What is the UPSC CSE Exam?

UPSC CSE Exam or Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Exam is the country’s toughest exam. It is also known as the IAS exam which is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. This exam is conducted in 2 phases, that is, UPSC Prelims and Mains. These phases are followed by the Personality Test. It is an annual exam that is conducted in the offline mode.

Highlights & Exam Pattern of the UPSC CSE

Name of the Exam	UPSC CSE 2023
Conducting Body	Union Public Service Commission
Exam Level	Undergraduate
Exam Frequency	Annual
Duration	2 hours for each paper of the CSE Preliminary exam (20 minutes per hour extra time for blind candidates & candidates with Locomotor Disability & Cerebral Palsy [minimum 40% impairment])
Mode of Exam	Offline
Sections	3 Stages: • Prelims • Mains • Personality Test
Types of Questions	Objective Type (MCQs)
Marking Scheme	2 Marks for Each Correct Answer (GS) 2.5 Marks for Each Correct Answer (CSAT) Negative Marking: 1/3rd of the marks assigned to a question
Total Questions	100 (GS) 80 (CSAT) 180 (Total Number of Questions for Prelims)
Medium of Exam	Bilingual (Hindi & English)
Official Website	https://www.upsc.gov.in/

Eligibility Criteria for UPSC CSE Exam

Age Limit	21 to 32 years
Age Relaxation	As per the category (mentioned below)
Educational Qualification	Graduate in any field from any recognised university
Nationality	Indian

Note: This is the general criteria, to know more about the eligibility, read UPSC Official Notice.

UPSC CSE Exam Date 2023

Date of Release of Notification	1-Feb-2023
Date of Commencement of Examination	28-May-2023
Last Date for Receipt of Applications	21-Feb-2023 – 6:00 PM
Fictitious Fee Payment Last Date	7-Mar-2023
e – Admit Card Release Date	8-May-2023

Registration Process & Fee

The application form for the UPSC CSE exam is available online. In order to apply, students  must visit the official Union Public Service Commission website and follow the below-mentioned steps:

1. First, the students have to register at the One Time Registration platform. This has to be done only once in a lifetime and can be done anytime throughout the year.

2. Then, the students can proceed with the filling of the online application form.

3. Next, they have to attach all the necessary documents including scanned documents/ certificates supporting the date of birth, and category.

4. And finally, the students have to pay the examination fee.

Application Fee

Category	Fee
General/ OBC/ EWS	INR 100
SC/ ST/ Ex-Serviceman/ PWD/ Female	NIL

UPSC CSE Admit Card

The UPSC CSE admit card has been already released. Students can download their admit cards from here: UPSC E-Admit Card

UPSC CSE 2023 Exam Centres

UPSC CSE has 79 exam centres. Here is a list of all centres:

 

Agartala	Agra	Ahmedabad
Aizawl	Ajmer	Aligarh
Almora	Ananthapuru	Aurangabad
Bareilly	Bengaluru	Bhopal
Bilaspur	Chandigarh	Chennai
Coimbatore`	Cuttack	Dehradun
Delhi	Dharamshala	Dharwar
Dispur	Faridabad	Gangtok
Gautam Buddh Nagar	Gaya	Ghaziabad
Gorakhpur	Gurgaon	Gwalior
Hyderabad	Imphal	Indore
Itanagar	Jabalpur	Jaipur
Jammu	Jodhpur	Jorhat
Kochi	Kohima	Kolkatta
Kozhikode	Leh	Lucknow
Ludhiana	Madurai	Mandi
Mumbai	Mysuru	Nagpur
Nasik	Navi Mumbai	Panaji
Patna	Port Blair	Prayagraj
Puducherry	Pune	Raipur
Rajkot	Ranchi	Sambalpur
Shillong	Shimla	Siliguri
Thiruvananthapuram	Tiruchirapalli	Surat
Thane	Udaipur	Srinagar
Tirupati	Visakhapatnam	Varanasi
Vellore	Vijayawada	Warangal

Note: Allotment of Centres will be on the “first-apply-first allot” basis

UPSC CSE 2023 Exam Syllabus

The Civil Services Exam is conducted by UPSC every year to recruit candidates for various services & posts in the Government of India. The exam consists of 2 stages:

1. Civil Services Preliminary Examination for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination.
2. Civil Services Main Examination (Written & Interview) for the selection of candidates for various services & posts as mentioned in official notification.

