers of Civil Service (Main) Examination in different
languages?
Ans. No, Candidates have the option to write their answers either in
English or in any one of the Eighth schedule languages.
Q.6. Can a candidate
write the Civil Service (Main) Examination in English and take the interview in
Hindi or any other Indian language?
Ans. If a candidate opts an Eighth schedule language for the CS
(Main) Examination he will have the option to take the interview in same
language or in English.
Q.7. How to choose a
subject?
Ans. Normally one should select optionals, which one is familiar
with, or has at least studied till the graduate level. If you are not
comfortable with the subject, you should not select the subject as an optional.
But the choice should not only be as per your interests but also be baed on the
study material available. Even science and engineering students take up
subjects like history, sociology, anthropology, grography, political science,
psychology and public administration because there is a huge amount of study
material available in these subjects. Also keep in mind that you may have been
proficient in a subject, but lack of touch may make it tougher to crack
technical subject where freshers may do better. The competition is among the people
who have opted for the same subject. One should top in his/her subject to
succeed in the examination. The Point is, if you are an electrical engineer
with 2 years of experience go for a new subject like pub adm or sociology.
Analyse the syllabus of previous years and the question papers, and analyse
past trends. Get some feedback/advice from seniors and fellow students who are
well versed in the subject. Remember no subject is bad. History is good if you
can spend more than 4-5 hours everyday. Geography is a good option if you can
spend at least 4 hrs every day. Pub Ad, more than 3 hours. Sociology, more than
2 hours and so on.... So, it all depends on how much time you can spend a day
and your liking of the subject. You have a very good memory then a technical
subject may help else a social subject would be better. Lastly look for overlap
in subjects like, sociology and pubad; history and political science etc.