Civil Service examination

Civil Service Examination is divided into Preliminary and Mains. In the Preliminary the candidate has to appear for two objective papers, one in general studies and the other is a subject of candidate’s choice. One clearing the Preliminary, candidates are eligible for the Main Examination which has a total of nine papers. The Preliminary papers are of the Degree level and Main papers are of the Masters level.After the Mains, candidates go for the Personality test which is in the form of an interview. The interviewer quizzes the candidate on matters of general interest in an effort to assess the suitability of the candidate for a career in Public Service. After successful completion of the Mains and the interview, the selected candidates are sent to the Lal Bahadur National Academy of Administration, Moussourie, for a four months foundation course, following which IAS, IPS and IFS trainees undergo a specialised training programme, before getting a final posting. The notification of the preliminary examination is made in December. The Preliminary Examination is held in the month of May. The Main Examination and personal interview is held in the month of Oct/ Nov every year. The marks obtained in Main Examination and Interview, determine the final ranking. The candidates are the allotted the various services on the basis of their ranks and preference expressed by them. Details of Preliminary and Main Examination are as follows.
CS (Preliminary) Examination
The preliminary examination consists of two papers of objective type (Multiple-choice questions) carrying a maximum of 450 marks.
Paper - I General Studies : 150 marks
Paper - II One of the following 23 subjects : 300 marks
Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Service, 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.
CS (Main) Examination
The main examination consists of 9 papers carrying a maximum 2000 marks.
Paper - I : One of the 18 Indian languages - 300
(Qualifying Papers)
Paper - II : English
(Qualifying Papers) - 300
These two papers are qualifying in Nature. The minimum standard for qualifying are fixed by the UPSC at the their discretion. Marks obtained in these papers are not counted for ranking.
Paper III: Essay -200
Paper IV and V: General Studies - 600 (300 each)
Paper VI, VIII: Any two out of 25 subjects*
Paper VIII, IX each having 2 papers - 1200
Interview - 300
* All subjects mentioned in Preliminary plus Anthropology & Management.
Educational Qualification and age
Graduate in any discipline, within 21 years to 30 years of age are eligible for Civil Service Examination.
Training Institutes
There are no organised training courses available for CSE. However, there are many training institutes which conduct special courses and train candidates for CSE.

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