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Introduction || Eligibility Criteria || Preliminary Examinaton
|| Maiin Examination|| Interview Test || Syllabus

The Union Public Service Commission (U.P.S.C.) conducts Civil Services’ Examination once a year in two stages. The Preliminary Examination (Objective Type) for selection of candidates for the Main Examination is held in the month of May. The Civil Services’ Main Examination is held in the months of October/November. Blank application forms and other particulars are published in the Employment News, generally in the month of December. The last date for the submission of application to the Secretary, Union Public Service Commission, Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi – 110011 is usually the last week of January of the year of examination.

The Combined Civil Services Examination is conducted for Recruitment to the following Services/Posts:

 Indian Administration Service.

	Indian Administration Service.
	Indian Foreign Service.
	Indian Police Service.
	Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group ‘A’.
	Indian Adult and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
	Indian Customs and Central Excise Service, Group ‘A’.
	Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
	Indian Revenue Service, Group ‘A’.
	Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group ‘A’ (Assistant Manager, Non- technical).
	Indian Postal Service, group ‘A;.
	Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
	Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group ‘A’.
	Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
	Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group ‘A’.
	Posts of Assistant Security Officer, group ‘A’ in Railway Protection Force.
	Indian Defence Estate Service, Group ‘A’.
	Indian Information Service (Junior Grade),Group ‘A’.
	Indian Trade Service, Group ‘A’ (Grade III).
	Posts of Assistant Commandant, Group ‘A’ in the Central Industrial Security Force.
	Posts of Deputy Superintendent of Police, Group ‘A’ in the Central Bureau of  Investigation.
	Central Secretariat Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officers Grade).
	Railway Board Secretariat Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officers Grade).
	Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Assistant Civilian Staff Officers  Grade).
	Customs Appraisers’ Service, Group ‘B’.
	Delhi and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar  Haveli Civil Service, Group  ‘B’.
	Delhi and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar  Haveli Police Service,   Group ‘B’.
	Pondicherry Civil Service, Group ‘B’. Eligibility Criteria   Educational qualifications A candidate must hold a degree of any of the Universities (any division) incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other Educational Institutions established by an Act of Parliament for declared to be deemed as a University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification.   A candidate who has appeared or intends to appear at an examination passing of which would render him eligible to appear at this examination, but has not been informed of the result, may also apply for admission to the examination.   Age A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 28 years on the 1st August of the year in which examination is being held.   The upper age limit may be relaxed in respect of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes and such other categories of persons as may from time to time be notified in this behalf by the Government of India to the extent and subject to the conditions notified in respect of each category.   Number of Chances Every candidate, appearing in the examination, who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted four chances at the examination. The Preliminary Examination It will consist of two papers of Objective Type (multiple-choice questions) and carry a maximum of 450 marks. 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 in the various Services and Posts. Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in a year will be eligible for admission to the main Examination of that year, provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Main Examination.         The Preliminary Examination will consist of two papers: Paper I-- General Studies 150 marks Paper II-- One subject to be selected from the list of Optional subjects set out in para 9 below 300 marks ________ Total 450 marks ---------- List of Optional Subjects for Preliminary Examination: Agriculture Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Botany Chemistry Civil Engineering Commerce Economics Electrical Engineering Geography Geology Indian History Law Mathematics Mechanical Engineering Medical Science Philosophy Physics Political Science Psychology Public Administration Sociology Statistics Zoology Note: Both the question papers in the Prelim Test will be of the Objective Type (multiple-choice questions). The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English. The course content of the syllabi for the optional subjects will be of the degree level. Each paper will be of two hours’ duration. Main examination   The written examination will consist of the following papers: Paper I One of the Indian Languages to be selected by the candidates from -the Languages included in the Eight -Schedule to the Constitution 300 marks Paper II English 300 marks Paper III Essay 200 marks Papers IV and V General Studies 300 marks Papers VI, VII, VIII and IX Any two subjects to be selected from the list of optional subjects given below Each subject will have two papers 300 marks Interview Test will carry 300 marks. Note: The papers on Indian Languages and English will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard and will be of qualifying nature; the marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking. The papers on Essay, General Studies and Optional Subjects of only such candidates will be evaluated as attain such minimum standard as may be fixed by the Commission in their discretion for the qualifying papers on Indian Language and English. The Paper I of Indian Language will not, however, be compulsory for candidates hailing from the North-Eastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland and also for candidates hailing from the State of Sikkim. For the Language Papers, the script to be used by a candidates will be as under Language   Script Assamese   Assamese Bengali   Bengali Gujarati   Gujarati Hindi   Devanagari Kannada   Kannada Kashmiri   Persian Konkani   Devanagari Malayalam   Malayalam Manipuri   Bengali Marathi   Devanagari Nepali   Devanagari Oriya   Oriya Punjabi   Gurumukhi Sanskrit   Devanagari Sindhi   Devanagari or Arabic Tamil   Tamil Telugu   Telugu Urdu   Persian List of Optional Subjects for Main Examination: Agriculture. