- Facts every aspirant should know
The Union Public Service Commission(UPSC) is the government agency responsible for recruiting officers into civil services in the country. It conducts the exam and selects candidates based on pre-selected criteria. The civil services include services like the IAS, IFS, IPS, IRS, etc. The candidates must have attained 21 years of age and be less than 32 years of age as of 1st August 2023 i.e., the candidate must have been born not earlier than 2nd August 1990 and not later than 1st August 2001.
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) isn't an exam but it is a constitutional body that is permitted to conduct various exams within the country one in ev of which is the Civil Services Exam, while Indian Administrative Services (IAS) which is commonly called the IAS Exam is additionally not an exam and is one among the civil services post among the others like IPS, IFS, etc. to which candidates can get into through the Civil Services Exam.
The Civil Services Examination (CSE) stands as one of the toughest examinations in the country. The year-long examination is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Every year, over 10 lakh aspirants compete for the All India Services, such as IAS, IPS, and IFS. Along with Central Services, Group A and B Services are also equally popular across India. Depending upon the candidates' preference and rank, the Commission will allow the service. The UPSC conducts the CSE for a total of 24 services apart from the Indian Forest Service (IFS). Check the UPSC services list here.
UPSC Posts - 3 Types of Civil Services
ALL INDIA SERVICES:
Group 'A' Civil Services
Group 'B' Civil Services
Recruitment rules for Union Public Service Commission
Civil Services Examination (CSE) is one of the most popular exams conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. It is widely known as the ‘IAS exam’ even though CSE is a common exam to recruit candidates to about 24 top government services like IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, etc.
UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) consists of 3 stages. The stages are:
There are 3 stages in the UPSC Civil Services Exam – (1) Preliminary Exam (Objective Test) (2) Main Exam (Written Test) (3) Personality Test (Interview).
Prelims – The Civil Services Preliminary exam comprises two compulsory papers of 200 marks each (General Studies Paper-I and General Studies Paper-II). The questions will be of multiple-choice, objective type. The marks in prelims will not be counted for final ranking, but just for qualification for the main exam.
Mains – The written examination (main) will consist of nine papers, but only 7 papers will be counted for the final merit ranking. For the rest two papers, the candidate should secure the minimum marks prescribed by the commission each year.
Interview – The candidate will be interviewed by a Board who will have a record of his/her career before them. He/she will be asked questions on matters of general interest.
The marks of the Preliminary Exam are not counted for the final ranking. Prelims is a screening test to select the candidates for the Main Exam. A candidate’s final rank in the Civil Service Exam depends only on the mark scored in the Main exam and Interview. The main exam has 1750 marks while the interview has 275 marks. Total marks are calculated out of 2025.
The notification for UPSC Civil Services Examination for 2023 published on February 1.
The UPSC released the Civil Services Examination (CSE) notification on February 1, 2023. Interested candidates can access the UPSC notification 2023 on its official website. The notification plays a significant role in competitive examinations. It will display all the important details such as eligibility, selection procedure, exam pattern, marking scheme, and syllabus. The UPSC recruitment notification 2023 was released for a total of 1105 vacancies.
Exam Name |
UPSC Civil Services Exam (IAS) 2023 |
Conducting Body |
Union Public Service Commission(UPSC) |
Exam Level |
National |
UPSC Vacancies |
1105 |
Exam Frequency |
Once a year |
Exam Mode |
Offline - Pen and Paper Mode |
Exam Stages |
Prelims - Mains(Written) - Mains(Interview) |
Application Fee(Prelims) |
100 |
Language |
Prelims - English and Hindi |
No. of Test Cities |
Test centers across the national |
m Helpdesk No. |
011-23098543 / 23385271 / 23381125 / 23098591 |
Official Website |
https://www.upsc.gov.in/ |
A. UPSC Prelims 2023 will be conducted on May 28. The UPSC 2023 notification for civil services was released on February 1.
A. The educational qualification required to become an IAS Officer is a graduate degree in any discipline from any university established by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India. The candidates also visit IAS eligibility for details.
A. Every candidate has different needs and abilities. Joining a coaching institute is a very subjective decision. It can help some of the candidates in understanding the structure and pattern of the IAS Exam but some of them find it useless. It differs from candidate to candidate.
A. Yes, any candidate can prepare for the IAS exam without coaching. Nowadays so much information is available online which can help the candidates to prepare for IAS Exam by themselves. The candidate should select the best authentic source of information can prepare for the IAS Exam by themselves.
A. The candidates should start preparing the basics with the NCERT Books and Daily Newspaper. Complete the NCERT of History, Geography, Economics, and Sociology first and then start reading the dedicated books for each subject supplemented with the Newspaper.
A. IAS means Indian Administrative Services and PCS means the Provincial Civil Services. IAS is one of the three All India Services. The recruitment for IAS is done by the Union Public Service Commission. PCS is the state-centric civil service recruited through the State Public Service Commission.
A. There are 9 question papers in the IAS Main Exam. Out of these 9 question papers, the candidates need to qualify in the General English and General Hindi papers and their numbers are not counted for the final merit.
A. The IAS exam is an open platform with no limitations for the average student. No minimum percentage of marks is required in the graduation course to appear in the IAS Exam. Each year, a good number of Average students crack the IAS Exam.
A. Ministry of Personnel, which works under the supervision of the Prime Minister of India, is the Cadre controlling authority for the IAS.
A. Yes, the State PCS Officers can be promoted to the IAS subject to certain conditions laid down by UPSC. Each year, out of the total vacancies of IAS, 33% are filled through promotion.