The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the Civil Services Exam (CSE) every year to recruit for the various civil services.

The Civil Services Examination comprises two successive stages:

• Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (Objective Type) for the selection of candidates for Civil Services (Main) Examination; and
• Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview/ Personality Test) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and Posts.

Note: For Indian Forest Services and other Civil Services a common Preliminary entrance examination is being conducted. But, the Main examination is conducted separately.

Successive Stages of Examination : 

• In the first stage, i.e., UPSC Prelims Exam, UPSC tests knowledge in MCQs format. The whole idea is to separate and filter serious candidates from the crowd.
• In UPSC Mains Exam, the knowledge is tested in subjective format, where the written expression gets tested. This is made difficult by constraining the examinee to the word limit. One not only has to have knowledge but also has to acquire the skill to put that knowledge on paper in specified word limit and time. Acquiring the skill of answer writing is the tricky part as it needs time and lots of practice. This comes with time and is not something that can be acquired over the weekend.
• The Personality Test, which is commonly called as Interview focuses on the personality attributes of a candidate. The verbal expression, body language, truthfulness, courage of conviction, and other personality-related attributes are measured through personal interviews.

Preliminary Examination:  The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory Papers of 200 marks for each objective type (multiple choice questions).

Note:

• The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%.
• The Marks of the Preliminary Examination are not counted for the final selection and the final ranking is based on the Main Examination (Written + Interview).

Main Examination: The Written Examination will consist of the following papers: