UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) — Syllabus, PYQs & Preparation

Conducted by the Union Public Service Commission to recruit for the IAS, IPS, IFS and other All India and Central Services. Two stages: an objective Preliminary Examination that screens for the Main Examination, then a written Main Examination and a Personality Test that decide the final rank. From the notice: "The main Examination is intended to assess the overall intellectual traits and depth of understanding of candidates rather than merely the range of their information and memory." "The nature and standard of questions in the General Studies papers (Paper II to Paper V) will be such that a well-educated person will be able to answer them without any specialized study."

Important dates

CSE 2027 Notification: 13 Jan 2027
Last Date to Apply: 2 Feb 2027
Preliminary Examination 2027: 23 May 2027
Main Examination 2027 Begins: 20 Aug 2027

Eligibility

Qualification: A candidate must hold a Graduate degree of any of the Universities incorporated by an Act of the central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission A…
Age: 21 to 32 years
Maximum attempts: 6
Nationality: For the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India. For other services, a candidate must be a citizen of India, a subject of Nepal, a subject of Bhutan, or belong to one of the other categories listed in para 3(I)…

Age relaxation for SC/ST: 5 years
Age relaxation for OBC: 3 years
Age relaxation for PwBD: 10 years
Age relaxation for Defence personnel disabled in operations: 3 years
Age relaxation for Ex-Servicemen with 5 years service: 5 years

Age is reckoned on 1 August of the exam year; for CSE 2026, born not earlier than 2 August 1994 and not later than 1 August 2005. Every candidate is permitted six attempts; relaxation in the number of attempts is available to SC/ST/OBC and PwBD candidates. Appearing in any one paper of the Preliminary Examination is deemed an attempt.

Selection process

Preliminary Examination: Two objective papers of 200 marks each. General Studies Paper II is qualifying at 33 percent; Paper I decides who is admitted to Mains
Main Examination: Nine conventional essay papers. Indian Language and English papers are qualifying; Essay, GS I to IV and two Optional papers (1750 marks) count for merit
Personality Test: 275 marks, no minimum qualifying marks. Final rank is Mains written plus Personality Test out of 2025

Exam pattern

Prelims GS Paper I, 200 marks, 120 minutes, Objective (multiple choice), negative marking: One-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to the question deducted for each wrong answer
Prelims GS Paper II (CSAT), 200 marks, 120 minutes, Objective (multiple choice), negative marking: One-third (0.33) deducted for each wrong answer; qualifying at 33 percent
Mains Essay, GS I to IV and Optional papers (each), 250 marks, 180 minutes, Conventional essay type
Mains Paper A (Indian Language) and Paper B (English), qualifying (each), 300 marks, 180 minutes, Conventional essay type

How to apply

Apply online at https://upsconline.nic.in. The portal has four modules: Account creation, Universal Registration and Common Application Form are common to all examinations; the fourth module is examination specific and is filled during the application window.