Civil Service Exam Levels

Can you tell me in detail about the General Level for Civil Services Examination (CSE) in India as I am planning to apply for it, please help me with this?

[shikha]

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) is a nationwide competitive examination in India conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for recruitment to various Civil Services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Revenue Service (IRS).


The examination is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) every year. The exam schedule is announced during January - February after which the selection is done in 3 stages. Candidates are filtered at every stage through a process of elimination.

The competitive exam comprises of three stages:

Civil Services - Preliminary Examination - Objective Type (Qualifier)
Civil Services - Main Examination - Written Test
Interview / Personality Test

The Prelims are held in May-June and the results are announced in July-August. The Main examination is held in October-November and one who qualify at this stage are invited to the interview in March-April next.

The final recruitment and posting of candidates depends on their ranking and the available vacancies for different posts to be filled during that particular year.

One need to first apply for the Preliminary Examination only. Candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified for admission to the Main Examination will have to apply again, in the Detailed Application Form which would be supplied to them.


Preliminary Examination
The Preliminary Exam will consist of two papers of objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks. It is meant to serve as a screening test only.

Only one who is declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Exam in the year is eligible for admission to the Main Exam of that year provided otherwise eligible for admission to the Main Exam.

The marks obtained in the Preliminary Exam by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit.

The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year for various Services and Posts.


Main Examination
The Main Examination consists of 9 papers in total comprising of conventional essay type questions.

One who obtain minimum qualifying marks in the Main Exam as may be fixed by the Commission at their discretion, is summoned for an interview / for a Personality Test.

The number of candidates to be summoned for interview is about twice the number of vacancies to be filled.


Interview / Personality Test
The interview will carry 275 marks (with no minimum qualifying marks).
Marks thus obtained by the candidates (in the Main Examination as well as interview) would determine their final ranking.
One will be posted to various services keeping in view their ranks in the exam and the preferences expressed by them for the various Services and Posts.