AN APPROACH TO CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION
AN OVERVIEW OF THE EXAMINATION
Civil Services Examination is a national level examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission every year to recruit officers to the IAS, IPS and other central services. The examination considered as the toughest and most prestigious in India is conducted in a systematic and time bound manner.
The examination involves the following three stages:
| STAGE | EXAMINATION | NO. OF PAPERS | WIEGHTAGE (MARKS) |
| Stage I | Preliminary Examination | 2 | 400 |
| Stage II | Mains Examination | 7 | 1750 |
| Stage III | Personality Test | – | 275 |
TOTAL WEIGHTAGE 2025
The candidates must clear all the three stages of the examination and in case they fail to clear any of the stages they should again start from preliminary examination.
OVERVIEW OF PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION
Preliminary examination is an objective type examination with multiple choice questions (MCQs) with negative marking of .33 percent deducted for every wrong answer. The examination is qualifying in nature and has the following two papers:
- Paper I – named General Studies contains 100 questions for 200 marks; each question is for 2 marks
SYLLABUS
- Current events
- History of India
- Indian and World Geography
- Indian Polity and Governance
- Economic and Social
- General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change
- Paper II – named Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) contains 80 questions for 200 marks; each question is for 2.5 marks. This paper is qualifying in nature i.e., a candidate needs to secure a minimum of 33% marks in this paper in order to clear it.
SYLLABUS
- Comprehension
- Interpersonal skills including communication skills
- Logical reasoning and analytical ability
- Decision-making and problem solving
- General mental ability
- Basic numeracy
- Data interpretation
OVERVIEW OF MAINS EXAMINATION
Unlike the Preliminary Examination which is objective in nature, the Mains Examination is descriptive in nature and has the following seven papers with equal weightage of 250 marks each. While the first five papers are common for all students, the last two papers are on an optional that the student must choose from the 23 optional subjects offered by UPSC.
- Paper I – General Essay
- Paper II – Indian and World History, Indian and World Geography, Indian Society
- Paper III – Indian Polity and Governance, Social Justice, Bilateral and International Affairs
- Paper IV – Economy, Science and Technology, Biodiversity and Disaster Management, Internal Security
- Paper V – Ethics and Integrity
- Paper VI – Optional
- Paper VII – Optional
Apart from the above seven papers, there will be two compulsory language papers – one in English, the other paper in any of the twenty two languages recognised by the Constitution. Though these papers will not be considered while calculating the final score of the candidate, it is compulsory to clear the two language papers, else the candidate’s other papers will not be evaluated and the candidate is considered disqualified for mains.
PERSONALITY TEST
The last stage of the examination, commonly referred to as interview, is a test of the candidate’s personality, characteristics, understanding and analysis, likes and dislikes and so on. The focus at this stage, is more on the candidate’s personal information, achievements, hobbies and opinions on the current happenings.
DEEPIKA REDDY
