• Central Government of India has 4 categories of officers - Class 1 (Group A), Class 2 (Group B), Class 3 (Group C) & Class 4 (Group D).
• In most important decision makings and policies - Group A officers contribute their ideas, thoughts and opinions along with the political (elected) bosses - Ministers, MPs, MLAs etc. - One can say they are the “Brain behind a Politician”
• Thus to select these individuals - Government of India has got 2 commissions - Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) & Staff Selection Commission (SSC). UPSC recruits people for Group A Services in the central government and SSC recruits people for Group B, C & D.
• This recruitment is normally done via competitive examinations. Difference between University exams and Competitive exams is - In competitive exams - the passing marks are decided by the competitors (Toppers) - thus it keeps on changing. Because of this very nature of examination - competitive exams become comparatively more difficult than traditional exams.
• There is an advantage of competitive exams too. Traditional University conducts exams and after passing it - they give us a Certificate of Passing BUT - We have to search job on our own. - Competitive exams do not just give you certificate - they give you a well paying salaried job. Now, Since the output is different - the input (way of studying) should be different.
• UPSC conducts many examinations like NDA, CDS, CAPF. Indian Economic Services, Indian Forest Services, Indian Engineering Services, etc. Out of these - most popular exam is Civil Services Examination (CSE) - which is also known as - “IAS Exam”
• There are 3 criterions to ‘appear’ for this exam - You should be Citizen of India, Your age should be more than 21 and less than 32 (for OBC - 35 and for SC/ST - 37).
• There is no criterion of specific degree - you can appear for this exam if you have valid degree from any University in any discipline. UPSC also has not kept any Percentage criterion as a condition. Any person even with a Pass class with any number of ATKTs or drop can appear for this exam.
• One can attempt this exam only ‘6 times’ in his life (General category). This attempt can be in continuation (back to back) or in Gaps. The Examination fees is Rs. 100 for Prelims and Rs. 500 for Mains.
• There are in total around 24 different Services (Different types of Posts) which are available in this UPSC - CSE Examination - IAS, IPS and IFS happens to be most popular amongst them .
• Following is the list of all the services offered under UPSC.
  1. Indian Administrative Service.
  2. Indian Administrative Service.
  3. Indian Foreign Service.
  4. Indian Police Service.
  5. Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service, Group ‘A’.
  6. Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
  7. Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), Group ‘A’.
  8. Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
  9. Indian Revenue Service (I.T.), Group ‘A’.
  10. Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group ‘A’ (Assistant Works Manager, Administration).
  11. Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’.
  12. Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.
  13. Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group ‘A’.
  14. Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group 'A'.
  15. Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group ‘A’.
  16. Post of Assistant Security Commissioner in Railway Protection Force, Group ‘A’
  17. Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’.
  18. Indian Information Service (Junior Grade), Group ‘A’.
  19. Indian Trade Service, Group 'A'.
  20. Indian Corporate Law Service, Group ‘A’.
  21. Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade).
  22. Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service, Group 'B'.
  23. Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service, Group 'B'.
  24. Pondicherry Civil Service, Group 'B'.
  25. Pondicherry Police Service, Group ‘B’

UPSC CSE has the following three stages:

Stage 1: (UPSC Prelims - Objective section)

• Stage I is Prelims, has two objective-type papers. One is the General Studies and the second is the aptitude test often known as Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT).
• Application forms are available on UPSC's official website upsc.gov.in
• There will be penalty (1/3rd negative marking) for wrong answers marked by a candidate
• The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English.



		No of Questions	Marks	Min Marks
Paper I	GS	100	200	Cut- Off
Paper II	CSAT	80	200	67

• Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks
• It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination for the purpose

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Stage 2: (UPSC Mains - Subjective section)

• Stage 2 of the CSE is the Mains exam, is a subjective exam and includes nine descriptive papers.
• Only individuals who clear the UPSC CSE Prelims with the required cut-off marks will be eligible to appear for Mains Exam.
• Candidates who clear Prelims will have to fill a separate form for Mains examination.
• Each paper will be of three hours duration (250 Marks Each)
• Total Marks for qualification is (250* 7 papers =1750 marks)



	Marks
GS Paper 1	250
GS Paper 2	250
GS Paper 3	250
GS Paper 4	250
Essay Writing	250
Optional Paper 1	250
Optional Paper 2	250

Apart from these 7 papers whose marks are counted while deciding cut-off, there are 2 language papers which are of qualifying nature i.e. one has to score 25% marks in these papers to qualify. These papers are:

1. English Language Paper
2. Indian Language Paper (One of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution)

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Stage 3: Interview

• Stage 3 of the CSE is the Mains exam, is a subjective exam and includes nine descriptive papers.
• Only individuals who clear the UPSC CSE Mains with the required cut-off marks will be eligible to appear for the next and the final stage- Personality Test or Interview in front of the UPSC Board Members.
• If the candidate clears the written tests, he/she will receive an e-summon issued by the UPSC. The summon will direct the candidate to appear for a personality round with the UPSC Board Members.
• This round is conducted to assess and evaluate the candidate’s personality traits. He/She will be asked questions on matters of general interest. The discussion round includes questions related to a candidate s CV, hobbies, GK, and current affairs, case-study or situation based questions, etc. This round is organized in the UPSC Bhawan in New Delhi.