UPSC CSE – PLAN & NATURE OF THE EXAMINATION

Plan of Examination: The Civil Services Examination will consist of two successive stages.

• Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination;
• Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts

• The Preliminary Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks in the subjects set out in sub-section (A) of Section-II.
• This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination 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 through this examination.
• Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year will be eligible for admission to the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Main Examination.

Points to Note

There will be negative marking for incorrect answers (as detailed below) for all questions except some of the questions where the negative-marking will be inbuilt in the form of different marks being awarded to the most appropriate and not so appropriate answer for such questions.

1. There are four alternatives for the answers to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty.
2. If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even if one of the given answers happen to be correct and there will be same penalty as above for that question.
3. If a question is left blank, i.e. no answer is given by the candidate; there will be no penalty for that question.

The Main Examination will consist of written examination and an interview test.

• The written examination will consist of 9 papers of conventional essay type in the subjects out of which two papers will be of qualifying in nature.
• Marks obtained for all the compulsory papers (Paper-I to Paper-VII) and Marks obtained in Interview for Personality Test will be counted for ranking.
• Candidates, who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written part of the Main Examination as may be fixed by the Commission at their discretion, shall be summoned by them for an interview for a Personality Test.
• The number of candidates to be summoned for interview will be about twice the number of vacancies to be filled.
• The interview will carry 275 marks (with no minimum qualifying marks). Marks thus obtained by the candidates in the Main Examination (written part as well as interview) would determine their final ranking.
• Candidates will be allotted to the various services keeping in view their ranks in the Examination and the preferences expressed by them for the various services and posts.

Main Examination

The written examination will consist of the following papers:

Qualifying Papers:

• Paper-A (One of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution) 300 Marks
• Paper-B English 300 Marks

Papers to be counted for merit:

• Paper-I Essay 250 Marks
• Paper-II General Studies-I 250 Marks (Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society)
• Paper-III General Studies -II 250 Marks (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)
• Paper-IV General Studies -III 250 Marks (Technology, Economic Development, Bio- diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)
• Paper-V General Studies -IV 250 Marks (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude)
• Paper-VI Optional Subject – Paper 1 250 Marks
• Paper-VII Optional Subject – Paper 2 250 Marks
• Sub Total (Written test): 1750 Marks
• Personality Test: 275 Marks
• Grand Total: 2025 Marks

Part-A Preliminary Examination

Paper I – (200 marks) Duration: Two hours

• Current events of national and international importance.
• History of India and Indian National Movement.
• Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
• Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialisation
• General Science.

Paper II – (200 marks) Duration: Two hours

• Comprehension; Interpersonal skills including communication skills; Logical reasoning and analytical ability; Decision-making and problem solving
• General mental ability; Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. – Class X level)

Nature of the Mains Examination

• 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.
• The questions will be such as to test a candidate’s general awareness of a variety of subjects, which will have relevance for a career in Civil Services.
• The questions are likely to test the candidate’s basic understanding of all relevant issues and ability to analyze and take a view on conflicting socio- economic goals, objectives and demands.
• The candidates must give relevant, meaningful and succinct answers.
• The scope of the syllabus for optional subject papers (Paper VI and Paper VII) is broadly of the honors degree level.
• In the case of Engineering, Medical Science and law, the level corresponds to the bachelors' degree.

Syllabus of the papers included in the scheme of Civil Services (Main) Examination

Qualifying Papers On Indian Languages And English: The aim of the paper is to test the candidate’s ability to read and understand serious discursive prose, and express his ideas clearly and correctly. The pattern of questions would be broadly as follows:

• (i) Comprehension of given passages
• (ii) Precis Writing
• (iii) Usage and Vocabulary
• (iv) Short Essays

Indian Languages:

• (i) Comprehension of given passages
• (ii) Precis Writing
• (iii) Usage and Vocabulary
• (iv) Short Essays
• (v) Translation from English to the Indian language and vice-versa.

PAPER-I Essay:

Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject, to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion and to write concisely.

PAPER-II General Studies-I:

Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.

• Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
• Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
• The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country.
• Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
• History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars, colonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.
• Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India. Role of women, population, poverty, urbanization, globalization.
• Salient features of world’s physical geography.
• Distribution of key natural resources; factors responsible for location of industries; Geophysical phenomena (earthquakes, Tsunami, etc.).

PAPER-III General Studies- II:

Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.

• Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, basic structure.
• Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, federal structure, devolution of powers.
• Separation of powers, dispute redressal mechanisms.
• Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.
• Parliament and State Legislatures – structure, functioning, powers & privileges.
• Executive and Judiciary; Ministries and Departments; Pressure groups.
• Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.
• Constitutional, Statutory, regulatory and quasi-judicial bodies.
• Government policies and interventions; Development processes and NGOs, SHGs.
• Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections; Issues relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
• Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
• Governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance, citizens charters.
• Role of civil services in a democracy.
• India and its neighborhood relations; Bilateral, regional and global groupings.
• Important International institutions, agencies and fora.

PAPER-IV General Studies-III:

Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management.

• Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development.
• Government Budgeting; Major crops and cropping patterns; Irrigation; Agricultural marketing.
• e-technology for farmers; Direct and indirect farm subsidies; MSP; PDS; Food security.
• Food processing and related industries; Land reforms.
• Effects of liberalization; Industrial policy; Infrastructure (Energy, Ports, Roads, etc.).
• Investment models; Science and Technology developments.
• Awareness in fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology.
• Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, impact assessment; Disaster management.
• Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
• Challenges to internal security (external state and non-state actors).
• Cyber security; Money-laundering; Security challenges in border areas.
• Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

PAPER-V General Studies- IV:

Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude

This paper will include questions to test the candidates’ attitude and approach to issues relating to integrity, probity in public life and his problem solving approach to various issues. Case studies may be utilized.

• Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics.
• Human Values – lessons from lives of great leaders; role of family and society.
• Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence on thought and behavior.
• Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service (integrity, impartiality, empathy, etc.).
• Emotional intelligence; Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers.
• Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration.
• Probity in Governance: Concept of public service; Right to Information; Codes of Ethics.
• Challenges of corruption; Case Studies on above issues.