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Anthropology Botany Chemistry Civil Engineering commerce and Accountancy Economics Electrical Engineering Geography Geology History Law Management Mathematics Mechanical Engineering Medical Science Philosophy Physics Political Science and International Relations Psychology Public Administration Sociology Statistics Zoology Literature of one of the following languages: Arabic, Assamese, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Marathi, Malayalam, Manipuri, Nepali, Oriya, Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu. Note: 1. Candidates will not be allowed to offer the following combinations of subjects: Political Science and International Relations & Public Administration. Commerce & Accountancy and Management; Anthropology and Sociology; Mathematics and Statistics; Agriculture and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science; Management and Public Administration; Of the Engineering subjects, viz., Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering NOT more than one subject. Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science and Medical Science. 2. The Question papers of the examination will be conventional (essay) type. 3. Each paper will be of three hours’ duration. 4. Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers, except the language papers, viz., Paper I and II above, in any one of the languages included in the Eight Schedule to the Constitution or in English. 5. Candidates exercising the option to answer Papers III to IX in any one of the languages included in the English Schedule to the Constitution may, if they so desire, give English version within brackets of only the description of the technical terms, if any, in addition to their version in the language opted by them. 6. Candidates should, however, note that if they misuse the above rule, a deduction will be on this account from the total marks, otherwise accruing to them and in extreme cases, their script(s) will not be valuated for being in an unauthorised medium. 7. The question papers other than language papers will be set both in Hindi and English Interview Test The candidate will be interviewed by a Board who will have before them a record of his career. He will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The object of the interview is to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for a career in public service by a Board of competent and unbiased observers. The test is intended to judge the mental calibre of a candidate. In board terms this is really an assessment of not only his intellectual qualities but also social traits and his interest in current affairs. Some of the qualities to be judged are mental alertness, critical power of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity. The technique of the interview is not that of a strict cross-examination but of a natural, though directed and purposive conversation which is intended to reveal the mental qualities of the candidate.he interview is not intended to be a test either of the specialised or general knowledge of the candidates which has been already tested through their written papers. Candidates are expected to have taken an intelligent interest not only in their special subjects of academic study but also in the events which are happening around them both within and outside their own State or country as well as modern currents of thought and in new discoveries which should rouse the curiosity of the well-educated youth.   Syllabus General Studies (for Preliminary Exam.): The paper on General Studies will include questions covering the following fields of knowledge: General Science Current events of national and international importance History of India World Geography Indian Polity and Economy Indian National Movement and also questions on General Mental Ability. Questions on General Science will cover general appreciation and understanding of science, including matters of everyday observation and experience, as may be expected of a well-educated person who has not made a special study of any scientific discipline. In History, emphasis will be on abroad general understanding of the subject in its social, economic and political aspects. In Geography, emphasis will be on Geography of India. Questions of Geography of India will relate to Physical, Social and Economic Geography of the country, including the main features of India agriculture and natural resources. Questions on Indian Polity and Economy will test knowledge on the country’s political system, Panchayati Raj, Community Development and Planning in India. Questions on the Indian National Movement will relate to the nature and character of the nineteenth century resurgence, growth of nationalism and attainment of independence. English and Indian Languages (for the Main Exam.): The aim of the paper is to test candidate’s ability to read and understand serious discursive prose and to express his ideas clearly and correctly in English/Indian Language concerned. The pattern of questions will be broadly as follows: English: (a) Comprehension of given passages, (b) Precis Writing; (c) Usage and Vocabulary; (d) Short Essays. Indian Languages: (e) Comprehension of given passages, (f) Precis Writing; (g) Usage and Vocabulary; (h) Short Essays, (i) Translation from English to the Indian Language and vice versa. Essay : The candidate will be required to write an Essay on a specific topic. The choice of subjects will be given. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject will be given. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion, and write concisely. Credit will be given for effective and exact expression. General Studies – Paper I (for Main Exam.): It will cover the following areas of knowledge: (a) Modern History of Indian and Indian Culture; (b) Current Events of National and International importance; (c) Statistical analysis, graphs and diagrams. Modern History of India and Indian Culture will cover the broad history of the country from about the middle of the nineteenth century and would also include questions on Gandhi, Tagore and Nehru. The part relating to statistical analysis, graphs and diagrams will include exercises to the candidate’s ability to draw commonsense conclusions from the information presented in statistical, graphical or diagrammatically form and to point out deficiencies, limitations or inconsistencies therein. General Studies – Paper II (for Main Exam.): It will cover:      (a) Indian Polity;      (b) Indian Economy and Geography;      (c) The role and impact of Science and Technology in the development of India. The part relating to Indian Polity will include questions on political system in India. In the part pertaining to the Indian Economy and Geography, the questions will be put on Planning in India and the physical, economic and social Geography of India. In the third part relating to the role and impact of Science and Technology in the development of India, questions will be asked to test the candidate’s awareness of the role and impact of Science and Technology in India. Emphasis will be on the applied aspects

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