Every year several lakh candidates sit the Civil Services Examination for roughly a thousand posts — a three-stage contest of knowledge, writing, and personality that staffs the country’s highest administrative, police, and diplomatic services. This page is the exam’s reference card: what it is, how it is structured, who can take it, and how much you need to score. The four sections above are where the preparation happens.
Preliminary
Two objective papers in one day. A screening test only — clear it and the marks are discarded.
0Marks carried forwardCSAT
Prelims Paper II. You need 33 percent — 66 of 200. Scoring above that earns you nothing further.
33%Pass mark, no meritMains
Nine written papers over several days. Seven of them carry the entire written score.
1,750Merit marksPersonality Test
An interview before a UPSC board, judging suitability for public service rather than knowledge.
275Merit marksFinal merit
Your rank, and therefore your service, comes from the Mains and the interview alone.
2,025Total marksThe shape of the exam in one line: the Prelims only decides who gets to write the Mains, and the Mains plus the interview decide everything else.
| Exam | Civil Services Examination (CSE) |
|---|---|
| Commonly called | The IAS exam |
| Conducted by | Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) |
| Frequency | Once a year |
| Stages | Preliminary Examination Main Examination Personality Test (Interview) |
| Papers | 2 in the Prelims 9 in the Mains |
| Marks for merit | 1,750 (Mains) + 275 (Interview) = 2,025 |
| Negative marking | One-third of a question’s marks (Prelims) |
| Services filled | 24, including the IAS, IPS, and IFS |
| Eligibility | Bachelor’s degree in any discipline |
| Age (General/EWS) | 21–32 years on August 1 of the exam year |
| Attempts | 6 General/EWS 9 OBC (to age 35) Unlimited SC/ST (to age 37) |
| Official website | upsc.gov.in |
About the exam
The Civil Services Examination is conducted once a year by the Union Public Service Commission. It begins with an objective Preliminary Examination that works purely as a screening test, continues with a nine-paper written Main Examination, and ends with the Personality Test, an interview before a UPSC board. Prelims marks open the door but are never counted again; the final rank rests entirely on the Mains and the interview.
One examination fills 24 services. The All India Services — the IAS and IPS — and the Indian Foreign Service head the list, followed by the central services that run revenue, audit, railways, posts, and more. Preference order is the candidate’s choice; rank decides what they actually get, which is why the IAS, the most preferred service, lent the whole exam its everyday name.
Exam pattern
The Prelims is a one-day, two-paper objective test. Both papers are compulsory, but they play different roles: GS Paper I alone decides the cutoff, while CSAT only has to be cleared.
| Paper | Questions | Marks | Duration | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Studies Paper I | 100 | 200 | 2 hours | Decides the Prelims cutoff |
| CSAT (Paper II) | 80 | 200 | 2 hours | Qualifying — 33% (66 marks) |
The Mains is a descriptive, multi-day examination of nine papers — two qualifying language papers and seven merit papers that carry the entire written score.
| Paper | Marks | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Paper A — Indian language (any Eighth-Schedule language) | 300 | Qualifying — 25% |
| Paper B — English | 300 | Qualifying — 25% |
| Essay | 250 | Merit |
| General Studies I — heritage, history, geography, society | 250 | Merit |
| General Studies II — governance, Constitution, polity, international relations | 250 | Merit |
| General Studies III — technology, economy, environment, security | 250 | Merit |
| General Studies IV — ethics, integrity, aptitude | 250 | Merit |
| Optional subject — Paper I | 250 | Merit |
| Optional subject — Paper II | 250 | Merit |
| Personality Test (Interview) | 275 | Merit |
So how much do you need to score?
Only General Studies Paper I decides who clears the Prelims, and the bar moves every year — it is simply the mark of the last candidate to get through. Over 2020–2025 the General-category cutoff has ranged from 75.41 in the unusually hard 2023 paper up to 92.66.
Syllabus at a glance
Prelims General Studies Paper I draws on seven broad areas:
- Current events of national and international importance
- History of India and the Indian National Movement
- Indian and world geography — physical, social, and economic
- Indian polity and governance — Constitution, political system, Panchayati Raj, public policy, and rights issues
- Economic and social development — sustainable development, poverty, inclusion, demographics, and social-sector initiatives
- Environmental ecology, biodiversity, and climate change
- General science
CSAT, the qualifying paper, tests six kinds of ability rather than any body of knowledge:
- Comprehension
- Communication and interpersonal skills
- Logical reasoning and analytical ability
- Decision making and problem solving
- General mental ability
- Basic numeracy and data interpretation — Class X level
In the Mains, the four General Studies papers follow the themes in the pattern table above, and every candidate adds one of 48 optional subjects, spanning the core disciplines and the literature of Indian and English languages.
Frequently asked questions
Is the IAS exam the same as the Civil Services Examination?
Yes. The UPSC conducts one Civil Services Examination that fills 24 services, including the IAS, IPS, and IFS. Because the Indian Administrative Service is the most sought-after of them, the whole examination is popularly called the IAS exam.
How many stages and papers does the exam have?
Three stages and eleven papers: two objective papers in the Prelims, nine written papers in the Mains, and then the Personality Test. Final merit is decided on 2,025 marks — 1,750 from the Mains and 275 from the interview.
Is the CSAT paper qualifying?
Yes. CSAT (Prelims Paper II) is qualifying at 33 percent — 66 of 200 marks. Only GS Paper I decides the Prelims cutoff, and Prelims marks are not counted in the final merit.
Is there negative marking?
In the Prelims, yes — one-third of a question’s marks is deducted for every wrong answer. The Mains papers are descriptive, so negative marking does not apply there.
Who is eligible, and how many attempts do I get?
Any graduate aged 21–32 (General/EWS) on August 1 of the exam year can appear, with 6 attempts. OBC candidates get 9 attempts to age 35, SC/ST candidates unlimited attempts to age 37, and PwBD candidates ten extra years. An attempt is counted only when you actually appear in at least one Prelims paper.
What is the optional subject?
In the Mains, every candidate picks one of 48 optional subjects and writes two papers of 250 marks each in it — 500 of the 1,750 merit marks, which is why the choice matters so much.
What is the cutoff, and how much should I score?
The cutoff is not a target set in advance — it is the mark of the last candidate to clear a stage, worked out after the exam from the vacancies and how everyone performed. For CSE 2025 the General-category Prelims cutoff was 92.66 of 200 on GS Paper I. Aim for about 100: that clears every General cutoff of the last six years with a margin, so a hard paper cannot knock you out. See the year-wise cutoff marks for every category.
How should I start preparing?
Work the syllabus top-down: master the Prelims subjects first, build notes from the GK library, keep current affairs current, test yourself topic by topic, and then move to full-length mock tests and the year-wise past-papers archive.
Where do I find the official notification and dates?
On upsc.gov.in. The Commission publishes an annual examination calendar and a detailed notification each cycle — that notification is the authority for the year’s dates, vacancies, and application window.
