UPSC Civil Services Examination

One exam fills 23 services. The best known are the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service and the Indian Police Service; the others include the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, the two Indian Revenue Services, the Indian Railway Management Service, the Indian Postal Service and Group 'B' services such as the Delhi and Andaman civil and police services. In 2026 UPSC first expected about 933 vacancies, 33 of them for persons with benchmark disabilities, and later notified 1,016.

You list the services you want, in order, in the application. After the final result the government allocates services by rank and preference, and IAS and IPS officers are also given a state cadre. A service you leave out of your list can never be allocated to you.^[1]

It suits graduates of any subject who read widely and can write well under time pressure, and who can plan for more than one year. The prelims syllabus runs from history, geography and the Constitution to the economy, environment and general science. UPSC says the mains questions test whether you can analyse conflicting social and economic goals and take a view on them, in short and relevant answers.

It is hard on people who need a job within a year. The exam takes most of a year from prelims to final result, and in 2026 fewer than one in thirteen of those who passed the prelims could get one of the 1,016 vacancies. The year before, 14,161 candidates were called to the CSE 2025 mains for 1,087 vacancies. Plan a second route in parallel: state public service commission exams, SSC, bank officer exams or a postgraduate degree.^[2]

The IAS, IFS and IPS need Indian citizenship. The other services also accept subjects of Nepal and Bhutan, Tibetan refugees who settled before 1 January 1962 and certain persons of Indian origin, if the Government of India gives them an eligibility certificate.

You need a graduate degree from a university set up by a central or state Act, a deemed university, or an equivalent qualification. Final-year students and those waiting for results can sit the prelims and mains, but must upload proof of passing in the 15-day window after the mains written result. MBBS and similar degrees also need the internship finished by the interview.

Sitting even one prelims paper counts as an attempt, even if your candidature is later cancelled. Applying and staying away does not count. Members of the IAS or IFS cannot sit the exam again, and an IPS officer cannot choose the IPS a second time.

UPSC accepts only the date of birth in your Class 10 or equivalent certificate, issued before you apply. Once you enter it, you cannot change it for this or any later UPSC exam.^[1]

Prelims Paper I covers current events, the history of India and the national movement, Indian and world geography, polity and governance, economic and social development, environment and climate change, and general science. Paper II covers comprehension, communication, logical reasoning, decision making, general mental ability, and Class 10 level numeracy and data interpretation. You must sit both papers or neither is marked.

The mains has the Essay paper; General Studies I (heritage and culture, history, world geography, society), II (governance, Constitution, polity, social justice, international relations), III (technology, economy, biodiversity, environment, security, disaster management) and IV (ethics, integrity and aptitude); and two papers in one optional subject from a list of 26, from Agriculture to Zoology, or the literature of one of 23 languages. UPSC sets the optional papers between honours and master's level, or bachelor's level for engineering, medical science and law.

You can answer every mains paper except the two language papers in English or any language of the Eighth Schedule. The full syllabus is in Section III of the notice.^[1]

The interview board has your application in front of it and talks about matters of general interest. UPSC says it is not a test of the knowledge already checked in the written papers but of qualities such as clear exposition, balance of judgement, leadership and integrity.

If two candidates have the same final total, the one with more marks in the Essay, the four General Studies papers and the interview together ranks higher. If that is equal too, the five written papers alone decide, and then the older candidate goes first.^[1]

Success means a place in one of the 23 services after training, given by rank and your own order of preferences. A candidate allocated to the IPS or a Central Group 'A' service can take a one-time exemption from training to sit the next year's exam once more; after that, sitting again means resigning from the service.

If you reach the interview but are not recommended, you can agree in the application to let UPSC share your profile and percentile on its Pratibha Setu portal, where registered companies and public bodies look for recruits.^[1]