The first stage of the exam, that is, the Civil Services Preliminary Exam is the screening test. Thus, the marks obtained at this stage are not taken into account while preparing the final merit list.

Stage 1 is further divided into 2 parts:

Part-1

General Studies Paper-I and covers the following topics:

• Current Events of National & International Importance
• History of India & Indian National Movement
• Indian & World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India & the World
• Indian Polity & Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic & Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• General Issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity & Climate Change
• General Science

Part-2

General Studies Paper-II covers the following topics:

• Comprehension
• Interpersonal Skills Including Communication Skills
• Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability
• Decision Making & Problem-Solving
• General Mental Ability
• Basic Numeracy and Data Interpretation

General Studies Paper-II is a qualifying section with minimum marks fixed at 33%.

Section-Wise Distribution of Question Paper

Civils Exam Pattern for Prelims
Paper	No. of Ques	Marks	Duration	Neg marks
General Studies I	100	200	2 Hours	Yes (1/3rd of the marks allotted to each question)
General Studies II (CSAT)	80	200	2 Hours

UPSC CSE 2023: Number of Attempts

Category	Number of Attempts
General Category and OBC who belongs to the Creamy Layer	6
SC/ST	There is no limit on the number of attempts till they attain the age of 37 years
OBC Non-creamy Layer	9

Note: Students who belong to OBC/ SC/ ST can give the first 4 attempts as General Category  (if they so desire) and thereafter, they can avail the relaxation in the number of attempts by availing the category benefits.

UPSC CSE Preparation Tips

• First of all, it is very important to familiarise yourself with the syllabus and the pattern of the exam. Since the UPSC CSE exam is a lengthy exam and stretches for approximately 1 year, hence, it is important to keep cool and stay confident.

• For this exam, in particular, it is very important to choose the optional subject wisely.

• Third, in preparation for this exam, you should start studying at the earliest because the syllabus is quite lengthy.

• The student should go through the past few year’s question papers.

• For the UPSC CSE Exam, you should be familiar with happenings all around the world. Hence, you should start reading a newspaper regularly.

• Begin your preparation with NCERT and eventually move to advanced books.

• Pay special attention to revision. Because the syllabus is vast, it is difficult to cover it all, hence, focus on revising what you have already studied.

• Next, join the Prelims test series and regularly attempt question papers under exam conditions

Previous Year Question Papers

To download question papers, visit this link: UPSC Previous Year Question Papers

FAQs

Q1. What is UPSC’s full form?

UPSC stands for Union Public Service Commission.

Q2. Who conducts the UPSC exam?

Union Public Service Commission is the conducting body of the UPSC CSE Exam/ IAS Exam.

Q3. What is the difference between UPSEE and UPSC?

UPSEE is a state-level exam conducted by Abdul Kalam Technical University. On the other hand, UPSC CSE Exam is for recruitment in the Union Public Service Commission.

Q4. What are UPSC exam types?

The three types of UPSC Exam are:

• Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
• Indian Police Service (IPS)
• Indian Forest Service (IFoS)

Q5. Which is the highest post in UPSC?

The highest post in UPSC is of The Cabinet Secretary.

Q6. What are the stages of the UPSC exam?

The UPSC Exam is divided into 2 stages. Stage 1: Prelims. Stage 2: Mains + Interview

Q7. Who takes the UPSC interview?

The UPSC CSE Exam is conducted by a UPSC Officer at Dholpur House in Delhi.

Tags: upsc, upsc cse, upsc cse exam, upsc exam